Andrey Viktorovich Ostapenko (EL Kravchuk) is a Ukrainian singer, actor and TV presenter.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on March 17, 1977 in Vilnius.
In 1989, the family moved to Kyiv, where Ostapenko entered the Pushkin Gymnasium.
Later, he continued his studies at the Glier Kyiv Music College and at the same time entered the Faculty of History of Drahomanov University.
In 1996, he entered the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Kyiv State Conservatory.
Career
He began his stage career while studying at the Glier Music School as a soloist of the band “Singapore“.
In 1994, he performed under the name “EL Kravchuk”. The prefix “EL” meant “electronic” and reflected his musical style at the time, which gravitated towards electronic music popular at the time.
In 1995, he won the international competition “Chervona Ruta”. At this time, he began work on his first album.
A year later, he signed a contract with the Music Exchange. In 1997, the debut album “Nobody” was released. In the same year, at the Person of the Year competition, Kravchuk won the Artist of the Year nomination.
In 2000, he released the album “Soldier of Love” and went on tour in support of it.
In 2001, he released the album “Mortido”. In the same year, he starred in the film “Trail of the Werewolf”, for which he wrote all the music.
Since 2003, the artist has focused on participating in the theatrical production of “Hamlet” directed by Andrei Zholdak, taking part in 85 performances.
In 2005, he presented the author’s musical “The Sun” and became the host of the program “I want to be a star“ on the TV channel “1+1”.
In 2006, he began cooperation with the company “Planeta Music”.
In 2007, he began working with composer and sound producer Mikhail Nekrasov. At the same time, his song and video “Hollywood” were released.
In 2008, a new stage began in Kravchuk’s work – composer Mikhail Nekrasov became his producer. The artist performed at the “Tavria Games” in a duet with Verka Serduchka, performing the song “Fly to the World”, and also shot a video for this composition.
In 2009, he took part in the In the mood project, recording the song of the same name for the Eurovision Dance Contest. The singer also joined the international project “Golden Lily”, recording the anthem of the sports festival, and performed in the national selection for Eurovision with the song Fly to Heaven.
In 2010, he began independent activities, producing his own songs and concerts. He again took part in the national selection of Eurovision with the song “My Hope”.
In 2011, he shot videos for the songs “Cities” and “On the Clouds”. At the same time, he began cooperation with the Moon Records label.
In 2012, the artist went on tour with the concert program “Vertinsky’s Tango”.
Theater and television
In 2003, Kravchuk suspended his solo career, fully focusing on participating in the theatrical production of “Hamlet” directed by Andrei Zholdak.
In 2005, the premiere of his author’s musical “The Sun” took place, and also became the host of the program “I want to be a star” on the channel “1+1”.
In general, the singer participated in various television shows, including “Hello Director”, “Speak Ukraine”, “Let them talk”, “House to envy everyone” and “10 by 10”.
In 2013, he appeared in the show “Like Two Drops” on the channel “Ukraine”, and in 2018 he became a participant in the project “X-Factor” on the STB TV channel.
