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Chalga
'What?'
Chalga is Balkan music. It also has some Bulgarian national folk elements. There are songs which are translated from Serbian or Greek. On the other hand some Chalga songs have Turkish rhythms. Usually different songs are very similar because either the melody is the same or the phrases used. However, these songs are very human because they are often about love and romantic feelings. They make you cry or smile but can't make you violent as sometimes rap music does. Anyway, Chalga is not very spread among our classmates and many others as well. They claim that the lyrics are very short and simple ones and are for less intelligent people- this has turned into a stereotype. But for a big pity they don't realize that many of the foreign songs have the same lyrics- usually very dull, because they don't know the language. As a result these people listen to foreign songs in stead of listening to their national. This is a fact.

History
Chalga doesn't have big history. It appeared about 10-15 years ago in order to make young people listen to Bulgarian music in stead of foreign. But this new branch is different from the Bulgarian national music as far as musical elements, lyrics and singers are concerned.

Who
Teenagers who listen to Chalga can be divided into two main groups. The first one includes children whose parents are very fond of this style. The second one consists of teenagers who listen to it only on special occasions- birthday parties or name days when they sit at a table, eat and drink with their friends.

Singers
Chalga singers are many- some of them are really famous among teenagers while others are not.

On this picture is Raina- she is an example of a Chalga singer and is among the most popular ones.

Why
Teenagers like Chalga because in most of the cases it is in Bulgarian so that they can understand the lyrics and what is more it is very suitable for dancing. You can dance alone or with a friend depending on whether the song is a balad or no.

Where
Chalga music is very commercial. There are Chalga radio stations and Chalga TV channels. Young Bulgarian people who like listening to such music can go either to a Chalga club or a tavern. There are a lot of taverns but only one Chalga club in our town-'Signalno jylto'( Signal Yellow). It is a pity that there are few cafes where you can listen to Chalga and they are not located in the centre. Anyway, the best place to listen to Chalga and the most popular one is at home with friends.

Clothes
There are not particular clothes that should be worn as in other styles like metal for example. However, girls prefer clothes such as very tight jeans or trousers, short skirts, gauzy or low-neck blouses.

Silvia