The final artists to feature in our “Who Is” series for the Eurovision 2018 season are Bulgarian group Equinox.
Bulgaria was the last country to reveal their representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, choosing to announce their participants on Monday 12th March. Equinox was internally selected by the Bulgarian broadcaster BNT. Let’s get to know a bit more about them.
Equinox is a collaborative group from Bulgaria, consisting of singers Zhana Bergendorff, Georgi Simeonov, Johnny Manuel, Trey Campbell, and Vlado Mihailov. The group got together specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest this year.
Zhana Bergendorff was born on 20th October 1985 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She was born into a musical family, and began singing herself at just seven years old. At eighteen, she moved over to South Korea to sing, and later moved to Denmark with her fiance. It was there that she participated in X Factor Denmark, although she is most famous for winning the Bulgarian X Factor in 2013. Over the course of her career, Zhana has released multiple singles and has won several awards for her work.
Georgi Simeonov (also known as JJ) kicked off his musical career at the age of 16 as a member of popular Bulgarian band 032. His solo career, however, began in 2013 as he released some singles, and took part in “The Voice of Summer Tour” a year later. In the past, he has taught pop, soul and RnB singing masterclasses in Bulgaria, as well as working as a vocal producer and currently organises charity concerts every year to help children with disabilities.
Vladimir Mihailov is a singer/songwriter and Actor from Bulgaria. He is known for being the frontman of popular Bulgarian bands Safo and Sleng, and is a co-producer of the latter band’s songs. Vladimir is no stranger to the Eurovision Song Contest, as he was a backing singer for Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Notably, he was an actor in two of Bulgaria’s biggest movies of last year, “Benzin, Heights” and “All She Wrote”.
Johnny Manuel is from Michigan, United States. The singer began performing as a child and had toured with NSYNC at fourteen years old. In 2017, he took part in America’s Got Talent, reaching the semi-finals. Since his career began, Johnny has released two singles, “Come Alive” and “Blind Faith”, and is currently working on his first album with Symphonics International.
Trey Campbell is a songwriter who is based in Los Angeles. He has written songs for popular artists such as Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, Julie Bergan and Alexandra Stan. He is also one of the composers of Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2018 song, “Bones”.
Equinox will represent Bulgaria at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Their song “Bones” was produced by Symphonics International, the team that were behind Bulgaria’s 2016 and 2017 entries.
At the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, 17-year-old Kristian Kostov finished in second place in the Grand Final, bringing Bulgaria their best ever result. 2017 saw Bulgaria make only their third final in their Eurovision history, the first being in 2007 when Elitsa & Stoyan finished 5th with the song “Water”. Bulgaria debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2005. The country competed annually from 2005 to 2013, before withdrawing for two years due to financial issues.