Perhaps the strongest season of the music show “The Voice of Bulgaria” has officially ended, and the winner is Petya Paneva from Galena’s team, who won not only the huge recognition of the audience, but also the award of 50 thousand levs. Her achievement made Ivan Lechev bow his head, giving way to the coaching crown of the star from “Painer”, who for the first year is among the mentors in the show.
Unlike the foreign editions of the form, in which the judges traditionally open the grand finale with a joint performance of a world-famous song, tonight we did the six participants who sang the hit of the group One Republic – “Counting stars”. During this time, the mentors, in the faces of Lubo, Galena, Dara and Ivan Lechev, watched them, filled with pride, seated comfortably in their red chairs next to the stage.
However, this was only a warm-up for tonight’s last and biggest battle, in which the contenders for first place embarked only a few moments later. The epic vocal fight, which the audience watched with bated breath, took place in three rounds, and in each of them the talented contestants gave their best, revealing their full potential, hoping that it will not only impress the audience, but it will also bring them success.
In the first stage, they had to sing in a duet with an established native artist to support them, giving them confidence to shine with full force, winning the hearts of the people on the small screen who had the decisive word. The honor to start the musical battles fell to Georgi Kostadinov, who stood next to the former judge and winner of the show, before the appearance of the Master, of course – Miro. They decided to present the song of two of the brightest music stars ever born in Britain, namely “Don’t let the sun down on me” by Elton John and George Michael.
After them, the youngest participant in the show – 15-year-old Lydia Ganeva, and Grafa took the stage. Their joint performance, during which a different and sensual version of “I Want You” sounded, was a dream come true for the girl, who did not hide that Vladimir Ampov is one of her idols, and he shared that for him she is a precious diamond. The winner of the “Performer of the Year” award for 2003, who was the only one to succeed in removing the FSB guitarist from the throne of the show, revealed that he has known Lydia for a long time, as he wrote the song with which the girl once represented Bulgaria. Eurovision. According to him, she has come a long way, becoming a complete singer.
Third was the unusual Raya Dimitrova, who successfully built her own and recognizable style only at the age of 16, which set her apart from everyone else. She sang alongside Victoria Georgieva, who ranked our country 11th at this year’s Eurovision. The two performed “Tears Getting Sober” – the first selection of a song that was to represent our country at an international competition in Rotterdam. Georgieva shared that Dimitrova impressed her so much at the castings that she immediately wrote to her on Instagram to congratulate her.
Fourth were Ivan Ivanov and Atanas Penev from BTR, who delighted rock fans with “Are you gonna go my way” by Lenny Kravitz. Their performance made Ivan Lechev get up from his seat to embrace the representative of his team with the words: “I’ve been waiting for this all along“. In turn, the guest star said that Ivanov deserves the victory because he sings with his heart, what is wanted for this style of music.
Boris Hristov and Maria Ilieva came out fifth, joining the competition with “Endless Love” by Mariah Carey and Luther Vandors, but the one who raised the whole audience in the hall, making her chant her name, was Petya Paneva, who performed with Desi Dobreva “Katerino mome”. Although she appeared last, she caused a real sensation.
“This girl is gorgeous! It represents Bulgaria“, said the curly-haired singer, who gained popularity at the time in the” Show of Fame “.
The first stage ended with the elimination of two of the participants, namely Ivan Ivanov and Raya Dimitrova, who took sixth and fifth place in the competition, respectively, and the other four went ahead, presenting again the songs with which a few months ago appeared in the castings in the dark and they won the hearts of the judges who wished them on their team. And this time 21-year-old Petya from Varna managed to make those present in the hall jump from their seats to applaud her loudly.
The second round ended with the elimination of Lydia, who won fourth place, and the third was awarded to Boris. Taxi driver Georgi entered the decisive match, betting on Georgi Hristov’s “Black and White” for victory, while his rival Petya chose to compete with him, performing the most emblematic song of the legendary Yanka Rupkina “Kalimanku Denku”. In the end, however, the love for the native folklore, preserving our history and traditions, prevailed, awarding the grand prize to the girl, whom Lubo Kirov called “the great treasure of little Bulgaria”.
“Many thanks to the whole of Bulgaria for voting for the Bulgarian to win! I love you!“was the only thing Paneva, trembling with excitement, managed to say through tears, seconds after her triumph was announced.
When she first appeared in the forum, she identified her parents as the most important factor in her attraction to music and her desire to break through. In her video business card, Petya said that she came to the castings because of her family, who support her unconditionally.
