Stephanie Nonoshita Topalian (born August 5, 1987), known simply as , is an American singer and actress of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and Japanese descent who is signed with SME Records Japan, which is a part of Sony Music. She released two albums: her self-titled debut in 2008 and ''Colors of my Voice'' in 2009. She has won the Japanese Music Awards in 2007. A number of her songs have been featured in several Japanese films. She had roles in a few Japanese films, notably ''Pride'' and '' Tokyo Tribe''. In 2015, she represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as a member of Armenian super group project

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

with the song " Face the Shadow".

Career

She began singing at a young age. At age 13, she moved to Japan with her family. At 14, Stephanie sent an audio demo tape of her singing to various music productions, and received a response from a Japanese music producer

Joe Rinoie is a Japanese record producer, singer and composer. Biography Early life Rinoie was born in Kanagawa, Japan. His mother is a Han Chinese in Japan, while his father is Japanese, thus he is mixed half Chinese, half Japanese. Music career Rin ...

. Rinoie was impressed with her singing, and at the age of 19 Stephanie made her major debut in Japan from SME Records (Sony). She achieved the "Best New Artist Award" at the prestigious 49th Japan Record Awards in 2007 and afterwards released two albums. Her debut single "Kimiga Iru Kagiri" and the follow-up single "Because of You" became the ending themes of the anime ''Kiss Dum''. Her fifth single, “Changin", was also featured as the last ending theme of the anime '' D.Gray-man''. In early 2008, her single "Friends" became the second ending theme for the anime '' Gundam 00''. The song appeared in the Top 10 of Japanese Oricon charts. As an actress Stephanie debuted in the film ''Pride'' in 2009, based on Yukari Ichijo's shōjo comic. She portrayed the protagonist Shio Asami and took part in the film's theme song, "Pride ~A Part of Me~" that featured SRM. Aside from ''Pride'', Stephanie also starred in 2009 in the short film ''It's All Good'' which was fully scripted in English. She was cast in 2014 to be in '' Tokyo Tribe'' and a short film.

Eurovision

In February 2015 she was announced as a member of the music group

(made up of singers from Armenia and 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. ...

) that represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Stephanie Topalian represents the Asian continent in the formation whereas the Ethiopian Vahe Tilbian represents Africa, the American Tamar Kaprelian the American continent, the French Essaï Altounian the European continent, Australian Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian Oceania and Inga Arshakyan Armenia. The group sang " Face the Shadow" at the contest in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She then became an Armenian citizen along with the other members of Genealogy on April 28, 2015, after being given Armenian passports by President Serzh Sargsyan.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As a lead artist

As a featured artist

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Notes

References

External links

* archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Topalian, Stephanie 1987 births Living people Singers from Tokyo 21st-century Armenian women singers American emigrants to Japan American people of Armenian descent American musicians of Japanese descent Armenian pop singers Armenian women pop singers Aoyama Gakuin University alumni Japanese women pop singers Japanese-language singers of the United States Singers from Los Angeles Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Anime musicians Japanese people of Armenian descent 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses Armenian people of Japanese descent Genealogy (band) members American women musicians of Japanese descent Naturalized citizens of Armenia