The Golden Blackbird (“Zlatniat kos”) is the first and only festival of humorous and satirical songs in Bulgaria. Created by the team of Humor, satire and entertainment department at the Bulgarian National Radio, its first edition took place on the International Day of Humor - April 1 back in 1975. Over the years, it became, in the words of Boris Arnaoudov (its producer and writer) a "faithful slave and domineering king of laughter" and generously distributed good mood.

Recollections of Boris Arnaoudov stored in the Golden Sound Archives of the Bulgarian National Radio:

 “The idea appeared at the end of 1974, Boris Arnaoudov recalls. “At the time when starting a new show not only an identification tune but also a poem was invented. Its goal was to explain the show in an artistic way, and it was also turned into a song. Thus the first humorous and satirical songs were born. Initiators of the Golden Blackbird festival were then editor-in-chief Katya Vodenicharova, music editor Angel Georgiev and the first script writer of the Golden Blackbird, Vassil Sotirov.”

Katya Vodenicharova - One of the ideological driving forces of the Golden Blackbird festival recalls:

"The festival was conceived as a benevolent parody of the International Festival of popular song "The Golden Orpheus ". It started with the same identification tune and following its example - with hosts who announced the performers in several languages. At the closing event there were congratulations, flower baskets, many prizes were handed out. It was a spectacular performance, in which the songs were performed by dramatic and comic actors, some of them even started singing because of the Golden Blackbird. Much credit for this belongs to the composer Dimitar Valchev - he was teaching and leading them. The actors themselves were seeking their costumes and thus they got inspired along their participation, as if they were doing a major role in their career."

The Golden Blackbird features the best Bulgarian artists: poets - satirists and composers of popular music and theater. And of course, the best dramatic and comic actors. In the first years the format of the festival was of concerts. The script is based on miniatures, as each one is not only sung, but also played on stage. The whole staff of Humor, satire and entertainment department was involved in the preparation of the Golden Blackbird. All are engaged and involved, and it quickly became popular with its acute social reflection, spiritual conflicts, and irony ... "I think this was primarily due to the poems which raised its artistic level”, says Boris Arnaoudov working for the festival since its establishment.

"The years keep going away, the concert form begins to get exhausted, and the parody cannot last forever”, he continues. “In 1988 I became its producer. We changed its form - we started looking for dramaturgy. The Golden Blackbird turned into a spectacle in which very important is the intervention of the director. I had no concerns about what will happen on stage. The actors were very conscientious, they invented scenes themselves which they presented to the audience. I tried to introduce rules for the selection of works to eliminate any interference. I gave the poems for reading without the names of the authors so as to have an objective assessment of the proposed material. In my opinion, it was created by the people who most deserved and have contributed to the artistic level, which over the years has been preserved. I was trying to avoid conveniently light jokes, which now inundate the Bulgarian theater stages and television screens. We made songs based on the poems of the classics: Hristo Botev, Ivan Vazov, Hristo Smirnenski, Dimitar Podvarzachov. For the 40 editions of the Golden Blackbird in the archives of radio about 750 original Bulgarian songs are preserved."

Dedicated to the festival, Boris Arnaoudov wrote verses of the song Zlatnite, “The golden ones”, which for years was the closing tune of the show. The music is by Yanko Miladinov (longtime conductor of the Big Band of the Bulgarian National Radio) and the performance - of actors united under the name of vocal group "The Golden Ones".

English Rossitsa Petcova