'Illusion' takes Krassimir Avramov to Moscow

After a series of quarter-finals and semi-finals, finally twelve songs made it to tonight's stage in the Sports Palace in Sofia. The grandiose show, with the famous Russian pop star Philip Kirkorov as a guest, was ended by the reprise of the winning Illusion by Krassimir Avramov. 

It was selected out of these songs:

• Dani Milev - Nyama Vreme
• Krassimir Avramov - Illusion
• Stefan Ilchev - Get Up
• Nora - It's Not Right
• Jura Tone Feat. Lady B - Chance To Love Yout
• Sahara - Don't Kiss For Money
• Stefan Dobrev - Everlasting Love
• I Velina - Ready For Love
• Moto - Razstoyaniya
• Mariana Popova - Crazy
• Poli Genova - One Lifetime Is Not Enough
• Grafa - Vrag

Televoters made their choice after hearing all the entries in a fifteen-minute voting window. 

The favorites for today were Dani Milev, Mariana Popova, Grafa, Stefan Ilchev and Krasimir Avramov. So the competition was strong but Krassimir Avramov was preferred by the majority, getting 55% of the votes. The second place, Poli Genova got five times less votes.

Krassimir was born in the small Bulgarian town of Sliven, but later on moved to Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, where he studied and worked.

A graduate of the National Academy for Theatrical and Film Arts (NATFIZ), he trained in pantomime. But Krassimir, being blessed with a very rare and unique male voice, the tenor-altino, could not stay silent for long. His 1997 debut album, Silent Voices topped the pop charts in Bulgaria. One year later Krassimir’s journey would continue in the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.

At the 2005 L.A. Music Awards, Krassimir received an honor previously bestowed upon such music notables as Gwen Stefani, Korn and Black-Eyed Peas: he won Superstar of the Year for his 2005 album Popera. Krassimir celebrated with a standing-room solo concert at Hollywood’s home of the Oscars, the prestigious Kodak Theatre. The audience gathered at the venue witnessed his bending and blending of musical genres – a synergy of classical and pop music called popera. 

Avramov will now follow the footsteps of Balthazar and Deep Zone who did not qualify for the Final of Europe's favorite TV-show last year.