Kamelia Todorova is a Bulgarian singer and film actress. Among her long-time musical collaborators are Lyudmil Georgiev, Zhivko Petrov, Angel Zaberski-son, Mihail Yosifov and others. She has performed together with the group "Mingus Dynasty", Milcho Leviev, Albert Mangelsdorf and Don Cherry. She has been in a joint program with performers such as Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Preston and Louis Belson.
Kamelia Kirilova Todorova was born on January 21, 1954 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her parents are Stoyka Aleksandrova Todorova, a singer in the "Svetoslav Obretenov" choir chapel, and Kiril Kostov Todorov, a translator and jazz fan. Her paternal grandfather was Kosta Todorov.
As a child, she was involved in ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. They spoke French, but in her teens, Kamelia decided to start learning English on her own. From her mother, she inherited a love for classical music, plastic arts and sports, and from her father - for foreign languages, jazz and cinema[2].
She graduated from the Technical School of Interior Architecture and Woodworking (1972), followed by her first stage appearances as an actress between 1972 and 1975 with the experimental theater troupe "4+4" directed by Nikolay Georgiev. There, she learned about her singing abilities, so she began taking singing lessons with Katya Spiridonova, and in 1975, after the "4+4" theater closed and was not accepted into the VITIZ, she began studying singing at the Variety Department of the National Academy of Music with Irina Chmikhova. She graduated in 1976. Influenced by pianists Sasho Mirev and Mario Stanchev, Kamelia turned to jazz.
In 1978 she debuted at the Second Review of Bulgarian Jazz Orchestras in the "Universiada" hall with the Lyudmil Georgiev quintet, and a year later she won Second Prize at the Competition for Young Jazz Singers in Lublin, Poland, as well as the special Duke Ellington Prize. This was followed by participation with awards at festivals in Bombay, Bratislava and Warsaw, a recital at the Jazz Festival in Malta and participation in show programs at the "Friedrichstadtpalais" music theater in Berlin. At the Jazz Yatra festival in Bombay/Mumbai, due to the lack of a backing band, she persuaded Stan Getz's rhythm section to accompany her in a completely improvised and successful performance.
In the early 1980s, Kamelia Todorova, together with the Bulgarian National Radio Big Band and conductor Vili Kazasyan, recorded successful pop songs, including: "Don't Look at Me Like This, Boy", "Whispered Dreams" and "Let This World Be in Love" (the latter two are often mistaken for "The Last Taxis Are Flying" and "I'm Waiting for You Early in the Morning" respectively, because of their opening verses), which remain a trademark in the singer's repertoire.
In 1980, her first full-length album was released – "Sofia Dixieland and Kamelia Todorova". Not long after, a series of awards followed. To his awards for jazz performances, he added prizes from popular music competitions - the Grand Prix of the "Golden Orpheus" (1980) for the songs "Staya na relsi" (music: Alexander Brazitsov, lyrics: Mihail Belchev) and Maybe This Time ("Mozhe bi tozi pat") from the film "Cabaret"), as well as the Grand Prix of the International Schlager Festival in Dresden (1982), where he performed with the song Auf diesen Tag hab' ich gewartet ("I was waiting for this day"), known in its Bulgarian version as "Discovery", with music by Alexander Brazitsov and lyrics by Matey Stoyanov.
At that time, she also participated in several successful Bulgarian films. She played one of the main roles in "The Queen of Tarnovo" (1981), and also participated in "Monologue for the Little Pig" (1981), "Privil na nejnost" (1983), which was stopped after her departure from Bulgaria later that year, and "Bon shans, inspektore!" (1983).
On June 4 and 5, 1982, she was among the foreign guests who took part in the 21st edition of the "Slovenska popevka" festival (in the then Yugoslavia). She won the 3rd prize of the international jury for performing a song by a Slovenian author, along with the Italian Rossella Caprioli.
In 1983, at a music festival in Thessaloniki, Kamelia met her future husband Michael Kunstman, decided to marry him, and so from the island of Corfu, the two left for Italy, with Kamelia introducing herself under the name Lilia Marani and dyeing her hair blonde so as not to be recognized. On July 25, 1984, the couple's fraternal twins were born: Rachel-Lilia and Miriam-Rebecca.
Camelia signed a contract with the music company Virgin Records (Great Britain) under the stage name Camy Todorow and in September 1985 released her first single, Bursting at the Seams, recorded together with “Queen“ drummer Roger Taylor, at the band's Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland. The eponymous 12-inch record includes a remix of the song, its instrumental, as well as another song – Don't Stop It, I Like It.
The single was promoted in Germany, where on April 17, 1986, Kamelia appeared on the music show Show & Co. mit Carlo and performed the song.[10] Her next single, Chain of Fools, was released in 1987, which, like Bursting at the Seams, was released as a single and an LP. The back of both LPs featured the song The Day of the Storm (On the Edge of Paradise), written by Kamelia.
After returning to Bulgaria in the 1990s, Kamelia released several studio albums and participated in various pop and jazz projects. In 1991, the album 2 Souls in 1 ("Two Souls in One") by "Balkanton" was released, which included her singles Bursting at the Seams and Chain of Fools and other songs recorded during her stay in Germany. Videos were shot for most of the songs.
In 1994, the album "Mood" was released, with all her songs recorded before her departure abroad in the 1980s. A video was shot for the song "Whispered Dreams".
In 1996, "Attraction" was released, recorded together with the FSB and released by the music company "Marcos Music". The songs "No dali", "Siño", "Na kolene" and "Samota" were filmed by him.
In 1998 and 1999, together with Vasil Petrov and Stefka Onikyan, she participated in anniversary concerts on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, organized by Lyudmil Georgiev. In 1998, she was invited to the first edition of the International Jazz Festival in Bansko and since then has been a regular participant in the program with various musical formations. The same year, the maxi single "Dokosvane" was released with an English version. The following year, it was the turn of the single "Bezkrajno" and the telenovela "Dokosvane" starring Kamelia and Nikolay Sotirov in the lead roles.
The new millennium for Kamelia began with the release of the album Pearls in 2000, featuring jazz songs. In 2003, her next studio album – Pleasure ("Удоволствие“) was released and she celebrated her 25th anniversary on stage with a big concert at the National Palace of Culture.
Since 2006, she has been teaching singing and vocal technique at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. On February 23 of the same year, her last studio album – Feels Like... was released, which was sold with a special issue of the magazine "Жената днес“. A video was shot for the song I've Got the Music in Me.
In 2008, the single As One/В едно, written by her daughter Rachel, was released, and a video was shot for the Bulgarian version of the song. The same year, the singer was one of the twelve stars in the music show for duets with novice performers “Sing with Me“.
In 2010, she recorded with Lyubo Kirov the song “Do You Want?“, included in the album “Lyubo 2010“. In May 2011, she received the “Golden Age“ award from the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria for outstanding contribution to the field of Bulgarian art. In August of the same year, she joined the campaign for the October 23 elections as a candidate for vice president in a pair with businessman Dimitar Kutsarov.
On May 9, 2014, she received the "Ana-Maria Tonkova for BG Inspiration" award at the BG Radio Annual Music Awards.[15] On September 15 of the same year, she participated in the reality show "Big Brother – Obraztsov Dom" on Nova Television.
On January 21, 2015, she released the single "Otnachalo" with a video clip shot for it on the occasion of her birthday. On June 14 and 21 of the same year, in the show "Atelie" on BNT 2 and BNT Svyat in two episodes, called "Otnachalo", she talks about her work and life. On September 18, she performed the concert "Nights in White Satin" in the open air in front of the "Vrana" Palace.
On May 18, 2016, she performed the concert "Nights in White Satin" in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture with the participation of the "Svetoslav Obretenov" National Philharmonic Choir, dedicated to Alexander Brazitsov, who passed away on March 29 of the same year, with whom she recorded the first songs from her repertoire in the 1980s before leaving abroad. At the concert, she presented for the first time her new song "Beautiful Memory", written by her daughter Rahel. The concert was broadcast on BNT 1 on October 27 of the same year.
On January 13, 2017, the program director of radio "Jazz FM" Svetoslav Nikolov organized the program “Jazz Stories“, dedicated to Bulgarian jazz and in which Kamelia was the first guest. In a four-part interview, the singer talks about her life and career in detail. A month later, Kamelia and Zhivko Petrov went on a tour together, called “The Concert“, in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Shumen, Veliko Tarnovo and Gabrovo. In the summer, the two of them performed at the “Nishville“ jazz festival in Niš, Serbia, at the 20th edition of the Bansko Jazz Festival, as well as at “Apolonia“ in Sozopol together with Orlin Pavlov. On December 28 and 29, she gave two holiday concerts in the “Bulgaria“ hall together with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Slavil Dimitrov and with special guests Orlin Goranov and Vasil Petrov.
In 2018, two new songs with possible videos for them are scheduled to be released: the one presented at the concert in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture in 2016, "Beautiful Memory" and "Gently and Slowly".
Kamelia Todorova married Michael Kunstman in 1983 and the two settled in West Germany. From their marriage, two daughters were born - Miriam-Rebecca and Rahel-Lilia, born on July 25, 1984 in Munich. After returning to Bulgaria in the early 1990s, Kamelia included her daughters in her performances and concerts as backing vocalists, but later they themselves refused to continue.
Miriam decided to engage in music management, and Rahel graduated from the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov“ majoring in pop and jazz singing, and since 2006 she has been working together with DJ Strahil Velchev, known under his stage name KiNK, and only in 2012 did she release her first single, Follow the Step, under the stage name Rachel Rowe (Rowe is an abbreviation of the Todorow surname, with which the twins were born).
Rachel is also involved in writing songs and lyrics – she has written for her mother, as well as for Maria Ilieva, Ruth Koleva, Lyubo Kirov and Santra. She has released a total of five songs: Follow the Step, L Square, Here and Now, Hot/Cold and Sparks, for which videos have been shot.
Jazz legend Kamelia Todorova will celebrate her personal holiday today. And as befits a music star's birthday, she will do so with a concert at Sofia's “In The Mood Jazz Club” from 8 p.m. A night that will be remembered with timeless and unforgettable hits.