Alexey Vladimirovich Vorobyov (russian: Алексей Владимирович Воробьёв; 19 January 1988) is a Russian singer and actor who performs both in Russian and English. For international purposes Vorobyov is also credited as Alex Sparrow, a translation of his Russian name. He is best known for appearing on the
Russian version of ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' at the age of 17 in 2005. In 2006 Vorobyov was contracted by
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
Russia,
and in December 2007 was appointed as a
goodwill ambassador
Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...
for Y-PEER, a youth-based initiative of the
United Nations Population Fund
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...
.
Vorobyov
represented the Russian Federation in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...
in Germany.
Early life
Alex was born on 19 January 1988 in
Tula (Russian: Тула),
RSFSR,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. His father is Head of Security, and his mother is a housewife. Alex played football as a child and played for the local youth team in Tula. At first, he wanted to pursue a career in sports but later chose to pursue music as his profession.
Music career
Alex studied the accordion at the College of Music. While there, he participated in many competitions. When Alex graduated he decided to return to the musical school, however this time he opted to study in the vocal department. For a short period of time, he was the lead singer of the Tula folklore ensemble "Delight."
In 2005, Alex won the gold medal for his solo performance at the Delphic Games IV. In the same year Alex went to Moscow where he was ranked No. 3 in a TV competition. He later moved to Moscow and entered more competitions. In 2006, he signed a contract for Universal Music Russia. In July of that year Alex was one of the performers at the "Big Eight" which was held in St Petersburg. He was one of the executors of "Youth Eight" and was also given the opportunity to sing during the closing ceremony.
In 2007, Alex won an MTV award for upcoming artists.
![Russia at ESC 2011 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Russia_at_ESC_2011_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 2008 and 2009 he competed in the Russian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with the songs New Russian Kalinka and Angelom Biht but lost to Dima Bilan and Anastasia Prikhodko respectively. On 5 March 2011, he was eventually selected to represent Russian Federation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, with the song "Get You," written by highly successful Moroccan producer Nadir Khayat (
RedOne).
He returned in 2009 but was forced to withdraw his entry due to employment schedule conflict.
Alex was finally chosen to represent Russia in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...
and was
internally selected. He finished 16th overall in the contest. After recovering from a serious car accident he suffered in early 2013, Vorobyov is back with music he has written, composed and arranged himself. Called Friend project, it is a collaboration with his friend, Russian actor
Sergei Romanovich.
The latter had already appeared in ''
Laskoviy Mai'', a film about the career of the famous Soviet band of the same name.
Acting career
His acting career took off in 2006 when he starred in "Alice's Dream." Alex later enrolled in acting school. Spring 2008 saw Alex graduate from the theater school. He later became a student of the Moscow Art Theater School. Once his employment in acting was well established, Alex left the school.
In 2010, Alex took part in a reality series called "Cruel Intentions," he made it to the finals finishing in second place. Later that year, he enlisted as a candidate on the TV show "Ice and Fire" in which he paired up with the famous ice-skater Tatiana Navka (Russian: Татьяна Навка). Despite an arm injury Alex continued his participation in the show.
On 26 September 2019, it was announced that Alex Sparrow was cast as Yuri "Bobby" Telatovich in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
comedy series, ''
Space Force
A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...
''.
Personal life
In 2011 Alex Sparrow dated Russian pop star Victoria Dayneko.
On 22 January 2013 Alex Sparrow was seriously injured in a car crash in Los Angeles, United States, after his Porsche hit another car. Alex was taken to a hospital with a brain trauma and several other injuries, which ended up in half of his face going numb, and put him in intensive care.
He recovered and slowly returned to recording and acting.
[
]
Discography
Singles
* 2006 — ''Leto'' (Summer)
* 2007 — ''Alisa''
* 2007 — ''Devchonka'' (Girl)
* 2007 — ''Seychas ili Nikogda'' (Now or never)
* 2007 — ''Russkie Zabili'' (Russian's forgot)
* 2008 — ''Desire''
* 2008 — ''New Russian Kalinka''
* 2008 — ''Toska''
* 2008 — ''Ti i Ya'' (You and I)
* 2008 — ''Zabud Menya'' (Forget me)
* 2009 — ''Accordeon''
* 2009 — ''Reality''
* 2010 — ''Shout It Out''
* 2011 — '' Get You''
* 2015 — ''Sumasshedshaya'' (She's crazy but she's mine)
* 2016 — ''Samaja Krasiwaja'' (The beauty)
Filmography
*'' Backwater District'' (2009) Main Protagonist
*'' The Phobos'' (2010)
* ''The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
'' (2013)
* '' Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'' (2014)
*'' The Vatican Tapes'' (2015)
*''Unreal
Unreal may refer to:
Books and TV
* ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings
* ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime
Computing and games
* ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'' (2017) Special Guest/Recurring Role
*''Space Force
A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...
'' (2020) Recurring Role
*'' NCIS'' (2022) Special Guest
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorobyov, Alexey
1988 births
Living people
People from Tula, Russia
21st-century Russian singers
Russian male actors
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Russia
21st-century Russian male singers
Winners of the Golden Gramophone Award