Ihor Kondratyuk was born on March 14, 1962, in the village of
Pryhiria,
Vysokopillia Raion,
Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. In 1979, he graduated with a gold medal from Kalanchak Secondary School No. 1 and lived in Zahradivka. After university, he worked as a research associate in the Molecular Biophysics Department at the
Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In 1996, he defended his candidate's dissertation in molecular biology, titled "Investigation of the Physicochemical Nature of Elementary Processes of Molecular Recognition Using NMR, Vibrational Spectroscopy, and Computer Modeling." Since 1985, Kondratyuk has been a member of the
What? Where? When? club. He began working in television in 1991, serving as an editor, showman for audience engagement, and assistant host for the programs
Love at First Sight and
Brain Ring on the
Ostankino channel in Moscow. He later co-organized and hosted
What? Where? When? and
Brain Ring matches featuring celebrities from
Ukraine,
Belarus, and Russia on
UT-1. • From 1992 to 1994, he hosted the game show
5+1 on UT-3, and from 1995 to 1996, the game show ''Tomorrow's TV Schedule'' on
UT-1. • From 1997 to 2000, he was a co-creator and host of the program
Toys for the Street on Moscow's Channel 31. • Since 1999, he has been a co-creator (with Andriy Kozlov), producer, and host of
Karaoke on the Maidan on channels
Inter,
1+1, and
STB. In 2006, he hosted
Karaoke on Arbat on
TV Tsentr in Moscow. • From 2001 to 2006, he was the host and chief editor of the intellectual show
LG Eureka! on
Inter. • From 2003 to 2008, he was the producer and co-creator of the television project
Shans. • In 2006, he produced the projects
Star Duet and
Teen Ring on
Inter. • In 2007, he was the creator and producer of
American Shans on
1+1, filmed in Los Angeles, United States. • In 2007, Kondratyuk left Inter following a scandal when
Karaoke on the Maidan aired a repeat episode on July 15, 2007, for the first time in its eight-year history (the 446th episode from
Kharkiv aired instead of the 447th, filmed in
Dnipro). He believed the channel's management, unwilling to renew his contract for
Shans and
Karaoke on the Maidan, made the decision. After negotiations with Inter's management (
Hanna Bezludna and Serhiy Sozanovsky), new episodes aired until July 29, and from August 5,
Karaoke on the Maidan moved to 1+1. In an interview with
Gordon Boulevard, Kondratyuk described the breaking point: He remarked that discussing professional matters with
Hanna Bezludna was like discussing advanced mathematics with his first-grade son. • In spring 2009, he became a judge on ''
Ukraine's Got Talent'' on
STB, alongside Vlad Yama and Slava Frolova. • From September 2010 to December 2015, he was a judge on STB's vocal talent show
X-Factor. He was the only Ukrainian judge to guide contestants to the superfinal in five out of six seasons: Maria Rak (Season 1), Oleh Kenzov (Season 2), Yevhen Lytvynkovych (Season 3),
Aida Nikolaychuk (Season 3), Trioda (Season 4), and Kostya Bocharov (Season 6).
Aida Nikolaychuk and Kostya Bocharov won
X-Factor, both hailing from
Odesa. He returned for the 10th season, mentoring the "Girls" category, and led his contestant
Elina Ivashchenko to victory, marking his third win as a mentor. Only
Simon Cowell, creator of the
X-Factor franchise, has mentored more winners (four times in the UK and US). • From September 21, 2020, to July 25, 2021, he hosted the author's evening show
Kondratyuk on Monday on
Channel 5. From February to April 2022, he evacuated from Kyiv and lived with his wife in
Lviv. == Career highlights ==