History Music / Sirusho

* [[UpToEleven Taken Up To Eleven]]: Her pride in her heritage, religion and culture was nowhere near as prominent as it has been since the release of [=PreGomesh=]. Prior to that single, she released mostly generic pop songs with a mix of songs inspired by Armenian artists (mainly Komitas.) Post-[=PreGomesh=] Sirusho is all about Armenian Pride.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: The woman does pop covers of ''Armenian Folk songs'' while keeping the folk element and incorporating various dance/EDM influences ("''[=PreGomesh=] Remix''" off ''Armat'' being the most glaring example) as well as dabbling with R&B, hip-hop, and rock.

->"''The images in my songs are varied. The song "''Havatum Em''" is the contemplations of a mature girl, a woman. The songs "''Erotas''" and "''I Like It''" are about a much more cheerful girl who can rejoice selflessly. "''[=PreGomesh=]''" is the image of a strong, disobedient person, whether a woman or a man. All these are people that are very different from one other and perhaps also conflicting, but all those kinds are within me and they are expressed in my songs.''"

-->"''The images in my songs are varied. The song “''Havatum Em''” is the contemplations of a mature girl, a woman. The songs “''Erotas''” and “''I Like It''” are about a much more cheerful girl who can rejoice selflessly. “''[=PreGomesh=]''” is the image of a strong, disobedient person, whether a woman or a man. All these are people that are very different from one other and perhaps also conflicting, but all those kinds are within me and they are expressed in my songs.''"

While only enjoying modest success in the United States (primarily among Armenian-Americans), Sirusho has obtained borderline-icon status throughout Central and Eastern Europe in addition to Armenia. In 2013, W Magazine named her as one of the "6 Un-American Idols", describing her sound as "blending folksy and militaristic percussion with clubby, driving synth. In the video ("''[=PreGomesh=]''"), Sirusho shows off spirited choreographic maneuvers including dust-kicking and vogueing—particularly impressive, as she’s weighed down by what appears to be every piece of silver jewelry on the planet."

** Her husband is Levon Kocharyan, the son of the First President of Armenia. In recent years, she’s became very involved in Armenian political activism.

* [[AnAesop An Aesop]]: A lot of her more recent work frequently discusses the Armenian Genocide and the need for its recognition, which is still blatantly denied by the perpetrators (Turkey) and not officially recognized by quite a few countries. Can count as [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped]], depending on who you're talking to.

* [[AMillionIsAStatistic A Million Is A Statistic]]: A recurring theme in her songs relating to the Armenian Genocide.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_631.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Sirusho, pictured in 2016.]]

* OminousLatinChanting: Ominous Armenian Chanting: ''"301"'' in spades.

* OddFriendship: With [[Music/SystemOfADown Serj Tankian]], of all people.
** Though when you consider that on the whole, the Armenian community is closely-knit, and they both use their fame [[ItsPersonal to fight for the same political cause]], it isn't as surprising as it is on the surface.

* LikeFatherLikeSon: Like Mother, Like Daughter: Sirusho, like her mother, became a famous Armenian pop star. See FollowInMyFootsteps above.

* {{FamilyBusiness}}: Sirusho's mother, Syuzan Margaryan, was an incredibly well-known pop star in Armenia whose career hit its zenith during the eighties and nineties--basically, throughout Sirusho's childhood. Because of growing up with famous parents, in addition to having a predilection for musical composition and performance in the first place, it's almost not surprising that Sirusho GenerationXerox became a highly celebrated pop star [[ChildProdigy at the age of 13]].

Needs some {{WikiMagic}}.

Now with a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/Sirusho YMMV page]].

* VocalTagTeam: Most notably with "''See''" (featuring Sakis Rouvas) and "''Tariner''" (featuring Harout Pamboukjian). See also SpecialGuest.

* FamilyBusiness: Sirusho's mother, Syuzan Margaryan, was an incredibly well-known pop star in Armenia whose career hit its zenith during the eighties and nineties--basically, throughout Sirusho's childhood. Because of growing up with famous parents, in addition to having a predilection for musical composition and performance in the first place, it's almost not surprising that Sirusho [[GenerationXerox became a highly celebrated pop star]] [[ChildProdigy at the age of 13]].
** Sirusho has also done numerous performances and duets with her mother.
** Her husband is Levon Kocharyan, the son of the First President of Armenia. In recent years, she’s became very involved in Armenian political activism.
[[FamousParents Famous Parents]]: Her father is Hrachya Harutyunyan, an Armenian director and actor, and her mother is Syuzan Margaryan, a very famous Armenian pop star.

Needs some [[WikiMagic Wiki Magic]].

* [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu]]: During the 2009 Eurovision semi-finals, "We Are Our Mountains", a pro-Armenian statue near the capital Stepanakert, appeared in the Armenian postcard. Since UsefulNotes/{{Azerbaijan}} and Armenia have been embroiled in a decades-long conflict over Armenian independent territory Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Azerbaijan promptly complained, since it recognizes the region as its property. The statue was edited out for the final...to which Sirusho responded by having the aforementioned statue be her backdrop, and taped a picture of it to her clipboard. [[DisproportionateRetribution Disproportionate Retribution]] ensued.

* [[FamousAncestor Famous Parents]]: Her father is Hrachya Harutyunyan, an Armenian director and actor, and her mother is Syuzan Margaryan, a very famous Armenian pop star.

* FollowInMyFootsteps: Sirusho's mother, Syuzan Margaryan, was an incredibly well-known pop star in Armenia whose career hit its zenith during the eighties and nineties--basically, throughout Sirusho's childhood. Because of growing up with famous parents, in addition to having a predilection for musical composition and performance in the first place, it's almost not surprising that Sirusho [[GenerationXerox became a highly celebrated pop star]] [[ChildProdigy at the age of 13]]. Sirusho has also done numerous performances and duets with her mother.
* GenerationXerox: with her mother. See also FollowInMyFootsteps and [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother, Like Daughter.]]

* PopMusic: Well, yeah.

From her [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu symbolic protest moment]] while acting as a judge on the 2009 season of Eurovision onward, Sirusho has shown herself to be heavily influenced by her culture's history (namely, the Armenian Genocide and the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh) and has incorporated that influence into both her music and her personal life. She is a political activist and philanthropist in addition to her career, frequently promoting Genocide recognition through her music and various social media channels, as well as advocating the belief that Nagorno Karabakh belongs to Armenia and offering support/encouraging awareness about the various massacres and hate crimes that are committed in modern-day times (most notably the massacre of Armenians in Kessab, Syria in 2014, and the cease-fire violation/subsequent civil war in Nagorno Karabakh in 2016.) This has, obviously, [[DisproportionateRetribution gotten her into trouble]] before.

* [[BattleCry Battle Song]]: ''[[https://youtu.be/plXH4GeYtes "Zartonk"]]'', ''"Gini Lits"''.

* [[BilingualBonus Bilingual Bonus]]: "''Where Were You''", "''Der Zor''", "''Huh-Hah''", ''Qélé, Qélé'', ''"I Like It"''.
* [[BilingualDialogue Bilingual Lyrics]]: Sings in Armenian and English.

* [[TheChanteuse The Chanteuse]]: Channels this in the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yk_n2sTN44 Havatum Em]].

* [[ChristianRock Christian Pop]]: While not directly a Christian artist, her faith is heavily referenced in her recent work.
* [[CoverSong Cover Song]]: "''Grenade''" by [[Music/BrunoMars Bruno Mars]], ''"1+1"'' by Music/{{Beyonce}}, ''"If I Ain't Got You"'' by [[Music/AliciaKeys Alicia Keys]].

* [[DisproportionateRetribution Disproportionate Retribution]] Following the [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu DYJFOC moment]] mentioned directly above, Azerbaijan's Ministry of National Security proceeded to interrogate the 43 people who voted for Armenia, considering them to be a "a potential security threat". The EBU ultimately fined Azerbaijan over its misconduct, alongside allegations that they tried to censor the Armenian entry during the final. All because Sirusho showed off a statue.

* [[GospelMusic Gospel Song]]: ''"301"''. Bonus points for having a prayer in Armenian within the song, and for the title of the song itself--301 A.D. is the year Armenians officially adopted Christianity as their religion.[[note]]In terms of the allusion to Christianity and God in her songs, it's [[TruthInTelevision Truth In History]]. Armenia is historically recognized as the First Nation to legally adopt UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} as their national religion, and are widely accepted to be among the first Christian people. In addition to this, the majority of Armenians are ''super devoted'' to Christianity--according to a recent census, less than one percent of the Armenian population ''in the world'' is atheist, and less than ten percent of the worldwide population is a religion other than Christianity/Armenian Orthodox/Catholicism (2% of the worldwide population being Muslim, in spite of being surrounded by countries that are predominantly Muslim themselves). The repeated references to Christianity and faith aren't exactly surprising to people familiar with Armenian culture.[[/note]]

* [[GratuitousEnglish Gratuitous English]]: ''"I Like It"'', ''"Qélé, Qélé"'', "''Der Zor''", "''Huh-Hah''", "''Where Were You''".
* [[HappilyMarried Happily Married]]: To the former President of Armenia's son, Levon Kocharyan. They have a son, Robert, together, too. Their second child was born in May 2016.
* [[HopeSpot Hope Spot]]: ''"Kga Mi Or"'' roughly translates to "the day will come". When you consider the song is pleading that the Genocide be universally recognized, it gives a nice feeling of hope and optimism to the otherwise ''very'' depressing material. Notably, "''Kga Mir Or''"'s English counterpart "''Where Were You''", barely touches on the subject of hope, being an accusatory rant toward the world that turned a blind eye to the Genocide and to Armenia, with the only lyric pertaining to this trope being "To this day I pray I / Never lose my hope / I still believe in humans / And my one true God." [[note]]This is deliberately invoked and intentional. Sirusho stated in regards to the songs that "each language has its own message. The Armenian lyrics (''Kga Mi Or'') are what I feel I want to say to the Armenians. The English lyrics (''Where Were You'') are a question or a demand addressed to the "indifferent" world."[[/note]]. Translating the chorus of ''"Kga Mi Or"'' from Armenian to English gives you these completely different lyrics:

* InternationalPopSongEnglish: See [[BilingualDialogue Bilingual Lyrics]] and [[GratuitousEnglish Gratuitous English]].
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother, Like Daughter]]: Sirusho, like her mother, became a famous Armenian pop star. See FollowInMyFootsteps above.

* [[LoveTheme Love Song]]: "''Erotas''", "''Havatum Em''".

* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Armenian Chanting]]: ''"301"'' in spades.

* OddFriendship: With [[SystemOfADown Serj Tankian]], of all people.

* [[PopMusic Pop Music]]: Well, yeah.

* [[RegionalRiff Regional Riff]]: Her sound has evolved to incorporate both American and traditional Armenian music influences.

* [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Armenia]]: Born in 1987 in Armenia, which was one of the constituent republics of the USSR until declaring independence in September 1991, when Sirusho was four.

* ProtestSong: "''Zartonk''". The video shows Sirusho frolicking/drinking/dancing among soldiers in Nagorno Karabakh before implying that she joins them in battle.

* UnPerson: Again, most of her recent work is thematically based around the Armenian Genocide. As Turkey denies it, she tends to slip into accusing them of viewing the Armenian people as this.

* GenocideOfWho: Again, most of her recent work is thematically based around the Armenian Genocide. As Turkey denies it, she tends to slip into accusing them of this.
** This is the underlying tone of ''"Where Were You"'' as well.

** "''Kga Mi Or/Where Were You''" are especially significant because the song(s), thematically centered on the Armenian Genocide, were released on April 24th, 2015...the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The music video doubles as a {{TearJerker}} because in addition to Sirusho wearing a solemn, black, traditional Armenian dress and headpiece, footage of the Armenian Genocide Memorial's Eternal Flame in Yerevan, protesters demanding recognition of the Armenian Genocide, historical images ''of said genocide'', and battle scenes are interspersed throughout the video. The rest of the video is filmed in a ruined church with desolate lighting and color.