Poli Genova

Life and career

Poli Genova was born on 10 February 1987 in Sofia. She started her music career in 1991 and became the first member of the Bulgarian children's ensemble Bon-Bon in 1996, also hosting the group's eponymous TV show. With Bon-Bon, she performed alongside Bulgarian singers Georgi Hristov, Yordanka Hristova, and Neli Rangelova. Bulgarian National Television awarded her a special prize at the Golden Orpheus Festival for a duet with Rangelova.

In 1997, Bon-Bon took part in the Slavianski Bazaar festival in Vitebsk. She left the ensemble in 2001. Genova graduated from the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music, where she studied clarinet, and later attended the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. She was part of the UNICEF charity project The Magnificent Six.

2009–2015: Eurovision 2011 and X Factor Bulgaria

In 2009, she was a finalist in Bulgaria's Eurovision national selection with "One Lifetime Is Not Enough," finishing second. She won the national selection in 2011 with "Na inat" and represented Bulgaria at Eurovision 2011, but the song did not qualify for the final, placing 12th in the second semi-final. After Eurovision, she became a mentor on season one of X Factor Bulgaria. She released the album "1, 2, 3" in 2014.

On 21 October 2015, it was announced she would host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia. On 19 February 2016, Bulgarian National Television internally selected her to represent Bulgaria again at Eurovision with "If Love Was a Crime." Bulgarian jazz musician Theodosii Spassov, who plays kaval, contributed to the song alongside composers Sebastian Arman, Boris Milanov, and Joacim "Twin" Persson. The track received positive reviews from Eurovision websites such as Wiwibloggs.

She performed it at pre-Eurovision parties in Riga, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, and London. Genova became the first Bulgarian entrant to qualify for the Eurovision final since Elitsa & Stoyan in 2007, and she placed fourth in the final, which was Bulgaria's highest finish at the time. The song charted on iTunes in 26 countries and was streamed five million times on Spotify. Following Eurovision, she performed a show for 12,000 people at Arena Armeec in Bulgaria and performed "If Love Was a Crime" at the BG Radio Music Awards 2016, where she received the BG Ambassador of the Year statuette.

On 5 June 2016, she performed at Clapham Grand Theatre in London. She was a special guest at the 2016 MAD Video Music Awards in Athens, performing with Greek singer Demy. Genova and Destiny Chukunyere were the interval acts at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Malta. She became a coach on The Voice of Bulgaria in 2017 for its fourth season and remained for the fifth season.