It’s been less than five months since the grand final of Eurovision 2016. But tonight Armenia kicks off the Eurovision 2017 national finals season with Depi Evratesil (“Towards Eurovision”). We’ve got three months of shows ahead of us, so get ready to watch 120 singers fight to represent Armenia in Kyiv. We’re exhausted already!
With six of Armenia’s Eurovision stars on the jury, we thought the best way to preview tonight’s show was to judge the judges.
We’re going to do this in two ways. First, we’re going to look at how each act fared at Eurovision. And second, we’re going to ask YOU to vote. Let’s do this…
Ranking Armenia’s Eurovision acts
In ranking the acts, we’re looking at the percentage of available points that each act received. For example, each finalist in 2013 could only receive a maximum of 456 points — i.e. 12 points from each of the other 38 countries voting. If an act finished with 100 points, they would have received 21.93% of the points available to them.
5. Genealogy (Inga Arshakyan, Essai Altounian) — Face the Shadow (2015)
16th place in final with 34 points — 7.26% of available points
Inga and Essai were just two of the six members who made up Armenian megagroup Genealogy.
In the lead up to Vienna in 2015, fans worried that six solo artists would struggle to blend on stage.
In the end, it came out just fine — but the group still recorded one of Armenia’s lowest finishes at Eurovision.
4. Inga & Anush Arshakyan — Jan Jan (2009)
10th place in final with 92 points — 18.70% of available points
Unfortunately for Inga, her first Eurovision entry is next up on the list.
Unlike with Genealogy though, her collaboration with sister Anush did place in the top ten.
In fact, Armenia have placed top ten in 7/10 of their Eurovision participations. No pressure on the Depi Evratesil winner, then…
3. Iveta Mukuchyan — LoveWave (2016)
7th place in final with 249 points — 25.30% of available points
The latest Armenian entry, Iveta Mukuchyan, might not have won Eurovision, but she is Eurovision’s Next Top Model.
“LoveWave” was another example of Armenia sending a song that was very much against the norm.
With some amazing holograms in her staging, Iveta places right in the middle of her fellow judges.
2. Hayko — Anytime You Need (2007)
8th place in the final with 138 points — 28.05% of available points
Hayko recently appeared in our “Forgotten Gems” list, but Armenia certainly remembers him.
“Anytime You Need” is a really strong ballad and Hayko’s vocals are really strong. We’re expecting him to offer a slightly different insight compared with the other judges too. He might have finished a spot lower than Iveta in the final positions, but on average he works out slightly ahead in our ranking.
1. Aram MP3 — Not Alone (2014)
4th place in final with 174 points — 40.28% of available points
The clear winner here is Aram MP3.
Going in to Copenhagen, it was almost seen as a foregone conclusion that Aram would win with the bookmakers. Controversial comments about Conchita Wurst hurt his cause though.
With “Not Alone” — one of the more modern songs in 2014 — Aram came out in fourth place. That ties him with Sirusho for the country’s best ever result. It also puts him on top of our run-down. Well done Aram!
But which performance from the judges is your favourite? Make sure to vote in our poll and let us know in the comments section below!
I voted for 2009 and 2016. Both songs are just amazing and a real masterpieces.
Aram Mp3.
Inga and Anush were good, too.
For me best 5 songs from Armenia
1. 2009
2. 2016
3. 2006
4. 2007
5. 2008
For me best 3 stage perfomance from Armenia
1. 2016
2. 2009
3. 2008
For anyone who wants to watch it live I think you can watch it here?
http://www.1tv.am/en/live/
I voted for both Iveta Mukuchyan and Inga and Anush in 2009. I honestly think that Inga and Anush’s song is timeless if anything it was ahead of its time in 2009. My ranking would be:
1. Iveta Mukuchyan 2016
1= Inga and Anush Arshakyan 2009
3. Aram MP3 2014
4. Geneology 2015
5. Hayko 2007
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Inga & Anush, by FAR. The dresses were spectacular and traditional. Iveta was trying too hard to be like Beyoncé… not like she failed, but it still didn’t feel genuine. As for Aram, he looked like Dracula and served an overall boring performance – the fact that his song was a snoozefest too didn’t help. Don’t even get me started with Genealogy, one of the messiest performances in the history of Eurovision with zero coordination! Hayko was okay, in no ways memorable though.
Genealogy is an exception as a bad example of a total mess. However, the song had a message which some listened to. Armenia should never even send songs like this. Aram, Hayko, Iveta and Arshakyans are good. Though my preference is JANJAN. Would like to see an analogous song.
I think nobody cares about Arams words about Conchita. Many people and singers hate him, me too, and everyone can say, that he is weird, if he feels it. It is democracy. If I dont like trans people, I can say it. I wish them good luck, but they are unhappy people, because they were boring with bad genofond. And Aram said only his opinion and str8 people really didnt care, what he said about Conchita. So dont be hysteric.
To me, Iveta Mukuchyan is like an Armenian version of Britney Spears. 🙂