On 29 October 2023, Mykhailo Panchyshyn was named winner of Holos Krainy season 13, the Ukrainian version of The Voice. The result was decided by the public and gave coach Artem Pyvovarov his first win as a coach. Panchyshyn, performing as Ptashkin, did not arrive as a newcomer: he had already won another major Ukrainian TV singing contest, had served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and had written the original song that carried him through the blind audition and the final. The images in this article are AI-generated illustrations, labelled as such. Source: Wikipedia records that Holos Krainy season 13 ran from 3 September to 29 October 2023, was called the European Season, and ended with Mykhailo Panchyshyn (Ptashkin) winning as coach Artem Pyvovarov’s artist.
Result at a glance
Season 13 ran from 3 September to 29 October 2023 on 1+1 Ukraine. The hosts were Yuriy Horbunov and Kateryna Osadcha. The four coaches were Ivan Klymenko, Nadya Dorofeeva, Artem Pyvovarov and Julia Sanina. The winner was Mykhailo Panchyshyn, and the winning coach was Pyvovarov. The runner-up was Yuriy Horodets’kyy, from Dorofeeva’s team. Anastasiya Chaban and Khrystyna Starykova finished third, in the final-round structure described below. The season was also called the European Season. Panchyshyn was listed as 25 at his blind audition, performed as Ptashkin, and auditioned with his own original song, “Nevidomyi Heroi” (“Unknown Hero”). All four coaches turned. He joined Pyvovarov’s team and closed the final by singing the same song again — an original song at the start and at the end.
Why season 13 was called the European Season
It was the first season in the entire The Voice franchise to be held across Europe, per the published overview. The reason was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Production moved to the set of The Voice of Poland, and a custom-designed train was introduced to take the show to Poland. The setting changed while the coaches, contestants, language and audience vote remained Ukrainian. In a format change, the “Second Chance” coaches from the previous season were dropped. From the previous season only Nadya Dorofeeva returned as a coach, joined by debuting Julia Sanina, Artem Pyvovarov and Ivan Klymenko. Each coach recruited ten artists, forty contestants in total. A smaller team size means every choice carries more weight.
Blind audition
The second episode was broadcast on 10 September 2023. Panchyshyn was introduced as Mykhailo Panchyshyn, known as Ptashkin, aged 25, and sang “Nevidomyi Heroi” as an original song. All four coaches turned: Klymenko, Dorofeeva, Pyvovarov and Sanina. When more than one coach turns, the singer chooses; Panchyshyn chose Pyvovarov. An original song is not the safest option: a familiar cover gives an immediate reference point, while an original removes it, and the coaches must judge voice, melody and writing together. A four-chair turn for an original is a stronger signal than for a well-known cover. From his first appearance, his identity as a songwriter was part of his contestant identity. The title “Unknown Hero” set a theme that returned at the end. What is documented is that the song was written by Panchyshyn, performed at the blind audition and the final, and the final audience response was described as deeply emotional. The song is a piece of music; his service record is a separate fact; the show brought them together.
Team Pyvovarov and a first coaching win
Pyvovarov was a debuting coach, and by the end he was the winning coach; the published overview describes this explicitly as his first win as a coach. He was not an established winning coach adding a trophy — he was a first-time coach whose team produced the winner in his first season. What is documented is the structure: Pyvovarov recruited ten artists, Panchyshyn was one of them, and he survived the later rounds to the final. The coaching relationship was successful in competitive terms, ending with a public-vote win rather than a coach decision alone. The other finalists were strong: Dorofeeva’s Horodets’kyy was runner-up, and Klymenko’s Chaban and Sanina’s Starykova reached the second round of the final and finished third. A final with all four coaches represented in its later rounds makes the public vote a more meaningful contest, not a formality.
Final night: three rounds
The finale, episode nine, on 29 October 2023, had three rounds, each survived on the public vote, and each asked something different. Round one: eight finalists performed. Panchyshyn, for Pyvovarov, sang “The Show Must Go On” and advanced. The others advancing were Chaban, Starykova and Horodets’kyy. Eliminated were Mairamik Avoian, Halyna Pechenizhs’ka, Vlad Pelykh and Roman Panchenko. Round two: four remained. Panchyshyn sang “Manifest” and advanced. Horodets’kyy sang “Dumy” and advanced. Chaban sang “Pid krylom” and Starykova sang “Melodiya”; both finished third. Round three: the last two performed the songs with which they had first made an impression. Horodets’kyy sang “Kyieve mii” and was runner-up. Panchyshyn sang “Nevidomyi Heroi” and was named winner. Returning to the blind audition song lets viewers compare the singer at the end with the singer first heard, and it is especially direct here because the song was his own writing. As a setlist, the three final songs show range: a well-known rock anthem, a song titled “Manifest”, and an original Ukrainian song about an unknown hero — different pacing, emotional registers and audience relationships. Advancing after each is documented evidence for versatility.
The service story behind the stage name
This must be told carefully, without turning service into a contest narrative. Per an OBOZ.UA profile of 14 November 2023, Panchyshyn is an artist from Lviv who in younger years had already served in the territorial defence and a special unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and had considerable concert experience before the full-scale invasion. War affected his family as early as 2014, when his brother Petro served in Donbas, and Panchyshyn himself did not hesitate when he decided to defend Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion, the profile reports that he first joined the Kyiv Theatre of the Resistance, took part in the liberation of Irpin, and later went to Bakhmut as part of the Armed Forces. There he came under a seven-day bombardment, was surrounded, managed to get out, and helped bring out wounded comrades. During the fighting he sustained a concussion and partially lost his hearing, and was medically discharged. After a year of service he returned home. He was later invited to perform on the anniversary of the full-scale war and the liberation of Bucha, and in 2023 received an award from the President of Ukraine for military service. Cautions apply: partial hearing loss makes the singing achievement more remarkable. The service story should not imply that the public vote was a vote for service rather than singing: the format is a singing contest, the final was decided by the public, and the audience heard three final performances before voting. His service background explains why “Unknown Hero” carried particular weight; it does not replace the musical record. After discharge, the profile reports that he continued to write songs, often visited soldiers to sing for them, and focused on charity concerts and recording new songs. That is the documented post-service picture at the November 2023 profile.
Earlier win: X Factor 2017
This was not his first TV contest victory. Per the same profile, he won The X Factor in 2017, and the victory gave him the opportunity to record tracks and music videos. The TV channel paid for radio rotation and related promotion expenses, reported as one million hryvnias. The published results summary for the eighth series of the Ukrainian X Factor lists Misha Panchishyn as winner, in the Boys category mentored by Shurov, with Yurcash as runner-up. The profile explicitly links the two wins, describing him as winner of both The X Factor and The Voice. That changes the “discovery” framing: he was not discovered by Holos Krainy in 2023. He had already been through a full TV contest, won it, recorded, and built an audience, before the full-scale invasion interrupted his trajectory. By 2022, the profile reports, he was writing tracks, gaining a new audience and developing his vocal skills, just as his songs were beginning to gain popularity. The invasion changed his course, and his return to the TV stage in 2023 came after military service, not directly after earlier commercial momentum. That explains a different authority: he had already learned the pace of rounds, the pressure of a live vote, and the need to choose songs that work on TV as well as in a studio. It does not guarantee a win; the public still voted three times on the final night. He should be understood as a second major contest winner following an earlier one, with war service in between, not a single overnight breakthrough.
What the win does and does not establish
On a narrower reading: in autumn 2023 he won a public vote in a specific format, a specific season, with a specific coach, against a specific field. He could carry an original song through the blind audition and the final, and advance through three different final rounds. He had already won a major contest in 2017 and returned to TV after military service and a reported injury. The win does NOT establish a later career trajectory, discography, record deal, chart position or current public profile — none was verified in the sources. It does NOT establish a vote percentage, margin or prize package for the Holos Krainy win — none is stated. It does NOT establish a birth date, hometown beyond the reported Lviv connection, or family background beyond the brother mentioned. A responsible profile leaves gaps visible, rather than filling them with details borrowed from another singer or an unverified social post. “Winner” in The Voice format is the public’s choice in the final, not a jury technical ranking and not a lifetime award — a legitimate way to decide a popular singing contest, and the claim should be precise: he won the public vote in the season 13 final, under the conditions above.
Place in Holos Krainy history
The previous season, season 12, was won by Mariya Kvitka, with a disrupted timeline from January to November 2022. The next season, season 14, is listed as the current season, running from 25 October 2026 to 1 January 2027. Season 13, by contrast, was a compact autumn window in 2023, in Poland, with a new coaching line-up and a smaller team size. Panchyshyn is therefore the winner of the European Season, a label no other winner carries in the same way. Each season has its own conditions: wartime displacement, new coaches, a dropped format element, and a final decided in three public-vote rounds — part of the story, not decoration. The win was also the first coaching win for Pyvovarov, linking it to the coach’s own story and to later seasons in which Pyvovarov returned. Reporting in 2026 on the announcement of a later season notes that Pyvovarov first took the coach’s chair in season 13 and that his protégé, described as a musician and veteran of the Armed Forces, won the show. That later reference confirms that the season 13 result continued to be cited as Pyvovarov’s first coaching win well after the event.
Frequently asked questions
Was Ptashkin the same singer who won X Factor? Yes, per the November 2023 profile — winner of both contests. The X Factor win was in 2017, six years before the Holos Krainy win, and provided recording and promotion support reported as one million hryvnias for radio rotation and related expenses. Why was a Ukrainian show filmed in Poland? It was staged on the set of The Voice of Poland because of Russia’s invasion, described as the first season in the whole franchise held across Europe. The custom train was part of the move, while the coaches, contestants and public vote remained Ukrainian. Who did he beat in the final? Yuriy Horodets’kyy in the last round, from Dorofeeva’s team, who was runner-up after “Kyieve mii”. Chaban and Starykova were third after the second round. Did the coaches choose the winner, or the public? The public decided the final. He advanced through all three final rounds on the public vote, and the final was a direct public-vote contest between him and Horodets’kyy. What does “Nevidomyi Heroi” mean, and why does it matter? It translates as “Unknown Hero”. It is his own original song, performed at the blind audition, where all four coaches turned, and again in the final round, where he won. Its title and his own service background gave the final performance a resonance that reporting described as deeply emotional. What happened after the win, per the sources here? The November 2023 profile shortly after the final reports that he focused on charity concerts and recording new songs, and often visited soldiers to sing for them.