Azis, the platinum blond and openly gay king of Bulgaria's popfolk, widely deemed as the most exotic and interesting person in the country, has confirmed rumors he is packing up and moving abroad.

"I'm sick and tired of everything in this country! I'm sick and tired of the homophobia, the racism, the fact that the people here do not value my talent," Azis told 24 Hours daily.

"I am getting invitations for concerts abroad all the time. It is true, I am going away, but I won't tell you where."

After years of austerity during the communist regime, the long-overdue opulence and anti-institutional flavor that Bulgaria's popfolk music or chalga - as it is derogatorily called - brings has turned into a lifestyle and is considered prestigious in Bulgaria.

Azis ingenious notions have been eagerly embraced, spinning off into something way bigger than he has ever imagined.

Despite his complaints of lack of recognition, Azis seems to have replaced the weightlifters, the cheese and the yogurt as the new stereotype about Bulgaria and has been basking in the spotlight of local and foreign media.

Even little children in Bulgaria know that Azis is a male singer, who wears pompous dresses and fake eyelashes, makes provocative hip-shaking, sings lewd lyrics with oriental motifs and pretends to have sex with other men onstage.

As disgusting as it might sound to the more conservative audience, this behavior has earned him tremendous fame. He has been pronounced the King of Pop-Folk, and for the Roma minority in Bulgaria is now certainly more popular than Jesus Christ himself.

Azis even did not shy away from trying his hand in politics and ran for a top job in Bulgaria's parliament in the general elections in 2005.

During the elections six years ago Azis led the Euroroma party ticket in Blagoevgrad and in the main coastal city of Varna, running under his original name Vassil Trayanov Boyanov.

He even declared that the post of culture minister would suit him well.