Vasil Troyanov Boyanov, professionally known as Azis, is a Bulgarian recording artist, of Roma ethnicity. Azis initially rose to prominence in Eastern Europe performing songs mostly in chalga, a genre which can be described as the Bulgarian rendition of pop-folk. Azis has collaborated with other Bulgarian pop-folk singers, such as Gloria, Malina, Sofi Marinova, Toni Storaro, and with Bulgarian rap artists – Ustata and Vanko 1. Other than that, his repertoire includes duets with Serbian singers, including Indira Radić, Marta Savić and Jelena Karleuša. Boyanov performed "Let Me Cry" at the 2006 Eurovision song contest with Mariana Popova, staying in the semi-finals. Other than his acclaimed career as a vocalist, he competed unsuccessfully in the Bulgarian parliamentary election of 2005 as a member of the EuroRoma party. Azis remains a prominent figure in the Bulgarian music scene, and enjoys popularity in other Balkan countries, which include Romania, Serbia, Greece, and North Macedonia.
Biography
Azis was born Vasil Troyanov Boyanov in Sliven, although his childhood was spent in Kostinbrod and Sofia. In 1989, after the fall of communism in Bulgaria, he moved with his family to Germany. There, his sister, Matilda, and brother Ryan were born. Azis married Nikolay Petrov Parvanov on 1 October 2006. Their marriage is not legally recognized under Bulgarian law. Azis' daughter was born on 5 August 2007 and was named Raya. Her mother is Azis' longtime friend, Gala. In 2008, Azis and Parvanov separated amicably.
Homosexuality controversies
In late November 2007, Boyko Borisov, then mayor of Sofia, censored billboards of Azis kissing Niki Kitaetsa, which pictured both men shirtless on the basis they were too graphic in nature. The picture was then censored in other cities in Bulgaria.
Appearances
In 2007, Azis and Kitaetsa appeared in the VIP Brother 2 edition of Big Brother Bulgaria. Azis left the house voluntarily after nineteen days.
Azis was interviewed in the second episode of Michael Palin's New Europe.
In 2008 on PRO.BG, Azis co-hosted the talk showAzis' Late Night Show with actress Ekaterina Evro.
Azis was a contestant on the widely popular reality show :bg:Като две капки вода|Като две капки вода, which is the Bulgarian version of Your FaceSounds Familiar. After the 12 weeks and a wide spectre of enjoyed performances, he placed 2nd.
Covers
Greek laiko vocalist Panos Kiamos, made a cover of Azis' single Sen Trope entitled, Fotia me Fotia,. Serbian pop-folk singer Dragan Kojić Keba covered the same song as "Ona to zna", the Romanian singer Florin Salam as "Saint Tropez". In November 2012, the Greek singer Giorgos Tsalikis made a cover of Azis' song Hop, entitled Asto.
International acclaim
On 9 November 2011, a series of Azis' music videos were uploaded to Bilibili, a mainland Chinesevideo sharing website. The videos were numbered "av170001" and have been popular, even one of the hottest videos on Bilibili since 2016. As of February 2020, the videos have been viewed over 21 million times and have received 788 thousand danmus in all, and have been covered many times. Because of the wide spread of Hop, the first video of the series, Azis, known as "King of coquetry of Bulgaria ", has become famous among some Chinese youths.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
EPs (Maxi singles)
Videography / Songs
DVDs
2003: Шоу спектакъл
2004: Нищо лично
2004: The best videoclips
2004: Together with Desi Slava
2005: AZIS 2005
2005: Дуети
2006: Аз, Азис
2007: Azis
Collaborations
In 2011, Azis sang a duet called Sezam with Indira Radić, a Serbian singer, on her album Istok, sever, jug i zapad. After that, in 2012 he sang another duet with Serbian singer Marta Savić, which was featured on her studio album13. The song was called "Mama" and it was one of Balkan's hit songs in 2012.