Rossi Kirilova – 25 years “Forever Love”

“Forever love” is the song which won first place to an unknown and radiant girl at the “Melody of the year” song competition in 1985. Not long after that she already had a big fan club in Bulgaria. Rossi Kirilova belongs to this rare species of singers who are blessed with the unconditional love of her fans, ranging from kids to white-haired adults. The beautiful singer has many times been awarded the title “singer of the year” in national radio pop charts. Her latest award comes from the annual Bulgarian pop song festival “Burgas and the sea” 2007 where Rossi won first place with her author song “Both yes and no”. “Barefoot on the asphalt”, “Friendship as a gift”, “Kindness”, “The heart knows why”, “Mickey Mouse” are only some of her popular songs that everyone can easily start singing today. They are collected in 19 albums and very soon her latest 20th album will be out.
A quarter of a century on stage – it is hard to believe that this year in December Rossi Kirilova celebrates her 25th creative anniversary. The girl with the blue eyes won the hearts of the audience 25 years ago and still maintains this sweet “captivity” today.

Beautiful, charming and smiling, Rossi Kirilova is a symbol of the modern woman, successful both in her private and professional life. Do you consider yourself a star?
My life is much more ordinary than those of pop stars. I think I have my moments of stardom on stage and there I do feel like a star but in the daily round I am a very normal person, feeling happy about the simple things in life.

What do you remember from your first steps in music and the band “Trace”?
The “Trace” band did not disappear, it simply grew into “Atlas” while I became a solo singer. I started with country music because I like this style very much. Today, however, my repertoire features latino, disco, ballads, country music and, of course, working with different people since the creative process is a long one and one needs to change.

Success came early to you. What does popularity at such an early stage bring?
At the start one thinks that the world spins around him. Then he understands that in fact it spins anyway even without him and that he should fit in, not vice versa. Every beginning is full of emotions. Then one comes to treasure other things.

You’ve kept your style unchanged for the past 25 years. Is it hard being a favorite among such a heterogeneous audience?
Indeed, in my repertoire I have many and varied songs for people from different age groups. Still, I think it is very hard to remain successful. It is easy at the start when you are modern, when you make an impression. I am convinced that everybody has his ups and downs. The important thing is to do everything with love.

Your husband Georgi Nachev and you are both a family and artistic couple. Does this make things easier for you or not?
On the one hand, it is good because everything is teamwork. Success is never related to one person only. In this sense we help each other a lot because we share the same aims. On the other hand, this makes things more difficult since there are daily problems, we have to solve them and at the same time keep the good tone in our private relationship.

Artists usually say that they get inspired by love or suffering. Which one of them do you find stronger?
In all cases suffering is a very strong feeling and it gives birth to many beautiful songs, at least in my repertoire. But I also think that love is a strong motif for a person to keep on creating. Both should be present. One needs to go through different things so as to have wider variety in his art.

Have you ever been tempted by another music style?
I like different music styles but it is one thing to like and another to be able to sing it. I can’t say where my strength lies but I do know that I have a soft spot for ballads. The funny thing is that a song that is not of this genre – the disco “Barefoot on the asphalt” – actually became my music business card. On the whole I like experimenting so as to have different styles in my repertoire.

And which song do you think best represents you as a person?
There is a song by Toncho Russev called “Kindness”, the lyrics are actually taken from a poem written by Petya Dubarova. I often joke that “…sometimes I am white and good …” I am open and positive towards people in everything I do.

What do you miss in modern life?
Perhaps I don’t like the fact that everything is so hectic. Our daily life is too dynamic and everything is done in the name of quick success. There are values that I’ve preserved through the years without becoming as commercially oriented as modern life demands us to be.

What do you dream about now?
My dream now is the success of my forthcoming anniversary concert. There is a grand plan for it – many of my friends and colleagues are involved. They are Bulgaria’s biggest stars. Through all these years I have sung together with many of them and now I am happy that I can bring them all in one place for this concert and we can sing together all of my hits and new songs. My biggest dream came true.