Tzvetelina was born on the 31 of July 1976 in the southern Bulgarian town of Petrich. She’s
a Lion. Right after her birth her family moved to Varna, a beautiful city on the Black Sea
coast. That’s where she spent most of her childhood. Tzvetelina is the fourth child in a
large family. Has three older siblings: her sisters, Valiya and Nina (the singer Extra
Nina), and her brother Yanek, as well as a younger brother, Dobromir. Her parents Elena and
George Dobrevy were involved in the city amateur folklore ensembles which influenced her
further musical development. In fact the love for Bulgarian folklore is what brought Tzveti
to “Posy of flowers”, a children’s amateur dance ensemble, conducted by Yourdan Iliev. With
that group she made her first stage and TV appearances. Now Tzvetelina bears a sweet and
sentimental memory of that period and admits that Yourdan Iliev’s tutorship is what thought
her the meaning of hard work, persistence, discipline and professionalism, all valuable
assets that often help her in her current occupation.
While participating in “Posy of flowers” Tzvetelina took folklore singing lessons and sol-fa
so she could apply for a musical school. After concluding 7th grade in “P.K. Yavorov School”
in Varna, she got accepted at “Ekzarh Yosif School”, Razgrad with musical profile. There she
spent the next 5 years studying Bulgarian Folklore Singing. In the mean time, she began
working with one of the best orchestras in the region, “Harmony”, which turned out to be a
good professional experience for the young singer. Tzvetelina still keeps dear memories of
her colleagues, all their support, her teachers, schoolmates and the great time she had in
Razgrad.
Once a high-school grad, she returned to Varna where she worked with several music groups.
In addition to that she worked for a few months in “Rites” ensemble. It was by a mere chance
that she got into Pyner’s recording studio to do four songs with the “Andromeda” formation
where the sound-engineer Lenko Draganov spotted her talent and potential. Soon after that
she signed a contract with Pyner Music and began work on her first solo album “I’ve Traded
Love For Song” (1997). Musical producers on the album were Radoslav Petrov (Rado Shisharkata
- The Strobile) and Lenko Draganov. Tzvety showed her own style singing mainly copyright
songs and it wasn’t long before the tracks became smash-hits capturing the hearts of all the
admirers of the genre. “A Hundred Mercedeses” and “I’ve Traded Love For Song” became songs
people were singing all over Bulgaria.
Tzvetelina’s second album “Let Me Be A Flower” (1998) made her the 1st pop-folk artist to
mix folk with dance and the songs “Farewell”, “Love Is A Cage”, “Wind In The Head” and the
title song made total hits. She then participated in several Pyner mixed productions,
including Kanarite Orchestra’s “Us the Bulgarians” with her song “Mariyo, Mariyke”. And soon
recognition came as she landed numerous prestigious awards. At the first ever “Trakia Folk”
national folk festival in Stara Zagora, 1999, Tzvetelina, with one consent, gained “First
Price Of The Jury” with the song “Here I Am” (music and lyrics – Mitko Mitev, production –
Plamen Velinov). The same year her 3rd album, “Health Above All” (1999), was awarded “Album
Of The Year” by “Nov Folk” magazine and radio “Signal +”. The song “No Funny Talk” off the
same album was chosen “Hit Of The Year” by the audience of both radio stations “Ritmo” and
“Mila”. Other hit songs off the same album were “Health Above All”, “You Only Give The Ring
Once” and “Prayer”.
In the year 2000, Tzvetelina once again received “First Price Of The Jury” at “Trakia Folk”
festival with the song “You’re Leaving” (music - Orhan Mourad, lyrics – Nadejda Zaharieva,
production – Maxim Goranov). At the alternative festival “Pirin Folk”, the same year, the
flower of our folk music left breathless the whole crowd in the full packed open-air theater
in Sandanski with her performance of “Hurt Soul” (music and production – Svetoslav Loboshki,
lyrics – Katiya Kiriyanova), securing herself “First Price Of The Audience” and “Third Price
Of The Jury”.
Tzvetelina’s 4th solo album “It Won’t Always Be Like That” (2000) was also successful which
resulted in numerous concerts around the country. Hits off that album were the songs “I
Don’t Believe”, ”Is It Summer” and “Act Like You Don’t Care”. March, 22, 2001 (first day of
spring) the singer surprised everyone by announcing she was pregnant, the 7th month. June,
03, 2001 she gave birth to her firstborn son, Luchezar – Junior, in Plovdiv. The next 4
months she dedicated to her baby and to a well deserved brake but then she eagerly returned
on stage at “Pirin Folk” festival. There she presented the song “I Have A Son”, dedicated to
the little Luchezar and made by the creators of “Hurt Soul”, Katiya Kiriyanova and Svetoslav
Loboshki, for the very first time. Soon the song captured all hearts and was played by the
radio stations all around the country. In the mean time, her contract with “Payner” was past
due so she decided to go on her own.
During the next few months she prepared her 5th album herself. The album was called “I Have
A Son”. It was dedicated to her, now 10 months old son, Luchezar – Junior and his father,
Luchezar – Senior and was released on the 28th of April, 2002 (Flowers day). The title song
was already a hit and it was followed by “Live For Two” and “Don’t Ask Why”. April next year
she was invited to open the “Bulgaro” restaurant in Canada with 6 successive concerts. Then
in May she sang for the Bulgarians in the Cyprian resort “Agia Napa”.
Her 6th solo album “Love Is Like A Shadow” saw public in January, 28, 2004. Tzvetelina
funded it herself. The first song off the record to hit charts was “Heart Of Stone” and the
song “Mum” landed her second price at the “Pirin Folk Bulgaria” festival in Bansko. It was
once again a doing of the team that created “Hurt Soul” and “I Have A Son”, Katiya
Kiriyanova and Svetoslav Loboshki. Other hits off that record proved to be “Internet Love”
and “I Was Loved”.
In the summer of 2005 Tzvetelina made the whole of Bulgaria dance under the sounds of her
smash-hits “A Day Too Late For The Fair” and “Chalga To The Max” both of them featuring DJ
Nicky Genov. The same year she stared in her sister Extra Nina’s big budget video for the
song “Lover” receiving superb reviews for it. That was followed by a duet between the two
sisters called “Inaccessible” and at the end of the year she released the ballad “My Body Is
Here But My Mind Is Elsewhere”.
2006 was a year of duets for Tzvetelina and Sasho Roman. Their songs “It’s Too Late” and 0
“Memories” captured all the fans and immediately became hits.
On Flower’s Day, 2007, Tzvety put out her 7th solo album called “Everything Happens For A
Reason”. The first song to be out was “Birthday” and it became a hit straightaway. The
second single off the record, “Maska tuge” (Mask Of Sorrow), a song in Serbian, achieved
even bigger success, becoming a huge hit in both Bulgaria and Serbia. It was included in
piratic compilations in Serbia even before the official release of the video accompanying
the song. In September, the same year, Tzvetelina won over all hearts at “Pirin Folk”
festival in Sandanski with “Letter From Abroad”, a song dedicated to all the people who live
and work abroad. It received no awards, but got all the audience’s love and applause deeply
touching everyone in the theater and in front of the TV Set.
Since this the beginning of this October, the flower of our pop-folk is a regular student at
the “Paisii Hilendarski”, Plovdiv University. She’ll be studying “Pop and Jazz Singing” for
the next four years.
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