# Zlatý slavík

Zlatý slavík (English: "golden nightingale") was a Czechoslovak music poll and award of the same name established by the magazine Mladý svět in 1962, and broadcast on television. It was held until 1991, when Český slavík took its place. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992 and its division into Czechia and Slovakia, the latter got its own award, named Slovenský slávik. Karel Gott was both the first and most highly decorated recipient of Zlatý slavík.

## History

In 1962, as the popular Czechoslovak magazine Mladý svět was generating ideas for a music poll, one of its young editors, later actor and director Ladislav Smoljak, came up with the name "golden nightingale", after a children's toy.
In the first year of the poll, 797 votes were returned; the highest vote tally registered in its 29-year history was over 115,000. From 1969 until the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989, the poll's results were falsified for political reasons.

## Categories and censorship

Award categories changed over the years. In 1962, 1963, and 1970, there was a joint male and female singer category; the song category was eliminated after 1968.
In 1970, Marta Kubišová was set to win her fourth slavík, but since she had been banned from speaking publicly by the government due to her anti-communist lyrics and activism, the editors of Mladý svět were forced to change the results at the behest of the Czech Office for Press and Information: the male and female singer categories were thus combined, leading to a victory by Karel Gott. Kubišová received her award retroactively in 1990 by then-editor-in-chief of Mladý svět, Luboš Beniak.

## Winners

Over the course of its 29 years, 6 male and 7 female singers, 8 bands, and 7 songs received the award.
Top winners
Karel Gott (22), Hana Zagorová (9), Naďa Urbánková (5), Marta Kubišová (4), and the band Elán (4) won the most trophies.
| Rank | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| Artist | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Naďa Urbánková |
| Total awards | 22 | 9 | 5 |
Table
| Year | Male singer | Female singer | Group | Singer – male/female | Song | Presenter |
| 1962 | – | – | – | Waldemar Matuška | "Láska nebeská" (Jiří Šlitr/Jiří Suchý) | |
| 1963 | – | – | – | Karel Gott | "Oči sněhem zaváté" (Šlitr/Suchý) | Vladimír Dvořák |
| 1964 | Karel Gott | Eva Pilarová | – | – | "Schody do nebe" (Karel Kopecký/Jindřich Faktor) | |
| 1965 | Karel Gott | Helena Vondráčková | – | – | "Cesta rájem" (Artie Glenn/Jiří Štaidl) | |
| 1966 | Karel Gott | Marta Kubišová | – | – | | Darek Vostřel |
| 1967 | Waldemar Matuška | Eva Pilarová | – | – | "Náhrobní kámen" (Petr Novák/Ivo Plicka) | |
| 1968 | Karel Gott | Marta Kubišová | – | – | "Lady Carneval" (Karel Svoboda/Štaidl) | Vladimír Dvořák |
| 1969 | Karel Gott | Marta Kubišová | | | | |
| 1970 | | | | Karel Gott | | Eduard Hrubeš |
| 1971 | Karel Gott | Eva Pilarová | | | | Eduard Hrubeš |
| 1972 | Karel Gott | Naďa Urbánková | | | | Miloslav Šimek |
| 1973 | Karel Gott | Naďa Urbánková | | | | Miloslav Šimek |
| 1974 | Karel Gott | Naďa Urbánková | | | | |
| 1975 | Karel Gott | Naďa Urbánková | | | | |
| 1976 | Karel Gott | Naďa Urbánková | | | | |
| 1977 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Skupina Ladislava Štaidla | | | |
| 1978 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Skupina Ladislava Štaidla | | | |
| 1979 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Katapult | | | Jan Vala |
| 1980 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Katapult | | | |
| 1981 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Olympic | | | Tomáš Sláma |
| 1982 | Miroslav Žbirka | Hana Zagorová | Olympic | | | Tomáš Sláma |
| 1983 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Olympic | | | Jan Vala |
| 1984 | Karel Gott | Hana Zagorová | Elán | | | |
| 1985 | Peter Nagy | Hana Zagorová | Elán | | | |
| 1986 | Dalibor Janda | Iveta Bartošová | Elán | | | |
| 1987 | Dalibor Janda | Petra Janů | Elán | | | |
| 1988 | Dalibor Janda | Petra Janů | Citron | | | |
| 1989 | Karel Gott | Petra Janů | Team | | | Jan Vala, Roman Lipčík |
| 1990 | Karel Gott | Iveta Bartošová | Team | | | Jan Vala |
| 1991 | Pavol Habera | Iveta Bartošová | Team | | | |

## Successors

* Succeeded byČeský slavík, Czechia (1996–present) Slávik, Slovakia (1998–2012)