Katya Chilly, aka Ekaterina Petrovna Kondratenko, is a bright star in the domestic Ukrainian stage. A fragile woman attracts attention not only with strong vocal abilities.
Despite the fact that Katya is already over 40 years old, she manages to "keep the mark" - a thin camp, an ideal face and a fighting "mood" still interest the audience.
Ekaterina Kondratenko was born on July 12, 1978 in Kyiv. From early childhood, the girl began to show interest in music.
As a student of the 1st grade, Katya entered a music school. There, the girl learned to play string instruments and piano.
In addition to the fact that Catherine mastered playing several musical instruments at once, she studied vocals. A little later, Kondratenko became part of the Orel ensemble.
Participation in the ensemble finally convinced the girl that she wanted to devote her life to the stage.
From early childhood, Katya was a very versatile child. This helped at the age of 8 to declare his talent throughout Ukraine. Kondratenko performed the musical composition "33 cows" in the program "Children of Chernobyl".
The program was broadcast on the central television of the USSR. Actually, this performance determined the further fate of Catherine. As a teenager, Kondratenko will hold in his hands his first Fant Lotto “Nadezhda” award.
Then the girl, by a lucky chance, caught the eye of Sergei Ivanovich Smetanin, who offered the girl cooperation, as a result of which the young singer recorded the first album "Mermaids In Da House".
Then Catherine got a creative pseudonym Katya Chilly. Despite the fact that already in her teens, Catherine spent most of her time in a recording studio, this did not stop her from "nibbling on the granite of science."
Her parents insisted that Kondratenko have an education behind her.
As a teenager, Katya became a student at the Lyceum at the National University, and then studied as a philologist-folklorist, enrolling in a prestigious higher educational institution.
Kondratenko's thesis work was devoted to the study of ancient pra-civilization. The girl graduated from graduate school in Kyiv and Lyublino.
Creative way and music of Ekaterina Kondratenko
Folklore themes formed the basis of the debut album of Ukrainian singer Katya Chilly. Then, on the Ukrainian stage, she didn’t really have anyone to compete with, which led to an increase in the popularity of the young performer.
In the late 1990s, Catherine, at the invitation of MTV head Bill Rowdy, took part in the filming of programs for this channel, which increased the singer's rating.
Catherine understood that in order to increase her popularity, she needed not only to develop in her native country.
The singer's voice was often heard at the Chervona Ruta festival. Most importantly, she traveled abroad to participate in international projects, one of which was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
If we talk about the work of Katya Chilly, then her work and performances are professionalism, originality and absolute individuality.
All the events that accompanied Katya testified that a new star had appeared on the Ukrainian stage.
Katya Chilly injury
The popularity of the Ukrainian singer knew no bounds. In addition, the authority of Katya Chilly has strengthened at the international level. Therefore, what happened to the artist at one of the performances was unexpected for Katya herself.
During the performance, Katya suffered a lot. The fact is that the performer stumbled and fell off the stage. Initially, the audience did not take it seriously.
But then it became known that Catherine received serious injuries to her back, spine and head. Alexander Polozhinsky provided the girl with first aid before the ambulance arrived.
The doctors who arrived at the scene said that they could not promise anything. Catherine did not come to her senses for a long time. Her health deteriorated.
Many have already put an end to the singer, as she disappeared from the media space. And Katya herself was in despair. Later, the artist admitted that she no longer hoped to return to the stage.
Health problems and worries served as a pretext for the development of serious depression. Relatives and time helped Ekaterina overcome this condition.
It's very difficult for an artist to stay locked up. It is even more difficult to realize that there is no "pass" to the stage in the near future.
Despite the tragic events, Katya Chilly pulled herself together and presented her second album, Dream. Interestingly, with the tracks of this collection, the singer managed to perform in more than 40 cities in the UK.
After a concert in London, which was broadcast live by the BBC, one of the prestigious companies offered Katya to shoot a video clip for one of the hits for a year-long show on the channel.
Musical experiments of the singer
Katya Chilly, after rehabilitation, began musical experiments. In 2006, the discography of the Ukrainian singer was replenished with the disc “I am young”.
In addition, in the same 2006, the maxi-single “Pivni” was re-released, which was created with the participation of many famous DJs of that time: Tka4, Evgeny Arsentiev, DJ Lemon, Professor Moriarti and LP. A music video was also released for this track.
The bonus of the album "I'm Young" was the musical composition "Over the Gloom". Katya Chilly performed this track in a duet with the popular Ukrainian singer Sashko Polozhinsky.
A little later, a new version of "Ponad gloomy" appeared, performed by the singer and the TNMK group. In total, the collection includes 13 tracks. The compositions were popular: "Bow", "Krashen Vechir", "Zozulya".
The song "I'm Young" is interesting because you can hear a mix of folklore and electronic music in it. Folklore was the material for the text of the songs.
After the release of this album, Katya Chilly moved away from the usual performance of tracks. The singer focused only on acoustic music. Ekaterina changed the composition of the team.
Now the girl, together with the team, travels with her live concerts to all corners of Ukraine. She does not use a phonogram.
Now in the artist's music one can clearly hear the sounds of piano, violin, double bass, darbuka, percussion instruments.
In addition, the girl has a special style of performance - she takes off her shoes before each stage appearance, performs compositions barefoot.
The performer is invited as a headliner by many Ukrainian music festivals: Spivochі Terasi, Golden Gate, Chervona Ruta, Antonych-Fest, Rozhanitsya.
The discography of Katya Chilly has only 5 studio albums. Despite this, her authority on the Ukrainian stage is very significant. The performances of the singer, which are sold out, deserve considerable attention.
At the end of 2016, Katya Chilly took part in the popular program “People. Hard talk. The girl talked about what she is currently doing in life. In addition, she spoke about her creative plans.
Katya Chilly's personal life
Katya Chilly very rarely shares information about her personal life with journalists. It is only known that Catherine is married to Andrei Bogolyubov, who worked with her for a long time in the same team.
At one of the press conferences, the singer said that she even changed her maiden name to the name of her husband as a sign of her love. And for a star, this is a big step, since celebrities rarely change their last name.
What is in the Bogolyubovs' house is behind the scenes. For Catherine, her home is the holy of holies, so journalists rarely visit the singer.
A few years ago, Ekaterina and Andrei became parents for the first time. The first-born was born in their family, who was named Svyatozar. Interestingly, the singer is already taking her little son to her performances, because the family should always be together.
Katya Chilly today
In 2017, the seventh season of the Voice of the Country show began on the air of the 1 + 1 TV channel. During one of the auditions, Ekaterina Chilly appeared on the stage.
The Ukrainian singer pleased the audience and the judges of the project with an excellent performance of the musical composition "Svetlitsa".
Katya did a good job on her image - she performed on stage in a cotton scarf, a canvas dress, and a special sign flaunted on her chest.
The performance of the singer was highly appreciated not only by the audience, but also by the judges. The judges turned to face Catherine and were delighted that a star with a “name” appeared in front of them.
Many fans said that it was Catherine who would win. But as a result, the singer left the show a step before the finale.
2018-2019 Katya decided to devote to her fans. The Ukrainian singer with her program traveled almost every corner of her native country.
It should be recognized that participation in the show "Voice of the Country" benefited the singer. Ekaterina's rating has increased significantly since that moment.
In 2020, Katya Chilly took part in the national selection for Eurovision 2020. The singer, who at one time appeared on MTV, which was shown on the BBC, sang the mantra song “Pich” for the audience.
However, Ekaterina did not reach the final. According to the jury, the selected composition will not be entirely clear to European listeners.
