Desi Slava

Desislava Ivanova Doneva (Десислава Иванова Донева; born 7 March 1979), known by her stage names Desi Slava (Деси Слава) or DESS, is a Bulgarian singer-songwriter and producer.

She was born in Radnevo, Bulgaria.

Her first stage appearances began at an early age, when she would win awards at festivals for children.

Shortly afterwards, she became the soloist of "Radnevo" orchestra.

This led to her being noticed by one of the most famous Bulgarian folklore singers of all time – Valkana Stoyanova, who took her under her wing, coached her and declared Desislava as her possible music heir.

When she was 18 years old, the biggest music company in Bulgaria Payner Music offered her a contract and she released her first studio album 'I Got No Problems' (Нямам проблеми), in which she wrote/co-wrote 5 out of the 11 songs.

The following year she released her second studio album Ези-Тура (Heads or Tails), which gained critical acclaim and performed great in sales, reaching golden status.

In 2002 Doneva released Мистерия (Mystery), after spending a year in the U.S. The new album surprised media and fans, presenting Desislava in a new light - both musically and appearance-wise.

Her third studio album Завинаги (Forever) released in 2003, was received very well by media and public.

The album produced the hit-single Beli Noshti (White nights), which became a super hit in the country and one of her most famous songs to date.

In 2003, she announced she has left "Payner Music", citing she felt limited in her musical and creative freedom by the company.

In early 2004, she founded her own company New Music Stars and released Любовта е само чувство (Love is just a feeling).

The album featured songs in different genres - pop-folk, dance, r&b, hip-hop and ragga.

In 2004, she released two albums — The Best of Desi Slava and the duet album Together — with Azis.

In 2005, she released Гореща следа (A Hot mark), producing pop, dance, Latin songs in Bulgarian, English and Spanish.

In 2006, she released the album Сладки сънища (Sweet dreams).

One of her bests according to critics.: The songs on the album presented diverse music styles - folk, pop, R & B, reggaeton, rock songs in Bulgarian, Spanish and English.

In 2007, Desislava was in the center of a huge media interest: she appeared on the cover of FHM Bulgaria magazine, and took part in Big Brother VIP edition.

She toured with The Comedians on a national tour, where she participated with singing and acting in some of the comedy acts along her actor co-stars, showing a different side to her artistry.

Desi Slava was the first star to be invited to MAD SECRET CONCERT, where she performed cover songs of Sade, Lenny Kravitz, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Aerosmith, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Bee Gees, Alannah Myles, Belinda Carlslile, Kylie Minogue, etc.

In 2007, Desi Slava fulfilled one of her dreams, releasing an unofficial Spanish-language album Estoy aqui.

For two years, along with other projects, she prepared songs in Spanish, mostly in the pop style and with a slight Caribbean and reggae influence.

Before the album was finished, it mysteriously leaked on the internet, leading her to make a decision not to release it.

However, some of the songs became internet hits.

In 2009, the album Послушай сърцето си (Listen to your heart) was released and it was well received by the critics and musicians - it relied not on a commercial sound, but on a deeper emotion.

In the same year, Single Agapi Mou / Loving you, (DesiSlava ft. Kostas Martakis) – dance-pop duet, created by "Symphonics" and produced by Desislava.

In Greece, the song was officially released in the album of Kostas Pio Konta, published by Universal Music Greece.

From 2009 to 2010, Desislava produced two young talents – Dzhemile (pop-folk, Balkan music, and folklore) and Nadia (pop, R&B, dance, soul).

In 2010 Desislava launched her own independent music TV channel, called DSTV, giving new Bulgarian artists the opportunity to show their music.

A year and a half later, in June 2011, she sold the television channel, in order to focus more on her music career.

In 2011, the single Калино моме (Boy George, Marc Vedo ft. DesiSlava) was released with music written by Boy George, lyrics and vocals by Desislava and arrangement by DJ Marc Vedo.

In 2011, an experimental album Slavatronica was released - a combination of electronic music and folklore.

The core of this band were the musicians from London – Vancho Manoilovich and Matt Cooper from "Incognito" and the Bulgarian musicians Vladimir Velichkov from "Kanarite", Atanas Slavov – Mravcho and Turaman.

The album was distributed only electronically – on Amazon, Spotify, MySpace, Medianet, eMusic, Nokia and others ...

In the same year, Desi started close cooperation with Romanian team, which resulted in her single "I like".

Consequently, she decided to change her name for the dance projects to DESS.

I like was a summer hit, taking all first places in pop charts.

This provided DESS with recognition by her colleagues from the pop industry.

In 2012, the song through which Desislava appeared on the Bulgarian Eurovision was released.

In the semi-final, Dess was selected as number 1 by a jury and audience.