André Sergeyi Hovnanyan (Armenian: Անդրե Սերգեյի Հովնանյան; born July 8, 1979), better known by the mononym André (Armenian: Անդրե), 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 Armenia Music Awards in 2004–2018.
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 Pop Idol, My name is…, Premiere and The X Factor. André also has his own reality show called Andrenaline.
André Hovnanyan 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 last few years, André has been 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".
Armenia enters Eurovision
In 2006 he was the first artist to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest,[1] performing one of the 37 songs in Athens. There André sang "Without Your Love", a mixture between modern Western and traditional Armenian music. The song was composed by an Armenian celebrity, 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 Andre's performance at Eurovision was Anush Hovnanyan. ARMTV presented their Eurovision Song Contest 2006 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.
2006 – Tashir 2006 – Moscow, Russia – Prize "Avance"[2]
2006 – M Club Music awards – Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, USA – Best Male singer & Best Armenian International artist – The Varduhi Vardanyan Achievement Award[3]
2009 – Tashir 2009 – Moscow, Russia – Singer of Decade
2009 - Armenian music awards & M Club music awards - Nokia Theatre, USA - The ambassador of Armenian music
