Equinox (Bulgarian band)

Equinox is a group of five artists that represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon with the song "Bones", coming 14th with 166 points.[1]

Equinox
Equinox at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 (l-r: Vlado Mihailov, Johnny Manuel, Georgi Simeonov, Trey Campbell, Zhana Bergendorff)
Background information
OriginBulgaria
Years active2018-present
LabelsSymphonix International, Universal Music Group
MembersZhana Bergendorff
Georgi Simeonov
Vlado Mihailov
Trey Campbell
Johnny Manuel

Equinox is the first Bulgarian band with contract with Universal. The five-member band consists of Bulgarian singers Zhana Bergendorff, Georgi Simeonov, and Vlado Mihailov, and American singers Johnny Manuel and Trey Campbell.[2][3] According to Borislav Milanov, who is the producer of the song, the name "Equinox" comes from the term equinox which is the day where the daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration all over the planet. This day is celebrated around the world and it is important for all major religions. Milanov also states that "Equinox" also comes from equal, meaning all members of the group are equal.

Members

Zhana Bergendorff

Zhana Bergendorff (Bulgarian: Жана Бергендорф), was born on 20 October 1985 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She started singing at the age of 7. She comes from a family of musicians, her mother and grandparents were musicians. When she was 18 years old she moved to sing in South Korea. She lived there until 2010 and later moved to Denmark with her fiancé Stefan, whom she met in South Korea in 2007. In Denmark she entered X Factor Denmark.[4] In 2013, she participated and won the second series of Bulgarian X Factor. [5] As an artist for "Virginia Records" she has had hits like "Samurai", which became the most broadcast song on Bulgarian air for 5 weeks, "Igraem s teb do kraya", featuring Kristo, "Nevuzmojni sme sami" and "Dokrai (Докрай)". She won the award for the Bulgarian Debut of the year during the 2015 BG radio awards and Woman of the year 2014 from Grazia. During 2014 and 2015 she was included in a Forbes Bulgaria list for the most influential popular figures in Bulgaria. Zhana has one son called Leon born in 2010. She speaks Bulgarian, English, Korean and Danish.

Georgi Simeonov

Georgi Simeonov known as JJ (Джей Джей), is a singer, songwriter and vocal producer. He debuted in the popular Bulgarian boy band 032 at the age of 16. In 2013 he began his solo career and released the songs "Po-dobre, che razbrah" and "Dilar na lubov". In 2009 he started teaching pop, soul and RnB singing and has masterclasses in Sofia and Plovdiv. He worked as vocal producer for the albums of one of Bulgaria’s biggest music artists. Every year together with his students he does charity concerts to help children suffering from diabetes, cancer patients, children with disabilities, children with autism and childhood cerebral palsy. In 2014 he took part in The Voice of Summer Tour. He participated in the last edition of X Factor Romania.

Vlado Mihailov

Vladimir Mahailov better known as Vlado Mihailov is Bulgarian singer/songwriter and actor and the front man of the popular Bulgarian groups Safo and Sleng. Prior to being part of Equinox, he was part of the Bulgarian delegation as a backing vocalist for Kristian Kostov in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. As an actor, he has played in two of Bulgaria’s biggest movies of 2017 – Benzin (Heights) and All She Wrote. He is a co-author and co-producer of all songs by Sleng after joining the band. He is a songwriter for many Bulgarian artists. He was invited to play the leading roles in the Bulgarian production of Mamma Mia!. He has worked as a voice actor in the Bulgarian dubbing of animated films like Frozen, Tangled, or The Muppets, among others.

Trey Campbell

Trey Campbell is a Los Angeles based songwriter and is one of the composers of "Bones". Trey has written music for artists like Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, Julie Bergan and Alexandra Stan.

Johnny Manuel

Johnny Manuel is originally from Flint, Michigan, United States. Johnny has been a performer since childhood, touring with NSYNC at the age of 14. His performance of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" on America's Got Talent in 2017, where he eventually reached the Semi-Finals, accumulated over 270 million views on social media. After America's Got Talent he released two singles, "Come Alive" and "Blind Faith" and began working on his debut album with Symphonix International. He was also a finalist on the ninth series of The Voice Australia.

Career

2018–present: Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2018

On 12 March 2018, it was announced by Bulgarian National Television, that Equinox will represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The song “Bones” is produced by Symphonics International, who were behind Bulgaria's 2016 and 2017 Eurovision entries, placing 4th and 2nd respectively. The song is composed by Borislav Milanov, Trey Campbell, Joacim Persson and Dag Lundberg. The project Equinox was created specially for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, spearheaded by composer Borislav Milanov. Speaking of this project, he noted that, "Initially I had different plans for this song, but for the longest time I wasn't able to find suitable artist for it. Everything changed in 180 degrees, when Georgi Simeonov - JJ, called me to ask if I had suitable song for Eurovision, as he wanted to take part in the BNT selection. When he recorded parts of the song, I realized that something unique can come out of this if I include different voices. Every new artist that joined the project brought some new emotion and history, which upgraded that song more and more. From that point there was not turning back - without any of the artists, 'Bones' lost its charge, emotion and feeling. That is why they stayed together, so we won't sacrifice the way the song sounded. This is the first project of this kind that we have ever done, group is created for the song and the opposite. That song is the proof that the music is bigger than any of us, bigger than any ego, because this project combined people from different cultures with different worldview". Days after the Eurovision Song Contest finals, the group announced that it would 'continue to exist' after signing with Universal Music Group.[6]

Discography

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
BUL[7] SWE
Heat.
[8]
"Bones" 2018 34 Non-album single

References
  1. Bulgaria reveals Equinox and Bones for Eurovision escdaily Retrieved 11 March 2018
  2. "Bulgaria:Equinox releases "Bones"". Eurovoxx.net. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  3. Halpin, Chris (12 March 2018). "Bulgaria: Five-person group Equinox will sing "Bones" at Eurovision 2018". Wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. "Zhana before X Factor". 24 Chasa. 2 November 2013.
  5. "Zhana is the new X Factor". Dnes bg. 21 December 2013.
  6. Diaz, Sebastian (18 May 2018). "Bulgaria's Equinox will 'continue to exist' in deal with Universal Music Group". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  7. "Седмична класация на BMAT за топ 10 на най-слушаните български песни в ефира за периода 16.03.2018 – 22.03.2018 - Профон / Prophon". www.facebook.com (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  8. "Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 20, 18 maj 2018". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
Preceded by
Kristian Kostov
with "Beautiful Mess"		 Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
2018		 Succeeded by
Victoria
with "Tears Getting Sober"
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