André

Andrey Sergeyi Hovnanyan (; born July 8, 1979), better known by the mononym André , is an Armenian singer. He was one of the most popular pop stars of Armenia during the mid-2000s, winning the Best Male Singer trophy at various Armenian Music Awards from 2004–2018. He represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Without Your Love", which was Armenia's first entry into the contest.

Upon winning the musical contest "Road to Renaissance" at the age of fifteen, he laid the foundation of his professional career. While working for 5 years at the State Theater of Music, he pursued his education at the Yerevan State Conservatory of Music and obtained his PhD.

He has also been a judge in several television shows like Hay Superstar, My name is…, Premiere and X-Factor. He also had his own reality show called Andrenaline.

Since 2005, André's producer is Anush Hovnanyan.

Early life André was born on July 8, 1979 in Stepanakert in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. André started singing at the age of three, using a chair as his first stage and his family as his first audience. Three years later he was enrolled into a musical school, where he began taking piano classes. Although a war was taking its toll on the country and its people, the only guiding light and hope for André was the music and his dream of singing. These events led him to write his first song "Prayer" at the early age of nine, showing his appreciation towards God.

His professional singing career started at the age of 15 when he won the music contest Road to Renaissance. For the next few years, André became the lead vocalist of the pop-jazz band "Karabakh", with whom he has toured all over Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He has participated in numerous music festivals in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the United States, winning many of them and finishing top three in a few others. He performed a track with Australian R&B/pop singer Samantha Jade titled "Come Back".

Career Eurovision Song Contest 2006 In 2006, he was the first artist to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece with the song "Without Your Love", a mixture between modern Western and traditional Armenian music. The song was composed by Armen Martirosyan, the conductor of the Armenian Jazz Orchestra. The instrumentation and arrangement was done by Ara Torosyan. The producer and director of the song and André's performance at Eurovision was Anush Hovnanyan. The Public Television Company of Armenia presented their entry to the public on March 15, 2006. After qualifying through the semi-final, André finished in 8th place in the competition with 129 points.

Discography Albums It's Me (2003) Only Love (2005) 1000X/1000 Times (2006) Secret of Happiness (2008) ANDREnaline (2010) My Soul (2014)

Singles My Love To You (2005) Without Your Love (2006)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category City Result 2001 International Music Contest “Golden Skif” Donetsk 2001 International Music Contest “Golden Shlyager” Mogilev 2002 Voice of Asia Almaty 2003 International Youth Music Festival “Festos” Golden Diploma Award Moscow 2003 Shanghai Asia International Music Festival Excellent New Singer Shanghai 2003 Armenian Song of the Year The Greatest Contributor in Armenian Music Moscow 2003 Hit FM Radio Best Song of the Year “Antsa – gnatsi” 2004 World Championships of Performing Arts The Champion of the World Hollywood 2004 Krunk Pan-Armenian Music Festival Best Singer of the Year Yerevan 2004 Golden Lyre Awards Best Song of the Year “My Love to You” Yerevan 2005 National Music Awards Best Singer of the Year 2005 The Key of Glendale Glendale 2006 Person of the Year Moscow 2006 Tashir Music Awards "Avance" Prize Moscow 2006 M Club Music Awards Best Male Singer Hollywood 2006 M Club Music Awards Best Armenian International Artist Hollywood 2006 M Club Music Awards The Varduhi Vardanyan Achievement Award Hollywood 2007 Armenian Music Awards Male Singer of the Year Los Angeles 2009 Tashir Music Awards Singer of the Decade Moscow 2009 Armenian Music Awards The Ambassador of Armenian Music Los Angeles 2009 M Club Music Awards The Ambassador of Armenian Music Los Angeles