Music

Armenian Diva is Back

If no one knew any Armenian word before 2008, it got quickly corrected after Sirusho’s appearance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. “Qele Qele” became one of the most memorable songs in the recent history of the contest about which a lot of fans do recall up to this point. Sirusho reached Top 5 in the Grand Final in Belgrade, placing 4th, thus achieving the highest result for the small Caucasus country which debuted in 2006. Many fans in Armenia and in Europe would agree that Sirusho has become a real Armenian Diva who is impatiently awaited to return to the Eurovision stage in the nearest future.
We are now in 2015 and the rehearsals for the Eurovision Song Contest are about to kick off in Vienna from tomorrow on. It seems that a completely new page in the history of the Contest is about to be penned but the past Eurovision artists never stop to surprise and to create new masterpieces. After a short break in her career due to becoming mother for the first time, Sirusho inaugurated a completely new and fresh phase in the music industry of Armenia. Sirusho is ever-changing and never letting down her fans. She is always new, surprising and never repeating.
Back in 2012, she released her song “Pregomesh” which combined Armenian national and modern music, creating an exclusively new approach towards the traditional music. The video music together with the song had a great success, bringing Sirusho new national and international music awards.

In 2014, Sirusho released a new song “See”, in cooperation with another famous Eurovision star, Sakis Rouvas, who represented Greece twice in the Contest, in 2004 and 2009. The song quickly became Number 1 in music charts across the country. Again in 2014, she released her next song in Armenian “Antarber Ashxarh” (“The indifferent World”) in cooperation with the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia. It is one of the songs that the singer herself composed. In November 2014, Sirusho gave a start to a new cooperation with a renowned Armenian singer Harout Pamboukjian presenting a completely new version of Harut’s songs that once shot to fame in Armenia. Sirusho was the one who produced the new version of the song “Tariner” (“Years”) that once was written and composed by Harout himself.

On 23 April, 2015 Sirusho presented her new song “Where were you” (“Kga mi or”) which is sung in Armenian and English. The song is dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the official video for the song displays some shots from that event. Sirusho is the author of the English lyrics that were co-written together with Rama Duke (Elaine Tsaghikyan), who wrote the first verse of the song. The Armenian lyrics were written by a famous Armenian composer Avet Barseghyan. Here again, Sirusho is representing the mixture of the Armenian traditional rhythms with modern music. As in her music video for “Pregomesh”, Sirusho is wearing exquisite Armenian traditional garments in her music video for “Where were you”, thus keeping up her completely new approach to Armenian historical and cultural traditions. The song created a big campaign on Instagram and Facebook by people posting photos with the same black line on the face as in her music video representing sorrow and pain.
You can listen to the song below:  

What we might not know about Sirusho is that the Armenian Diva launched the “Pregomesh” Collection of Accessories that try to restore the old Armenian cultural values and based on those values to create new ones. The items from her collection are available both online and in two shops in Yerevan. Sirusho is involved in every piece that is represented in the collections, by designing samples, processing and giving a modern touch to the items and ornaments that have been used centuries ago. As the official website states:

“Conducting a lot of research and working with the best handicraftsmen of Armenia, we  try to help Armenians to adhere to their roots and meanwhile be trendy and original.
We are proud of our roots and our rich culture so rise and let the world know about it…”
Supporting this year’s Armenian entry for Eurovision, “Genealogy”, Sirusho visited the artists during their last rehearsal before leaving for Vienna yesterday. They had a chat on the contest and her experience back in 2008, exchanged opinions and sang together.

The rehearsals are starting tomorrow and Armenia is the second to take the stage. We will cover the rehearsals and see if the artists followed the advice given by the Armenian Diva.
EscXtra Team wishes Sirusho new achievements in her personal and professional life. Waiting for new updates and more brilliant songs.

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