The 58-year-old artist revealed how he was almost knocked down at the very start.
“Talents need support; mediocrity will break through on its own!” said Philipp Kirkorov. That is why, during a break between filming and performances, the artist agreed to head the jury of the All-Russian music competition "Sing in Your Soul."
Kirkorov, in support of young talents, shared that not everyone believed in his success at the time. Moreover, young Philipp was even told that he had no voice.
- I had a wonderful vocal teacher at Gnessin — Margarita Iosifovna Landa, who taught me to sing. She taught and trained me, — the artist shared with reporters. — She is perhaps the only teacher I will be indebted to for life because, when no one accepted me: neither in GITIS nor in Gnessin, hardly anyone believed in me, she was the only one who believed in me and taught me to sing,” Kirkorov recounted.
It was on television that the first person to notice Kirkorov and believe in his talent was the editor of the program "Wider Circle," Olga Molchanova.
- Olga Borisovna invited me to her show "Wider Circle," — recalled Philipp Kirkorov. — I was invited to television for the first time then, I was terribly nervous and didn’t even remember how I sang. I found out the air date, called all my friends and acquaintances the day before, and warned them to watch. It was very pleasant to see myself on screen, knowing that it was being shown to the whole country. Of course, deep down, I expected that in the morning, as it often happens, I would wake up famous — you know, coffee in bed, a "Mercedes" at the entrance! And I was unpleasantly surprised that nothing like that happened. I went outside, looking into people’s faces — like, here I am, I sang on television yesterday! — but, of course, no one really recognized me. I later realized that it’s not enough to appear once — even with a wonderful song. Television is hard work; it’s a long journey,” said the singer.
According to Kirkorov, he was often compared to Pushkin in his childhood. They said he had the same dark eyes and curly hair.
- In music school, teachers told me: “Wow, you look just like Pushkin!” Although in my Soviet childhood, many said I was a copy of singer Sergey Zakharov. And during my teenage years, I became the spitting image of Konstantin Raikin. So, in my childhood consciousness, two idols formed that I really wanted to meet. The first autograph I got was from Konstantin Raikin, who wrote after a concert at the Central House of Artists: “Philipp, come to the "Sovremennik," let’s be friends.” I was about 9 years old then,” the artist reminisced.
