Armenia: Suggestions for ESC 2023!

Ever since Armenia returned to (Junior) Eurovision Song Contest, it has had unexpectedly fantastic achievements. It won JESC in 2021 with Maléna and her beautiful song ‘Qami Qami’, it qualified to the Grand Final for the first time since 2017 with Rosa Linn and ‘SNAP’, which is also currently storming the charts and is viral on TikTok. This is definitely an unbelievably amazing return, however the delegation should dream bigger!

Armenia has never won Eurovision and has never placed in the top 3 in the contest. Last time the country placed in the top 5 was in 2014 (4th place) and the last top 10 result was in 2016 (7th). Here are some suggestions for Armenia to bring the country back to the top:

Ladanvia

Ladaniva is a multicultural band creating world music with a fresh touch of Armenian folk and other traditional forms, such as maloya, Balkan, reggae, Arabic, African. The group was founded in October 2019 by Armenian singer Jacqueline Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas. Ladaniva is very popular among Armenians. During the tough times, the only thing that would bring happiness to Armenians all over the world was their single ‘Kef Chilini’. Europe’s taste has changed a lot and they have started appreciating authentic songs. For the record, Armenia does unexpectedly well when it sends something traditional with ethnic elements.

JINJ

Just like Ladaniva, JINJ is also Armenian-French duo. Sourcing inspiration from majestic green mountains to the pulsing beat of the city, from liturgical chants to underground rap, in a nonconventional mixture of 808s and shepherd’s flutes, JINJ is the rhythmic manifestation of the diversity of the Armenian landscape and culture. Their style is reminiscent of Go_A’s who came top 5 last year. Extraordinary, unique, authentic and ethnic – it definitely should work for Armenia!

yellowheart.

A new artist in Armenian music industry! Her actual name is Lily, however her stage name is yellowheart due to the fact that her brother used to tell her that ‘she has a yellow heart’. She lately released an EP with her own original arrangements of Armenian folk songs and five singles in Armenian. Her style is reminiscent of Maro who placed 9th for Portugal this year with the song ‘saudade, saudade’. Lily’s songs are authentic, breathtaking, magical and easy to listen to. If she creates an atmospheric song for Eurovision with an astounding melody and production, it will definitely do great!

Ani Christy

Ani Christy was born on March 15, 1986 in Armenia, Yerevan into a musical family. Her father is an actor and her mother is a violist, concertmaster. Ani has many accomplishments and credits to her name, among them the following:

She has taken part in many singing contests and won first place.
She was invited to have a world-tour with Indian Oscar-winning producer-composer A.R. Rahman.
She was the first Armenian singer to sing as a soprano in the Oakland East Bay Symphony, in a performance at Paramount Pictures Theatre.

One of the strongest vocalists in Armenia and undoubtedly with the right song has all the chances to do very well and even be a fan favourite!

Garik&Sona

Sona Rubenyan is an Armenian singer and songwriter. She is best known for winning the fifth edition of Hay Superstar. Since 2016, Rubenyan has been collaborating with Garik Papoyan (co-writer of Not Alone (2014, (4th place), 2019, (16th in semi, 37th overall), Armenia’s spokesperson at ESC 2022) as a duo under the name Garik & Sona, releasing several singles including “Lusin”, “Esor Urbat e”, “Nino” and more. In November 2020, amid the Nagorno-Karabakh war she was featured on a charity single titled “Mez vochinch chi haghti” (Nothing Will Win Us) along with four Eurovision previous entrants Srbuk, Gor Sujyan, Iveta Mukuchyan, Sevak Khanagyan, also Arthur Khachents and Sevak Amroyan. Sona is one of the strongest vocalist in Armenia (if not the best) with a magnificent timbre. Garik is an incredible lyricst and also does fantastic productions and arrangements. Excellent duo for ESC, and diaspora loves them a lot and will support them across Europe if they’re given the chance to wave the colours of Armenian flag. 

Lilit Hovhannisyan

Lilit Hovhannisyan is one of the most popular Armenian singers. She became famous in 2006 after participating in the first season of the TV project “Hay Superstar”, where she took the 4th place. She released her debut studio album in 2011. Lilit has released plenty of music videos, some of which have garnered millions of views on YouTube. Her video with Nanul has passed the hundred million milestone. Lilit is very charismatic and energetic, with a great ethno-pop and experienced stage director (such as Sacha Jean Baptiste, Marvin Dietmann, Fokas Evangelinos and etc.) she has all chances for the best possible result at ESC.

Returnees

Speaking of possible returnees, then it definitely should be Srbuk. Unfortunately, she didn’t succeed at ESC 2019 and moreover got the worst result for Armenia throughout the history of the entire contest. Nevertheless, she can do much more. She has a fantastic voice and she can show it if given the right and most importantly, authentic, song (several performances of hers proved that before). You can listen to her latest release ‘Siro Ritm'(Love’s Rhythm) here:

These were the suggestions for ESC 2023! Armenia hasn’t confirmed its participation in the contest.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun and follow the news regarding Armenia at Eurovision 2023!