Romani-Russian singer Jean Milimerov was one of the four founding members of the boyband Prime Minister, an uniquely diverse group of singers from different backgrounds. With the group, Jean finished tenth for Russia at Eurovision 2002 with the song “Northern Girl”.
But during his audition for Golos, the Russian equivalent to The Voice, Jean climbed the stage on his own.
Singing “Hotel California” by the Eagles, Jean impressed the judges with his warm and unique voice. Jean managed to turn three of the judges’ chairs – Eurovision 2015 star Polina Gagarina was the only one to not hit her button. Upon turning their chairs, several of the judges subsequently recognised the star.
Jean Milimerov – “Hotel California” | Golos blind audition
Jean received nothing more than praise from the judges. Valeriy Syutkin called him a “professional” and a “sunny person”. Eventually, Jean decided to become part of the team of former Leningrad singer Sergey Shnurov.
Jean Milimerov was part of Prime Minister until 2005 and subsequently became part of the group PM with former band members Peter Jason, Vyacheslav Bodolika and Marat Chanysev.
Coming from a musical Romani family, Jean also founded his own family music group, honouring his roots. Together with his seventeen year-old son Emil and his uncle Misha, he decided to form the Gypsymen Band.
Russia Eurovision 2002: Prime Minister – “Northern Girl”
Explaining his reasons to join The Voice of Russia, Jean said:
“I came to the project to move forward, as I like to say it. I cannot claim that I will directly go for victory, but we all should understand that this is a competition.”
“Here there are many contestants. Here there are actually many gifted and talented guys and girls. And then to pat yourself on the back, then say: “I will be a finalist, I’m number one”… I’m not one of those people. It’s most important to give happiness and soul to the viewers. That’s very important.”
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Picture: Pervyy Kanal