Ludmilla Diakovska

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lucylicious

---

Img_capt = Diakovska on-stage at the Kieler Woche
on June 27, 2008.
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ludmilla Diakovska
Alias = Lucy
Lucylicious
Born = Birth date and age|1976|4|2|mf=y
Died =
Origin = Pleven, Bulgaria
Associated_acts = Nadja Benaissa, Sandy Mölling, No Angels, Vanessa Petruo, Jessica Wahls
Genre = Pop, pop rock
Occupation = Singer, songwriter, music producer, stage actress, television personality
Years_active = 2000-present (group)
2004-present (solo)
Label = Island (2004)
Edel (2005-present)
URL = [http://www.lucylicious.tv/ Lucylicious.tv]

Ludmilla "Lucy" Diakovska ( _bg. Людмила Дяковска, "Lyudmila Dyakovska"; born April 2, 1976 in Pleven, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian singer-songwriter, music producer, dancer and musical actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German media.cite web|work=Presseportal|title="BLITZ Spezial über die No Angels"|url=http://www.presseportal.de/pm/6708/966608/sat_1|accessdate=5 April|accessyear=2007]

After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Diakovska released two singles and her solo album "Lucylicious" under her same-titled stage name in 2005. In 2008, she became a member of the jury on the second season "Music Idol" and "Starmania", the Bulgarian and Austrian version of the "Idol series" respectively.

Early life

Diakovska is the oldest child of Lubomir Diakovski, an opera singer, and Rositza Diakovska, a pianist. Her younger brother named Alexander (b. 1982) is a professional basketball player. Her grandfather is a famous Bulgarian folk composer.

At the age of six she got her first stage performance at a local opera house and in the following years she trained herself in singing and dancing. After her high school graduation in 1994 Diakovska decided to move to Germany to get trained at the Stage School of Music, Dance and Drama in Hamburg. At the same time she worked as a dancer for the musical "Buddy", where she even got hold of a recurring role a little later.

Recording career

2000—2003: Breakthrough with the No Angels

Encouraged to chance her luck in the professional music business, Diakovska decided to audition for the 2000 debut of the German reality television program "Popstars". She entered the competition with thousands of other women, and the judges, Simone Angel, Rainer Moslener and Mario M. Mendryzcki, were impressed with her performance in Hamburg. She earned a position in the top thirty finalists and immediately travelled to Majorca, Spain to join her competitors for a workshop there. In the end Diakovska made it to the final ten on the show, and during a special episode in November 2000, jury member Moslener disclosed that she was chosen to become part of the final girl group "No Angels".

With the final five members of the band in place, "Popstars" continued tracking the development and struggles of the group who left homes to move into a shared flat near Munich, Bavaria. However, it took another four months until the band released their debut single "Daylight in Your Eyes," which would subsequently appear on the band's debut album "Elle'ments" (2001). Both the single and the album became an unexpected but record-breaking success, when both instantly entered the top position on the Austrian, German and Swiss "Media Control" singles, albums and airplay charts, making the No Angels one of the most successful debuts in years. [cite web|title="No Angels - Biography"|work= Chart-King|url=http://www.chart-king.de/include.php?path=content/news.php&contentid=13098|language=German|accessdate=January 31|accessyear=2007] In the following years the No Angels released another two number-one studio albums, "Now ... Us!" and "Pure", a live album and a successful swing album branded "When the Angels Swing", totalling twelve singles altogether - including four-number one singles. Eventually selling more than five million singles and albums worldwide, the No Angels became the best-selling German girl band to datecite web|work=Presseportal|title="BLITZ Spezial über die No Angels"|url=http://www.presseportal.de/pm/6708/966608/sat_1|accessdate=5 April|accessyear=2007] and the most successful girl group of Continental Europe between the years of 2001 and 2003. On September 5, 2003, the four remaining members of the band (Jessica Wahls had left the band following the birth of her first child in February 2003) announced that they would no longer be performing together after three years of continual touring and increasing cases of illness. The release of "The Best of No Angels" in November of the same year marked the end of the band, with each member going their separate ways in early 2004.

2004—2006: Launching a solo career

Following the disbandment Diakovska returned to musical stages, performing in "Cats" and "Jekyll & Hyde" once again. In meantime, she founded her own label Schmanky Records and released three singles and the album "The Other Side" under her pseudonym Lucylicious. Since then she has been guest in several music and game shows on TV, including a recurring function as a member of the jury in the karaoke show "Shibuya".

2007—2008: Revival of No Angels

Lucy joined again No Angels who made a powerful revival. In March 2008 they were selected to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 finals in Belgrade in May. This is an honour for Lucy. She, however, was not the first Bulgarian to represent Germany in the Eurovision finals. In 1963 this was done by Nora Nova.

In the meantime, Lucy is on the jury of the 2008 Bulgarian Music Idol.

Personal life

Diakovska is openly gay. From 2005 to 2006, she dated singer and former "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" contestant Juliette Schoppmann, and although she dodged media questions about her sexual orientation and the relationship during this period, a short relationship with a Berlin model called Marie confirmed foregone rumors in 2007.

Currently, Diakovska is in a relationship with Bulgarian fashion designer Bojedara Bakalova.cite web|work=Bild-Zeitung|title="Lucy: 'Ja, ich liebe sie'"|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/unterhaltung/leute/2008/07/21/no-angels-saengerin-lucy-diakovska/spricht-ueber-ihre-neue-liebe-freundin.html|accessdate=21 July|accessyear=2008]

Discography

Albums

* 2005: "The Other Side" #84 GER

ingles

* 2004: "Where" #60 GER
* 2005: "The Other Side" #68 GER
* 2005: "Misunderstood" (digital release)

References

External links

* [http://www.lucylicious.tv/ Official website]
* [http://www.lucydiakovska.tv/ Official fan site]
* [http://www.schmanky.tv/ Fan club]