How the X-Factor star Andriy Matsevko lives: photos with fans for money, work as a janitor, fake documents and a criminal case

Not many people know much about Andriy Matsevko, who has won the X-Factor and Ukraine's Got Talent TV shows three times. At one time, on the wave of popularity after his performances on the talent show, the performer was willingly invited to corporate parties, he even released video clips that were popular, but that's all for now.

OBOZ.UA found out how the artist, who has recently been in the news only because of numerous scandals, lives now. We talked to the musician's fellow villagers, his former colleagues, and producer Igor Kondratyuk, who was one of the judges on the talent show where the "people's artist" came to seek fame.

Andriy Matsevko from Ivano-Frankivsk region became known all over Ukraine more than 10 years ago when he performed on the first season of the X Factor TV show. At that time, the singer failed to win over the jury - he received four "no's" from the experts because of his extremely low vocal abilities, but the audience remembered him well because of his spontaneity. His songs "Oh Whose Rye" and "Smereka" went viral online. "I want to say that they can change the jury, but I will still become a star of Ukraine one day. It is very difficult to find a talent like mine," Andriy said to the camera after his first performance.

Subsequently, Matsevko tried twice more to get on the big stage through talent shows. During his third appearance, he boasted that the audience "does not receive the president the way they greet him." And from the stage he addressed one of the jury members: "I want a producer from Kyiv who would work well with me. And it will probably be Igor Kondratyuk." The performer assured that he already received "100 calls a day with offers of performances," saying that he was a promising artist.

Kondratyuk promised to think about it and even voted in favor of Matsevko being selected, but the other judges were against it, and Andriy was again not included in the show. But he didn't seem upset, saying that they didn't take him because "they are just afraid that I will win."

In the wake of his popularity, the singer began to be actively invited to private parties. A video of his performance at a wedding in Ternopil, where Matsevko declares himself a People's Artist before performing his songs, is circulating on the Internet. In the comments to the video, Ukrainians write: "He dances beautifully, but he has no voice to sing at all," "He doesn't sing, he talks, and whoever invites him to a wedding is a disgrace!", "God, what a joke." And some really believed that Matsevko had a high rank: "Who gave him a national title? A wedding toastmaster."

In 2015, Andriy Matsevko was involved in a high-profile scandal. The media reported that the singer was detained by activists of the Anti-Pedophilia Lutsk group. The singer allegedly offered an intimate meeting with a 14-year-old boy on social media. A police report was filed against Matsevko. He justified himself by saying that he hadn't even thought about having sexual contact with the teenager, but only planned to talk to someone when he arrived in the city. Subsequently, the criminal proceedings were closed due to the absence of a crime. No sooner had this story died down than a new incident occurred: Matsevko was detained in Kyiv while trying to ride the subway with a fake pension certificate. According to Andriy, a friend gave him the fake ID. Later, other information emerged: Andriy Matsevko was taking pictures with passersby for money. This was reported on Facebook by a Ternopil journalist.

A few years ago, it became known that the "people's artist" got a job as a janitor at one of the municipal enterprises in Ivano-Frankivsk. Nazar Rogiv, an employee of the Municipal Road Company, wrote on his Facebook page: "Did you know that 'X-Factor' star Andriy Matsevko works at the Municipal Road Company as a landscaping worker? According to the management, he is one of the best and most responsible employees." OBOZ.UA called the road company back and found out that Matsevko no longer works for them. They say that he had been with the company for only a few months, and his colleagues remembered him for not wanting to communicate with them: "We won't say that he was a bad person, but for some reason he didn't want to communicate with anyone."

However, after scandals and a long silence in 2021, Matsevko suddenly burst into show business with the author's video "Rover is coming," which now has more than one and a half million views, and in the comments, the artist's fans express the opinion that Igor Kondratyuk, who jokingly suggested that he could become the artist's producer, "is now biting his elbows." "Rover is coming" entered the top 100 Ukrainian songs of 2021. This was followed by another song and video for it, "Plyatski".

Amid the popularity of the self-proclaimed "people's artist," he was again invited to perform, but most of them did not take place. In particular, one of the concerts was supposed to take place last February in Lviv. Despite the low cost of tickets - from 150 to 300 hryvnias - the performance failed to sell out. The company that organized the concert suspended ticket sales. Social media reacted strongly to the news of the concert: "What kind of a singer is he?", "They make a lot of money on this guy, and with such a voice, he can only shout 'busy' in the toilet," "Only a fool would go to such concerts." The singer was also scheduled to perform in February in a restaurant complex in the city of Busk, Lviv region. Matsevko was presented as "the country's most ardent biker". The advertising did not help, no one bought tickets, and the performance had to be canceled.

Meanwhile, the performer is not giving up: he has started his own YouTube channel, where he introduces himself as a "people's artist of the world". And also a "singer, poet, composer and future Eurovision winner." Matsevko's channel has only 284 subscribers so far.

Andriy Matsevko now lives in the village of Svarychiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. His fellow villagers speak kindly of him, but in a conversation with OBOZ.UA, they note that the man does not communicate much with the locals: "In the morning, he rides his bike somewhere and only returns in the evening." Matsevko lives in a house with his mother and older brother. The villagers assume that someone planned to make money from the singer by producing his videos, but things did not go as planned.

"I saw that he had a video about a bike or a rover that got more than a million views. He considers himself a folk artist because people love him. That's the whole secret of his folklore. He came to us a few times because he wanted to prove that we don't know anything about talent. I remember that he said something unpleasant to us, saying that we should change the jury," producer Ihor Kondratiuk told OBOZ.UA.

"He's a weirdo, and that says it all," Kondratyuk continued, "Some things, sorry, are just funny to watch. But it's a good laugh. We did not consider it necessary to make any warnings to the editors, saying, "Don't invite me because this is a clinical story," no. And then, remember, when he sang "Smereka", he made the audience incredibly happy, not many contestants could do that. I don't know what else to say about him... Someone on stage told me something, saying, "produce me - you won't regret it. But it was just a conversation between a contestant and a member of the jury, nothing more. If people in the village say that he is being used, maybe this idea makes sense. Then let his fellow countrymen tell him what to do so that he won't be used. Or maybe he likes it all? He wants to go on stage and feel like a folk artist."

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about the life of the family of the star of the video about "Easter cake and sausage" Matviy Brus: a store in Kyiv, attacks by haters, and not a penny for the legendary video.

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