Viktor Klimenko

Viktor Klimenko (born November 24, 1942) is a singer who made himself known as the "Singing Cossack". A few years after his birth in Karelia his family moved to Finland, where he became a noted musician and also appeared in several films, mostly playing himself. The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was his first appearance outside of Finland. He didn't earn any points for his song, mostly because judges didn't like the lyrics.

In 1970, only five years later, a Europe-wide release, Stenka Rasin, containing Russian songs went gold on the Finnish market, the first record to do so in Finland. Later, it also went platinum. This success was followed by a decade of concerts and popular shows all over the world. Viktor had nine more gold records as well as one platinum. In 1973 he played in the "comedy-humour-musical" Kofferten (Norwegian title), Ryck mig i vaskan (Swedish title), a co-operation between Sveriges Radio, BBC, YLE and NRK.

However, by 1980 he was torn between beckoning world fame and his personal life. He had driven himself to the verge of breakdown. He even considered a suicide. One night, right before Easter, he was ready to end his misery. At the last moment, he remembered how parents taught him to pray; he decided he would not lose anything if he asked God for help.

Re-branding himself as a Gospel-singer, he turned his life around, this time to serve God through numerous Christian concerts. Since then Viktor has turned to the spread of the Gospel.