Viktor Ivanovich Korolev (born July 26, 1961) is a Russian singer and songwriter specializing in the Russian chanson music genre.
He won the award in both 2011 and 2019.
In 1992, he was awarded a diploma at the Golden Stag International Pop Song Festival in BraÃÂov, Romania.
Korolev was born in Tayshet, USSR on July 26, 1961. His mother, Alexandra Vasilievna, was a teacher in Siberia, and his father worked at the construction site of the Abakan-Taishet Railway. Korolev attended public school from 1968 to 1976.
From 1977 to 1981, Victor studied at the majoring in piano. In 1981, he tried to attend theater school but did not succeed. By 1982, Korolev had been drafted to the Soviet Army, where he was stationed in Belarus as a private in missile forces, where he considered himself "fortunate" to participate in the military orchestra. According to Korolev, army musicians in the orchestra had special privileges including time off and the ability to see films in theater. Korolev has described the army musician life as a type of "army bohemia".
In 1984, he was accepted to Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1988. After graduating, he worked with theatrical director and was featured in films, mostly prominently in 1990 Soviet-Italian-Spanish-Moroccan film The Battle of the Three Kings as well as 1993's áøûÃÂÃÂàò þúýõ ýðÿÃÂþÃÂøò () and 1993's ÃÂóÃÂðõü "ÃÂþüñø", øûø ÃÂø÷ýàÿþÃÂûõ ñøÃÂò ().
He began recording albums from 1992 onwards.
The comedic claymation music video for Korolev's song "ÃÂð÷ðÃÂ-ÃÂþú÷ðû" () was released in 1997, which Korolev referred to as the first animated music video in Russia.