Sirusho of Armenia

Sirusho





Background information
Birth name Sirouhi Harutyunyan
Born January 7, 1987
Origin Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Genre(s) Pop, Folk, Armenian, Romance
Occupation(s) Singer, composer, songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, piano
Years active 1999 — present
Label(s) Parseghian Records, Phantom Sound & Vision
Website Sirusho.am ( http://www.sirusho.am )



Sirouhi Haroutunyan (born on January 7, 1987 in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union), known simply as Sirusho (Armenian: Սիրուշո), is an Armenian pop singer. She began her music career singing live in Canada when she was seven years old and, at the age of nine, she received an Armenian Music Award for her song "Lusabats". Her first studio album, Sirusho, was released in 2000, and its follow-up, Sheram, in 2005. In the same year, she was awarded the The Future of Armenian Music, Best Album and Best Female Performer awards in the first Armenian National Music Awards.[1] The BBC describes her success as making her a "national treasure" in Armenia,[2] and its news service has gone on to report that she is popular in both Armenia and "throughout the Armenian diaspora throughout the world".[3] She currently studies diplomacy in Yerevan State University, having majored in international relations.[1]

Sirusho also sings in the Greek language and, in April 2009, released her first Greek single "Erotas" in Armenia, Greece and Cyprus. The song is an up-tempo dance record with heavy Greek laiko musical influences which is apparent from the dancing and dress in the music video.[4] Sirusho performed this, and her other Armenian singles, live at the 2009 Tashir Armenian Awards ceremony.[5]

Sirusho reached international recognition after becoming the Armenian spokesperson for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest and the Armenian representative for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest held in Belgrade, Serbia.[6] She co-wrote and performed the song "Qélé, Qélé", with the Armenian hook and music composed and produced by H.A. Der-Hovagimian. The song finished in fourth place behind the Greek entry "Secret Combination". It became very popular in Greek-speaking areas, especially the 'Yerevan Remix' in Greek clubs, and was frequently played on London Greek Radio in the United Kingdom, and in an episode of the Greek and Cypriot X Factor television series.[7]Contents
1 Biography
1.1 2005
1.2 2006
1.3 2007
1.4 2008
1.5 2009
2 Discography
2.1 Singles

Biography

Sirusho comes from a family of artists. Her father is a renowned actor and director (an Honored Artist of Armenia) and her mother is a reputable singer beloved by the Armenian public (also an Honored Artist of Armenia). Sirusho's real name is Siranush Harutyunyan.

Sirusho's first encounter with singing and music was when she was ten months old. At age two she began to sing full songs. One of the songs that Sirusho performed as a child was "Lusabats", an Armenian folk song written in the early 1900s by Komitas.

For over 13 years, the 21 year-old artist continues to be one of the most famous and adored Armenian singers. In one of her interviews she said, "I have never been one of those children who dreamed of becoming a singer. I was a little kid and people would ask me to sing at events. Every time after I sang, I would see the amazed looks on their faces and I couldn't figure out the reason. I mean, I thought I wasn't doing a hard thing, I was just singing the way I felt the music."

At the age of 7 Sirusho began to write her own music, as well as lyrics in Armenian and English. She was 8 years old when she greeted her first big crowd. At the age of 9 the song, she had composed, brought her an award at the Contest of Young Talent. At age 10, she successfully competed in a contest with older participants, eventually winning first place. She released her first album "Sirusho" when she was 13, gradually becoming one of the most favored performers in the Armenian community. Some of the best Armenian composers have written the music for the various songs she has written lyrics for. She has toured around many countries, bringing vibrant Armenian pop and folk music to Canada, United States, France, Belgium, Greece, Serbia, Germany, Lebanon, Egypt, Georgia, Russia, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Poland, and elsewhere. She is one of the most successful and most entertaining Armenian talent around the world.

2005

After performing soul and pop music for years, Sirusho decided to work on an album presenting Armenian folk gusan songs by Gusan Sheram (this album also included the hit song "Shorora"). In 2005, this album was recognized as The Best Album of the Year at the Armenian National Music Awards. Her success at the 2005 Awards became double by receiving the award for Best Female Artist of the Year, being only 18 years old. At the end of her thank-you speech, she concluded, "I have worked and toured a lot this year, and even in a few hours after this event, I’ll be flying to the U.S. for concerts, and I want to thank you all for giving me wings for all the future "flights" of my life." In a few days, her single "Give me wing", written by herself, had flooded radio waves and music channels, becoming a hit among the Armenian public.

2006

In 2006, Armenian pop music suffered the loss of one of its best performers of all times, Varduhi Vardanyan, in a tragic car accident. Varduhi had been like a sister for Sirusho ever since she was a little kid. In her loving memory, Sirusho dedicated a song called "Mez Vochinch Chi Bazhani" ("Nothing Will Part Us").Also in 2006, Sirusho received the award for Best Female Artist of the Year at the Annual Armenian-Russian Diaspora Music Awards held in Moscow

2007

In 2007, Sirusho released her third album, titled "Hima", which included the song dedicated to Varduhi, as well as many other tracks written and produced by Sirusho. The album proved to be a breakthrough in Armenian music, unleashing a fresh wave of mixing soul and R&B with folk instruments such as duduk, dhol, zourna, and others. She was also announced as The Best Female Artist of the Year at the Armenian Music Awards, held by the Armenian-American Diaspora at the Kodak Theater

2008

Sirusho received her fourth Best Female Artist award at the 2008 Armenian National Music Awards, where she had obtained her first award in 2005, and had promised to continue her "flight". She has received several other awards for her songs and music videos.

Sirusho was chosen as Armenia's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with Canadian-Armenian music composer and producer H.A. Der-Hovagimian's song "Qele Qele". The song entered the first semi final on May 20 and advanced to the final which took place on May 24.

Even though she came in 4th place in the final with 199 points, she was awarded the maximum amount of 12 points the most times of all the contestants (, with the winner, Russia's Dima Bilan receiving 12 points seven times.

During the official after party following the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 the four winners of the Marcel Bezençon Award 2008 were announced and prizes were given out. A newly introduced award was presented this year, the Fan Award by Swedish website Gylleneskor.se[1] (http://www.gylleneskor.se/artikel/winners-marcel-bezencon-awards-2008) . Readers of the site had the opportunity to vote online for their favorite 2008 artist under the age of 25. Thousands of votes were cast and the winner was Sirusho Harutyunyan who represented Armenia with the song "Qele Qele".

2009

On April 1, 2009, Sirusho released the song "Erotas", also known as "Erotas Ksafnikos" (Sudden Love), sung entirely in Greek. The music video will air in Armenia, Cyprus and Greece. The song is an up-tempo dance song with heavy traditional Greek laiko influence. It was composed by Hayko and written by Natalia Germanou, who also wrote Greece's winning Eurovision song "My Number One", sung by Elena Paparizou.[4] Sirusho performed the song live at the 2009 Tashir Armenian Awards ceremony in April.[8]

Sirusho is also currently working on the follow-up "Havatum em" (I believe), which she will premiere on April 4 in Moscow, during the Armenian Music Awards.[4]

Sirusho stired up some controversy when she was the spokesperson for Armenia during the voting at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 final. When she revealed the votes from the country she showed a photo off We Are Our Mountains a number of times causing heated reactions from Azerbaijan.[9]

According to armenian media, Sirusho is going to marry to the son of Robert Kocharyan - Levon Kocharyan. The marrige and the wedding are going to be on 6th of June 2009 in Yerevan.

Discography

Singles
2007 - "Hima"
2008 - "Qélé, Qélé"
2009 - "Erotas"