Genealogy was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

that was formed to represent Armenia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

. Five of the six members come from a different continent of the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

whose families once spread all over the world after the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

of 1915. The five artists from the diaspora also symbolize the five petals of the

forget-me-not ''Myosotis'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. The name comes from the Ancient Greek "mouse's ear", which the foliage is thought to resemble. In the northern hemisphere they are colloquially known as forget-me-nots ...

(official logo of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, commemorated in April 2015), while the center of the flower is represented by the sixth artist, based in

. The group performed the song "

Face the Shadow "Face the Shadow" (formerly known as "Don't Deny") is a song performed by Armenian Supergroup (music), supergroup Genealogy (band), Genealogy. The song is composed by Armen Martirosyan (musician), Armen Martirosyan and the lyrics are by Inna Mkrt ...

" in the contest. The song was originally called "Don't Deny", but organizers changed it later to the present title, as it was deemed too political (hinting at

Armenian genocide denial Armenian genocide denial is the claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime documented in a large body of ...

). The song represented Armenia in the

on the final held on 23 May 2015, finishing 16th overall, with a total of 34 points from only 8 countries including a maximum 12 points from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Members

The first member of the group,

Essaï Altounian Essaï Altounian ( hy, Եսայի Ալթունյան, in Western Armenian ) born on 5 November 1980), sometimes credited as simply Essaï, is a French-Armenian singer, songwriter, keyboardist, music producer and an actor. Biography Essaï Alt ...

, a French Armenian, was announced on 16 February 2015. The second member of the group,

Tamar Kaprelian Tamar Mardirossian ( hy, Թամար Մարտիրոսեան; born October 28, 1986), known professionally as Tamar Kaprelian, is an Armenian-American singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Kaprelian began her career in 2008, after winning a cove ...

, an

American-Armenian Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

singer, was announced on 20 February 2015. The third member being

Vahe Tilbian Vahe Tilbian ( hy, Վահե Թիլբյան, Western Armenian Վահէ Թիլպեան, am, ቫሔ ቲልቢያን; born 17 February 1980) is an Ethiopian singer of Armenian descent. A solo artist, he became lead singer for the Ethiopian group Ze ...

, an Armenian-Ethiopian singer, was announced on 23 February 2015. The fourth member was Stephanie Topalian, a U.S. born Armenian-American-Japanese singer residing in Japan. Her father is Armenian-American and her mother Japanese; her membership was announced on 27 February 2015. The fifth member is Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n opera singer of

n descent. Her membership was announced on 3 March 2015. The sixth member is

Inga Arshakyan Inga and Anush Arshakyan ( hy, Ինգա և Անուշ Արշակյաններ) or the Arshakyan Sisters ( hy, Արշակյան քույրեր) are an Armenian folk singing duo. The sisters represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, ...

, who also represented

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, along with her sister, Anush. On 28 April 2015 the five

members of the group, the American Kaprelian, the Australian O'Doherty Basmadjian, the Ethiopian Tilbian, the French Altounian and the Japanese-American Topalian, became Armenian citizens and at the end of an audience with President

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)Of ...

were given their

Armenian passport Armenian passport ( hy, Հայկական անձնագիր, Haykakan andznagir) is a passport issued to Armenian citizens to enable them to travel outside Armenia, and entitles the bearer to the protection of Armenia's consular officials oversea ...

s by the President. The sixth member Inga Arshakyan already carries Armenian citizenship.

Discography

Singles

After Eurovision

After Eurovision,

from Genealogy released a collective single "The Otherside" featuring a number of other singers who were in the final including

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition i ...

Elina Born Elina Born (born 29 June 1994) is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Stig Rästa with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". She previously attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song ...

, Maria-Elena Kyriakou and fellow Genealogy member Stephanie Topalian. Tamar also competed in '' Depi Evratesil 2018'' with the song "Poison (Ari Ari)", for which she was a favorite to win. She was eliminated in the semifinal. Essaï Altounian was a judge in '' Depi Evratesil 2017'', where he mentored

Artsvik Artsvik Harutyunyan ( arm, Արծվիկ Հարությունյան ; russian: Арцвик Арутюнян; born 21 October 1984), better known as simply Artsvik, is a Armenians in Russia, Russian-Armenian singer and songwriter. She represented A ...

to victory. In 2019, he was a member of the "Wall of the World" panel on the CBS talent competition ''

The World's Best ''The World's Best'' is an American reality talent competition television series. Produced by Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, it features international performers being evaluated by three judges—Drew Barrymore, RuPaul and Faith Hill, and a panel ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Armenia Armenian musical groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2015 Supergroups (music)