Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Iveta Mukuchyan

© EBU/Andres Putting

About

Quick Facts

Name
Iveta Mukuchyan

Born
14 October 1986

Nationality
🇦🇲 Armenian

National Selection
Internal selection 2016

In Eurovision
2016 Stockholm

Song
LoveWave (2016)

Biography

Iveta Mukuchyan is an Armenian singer. She was born in 1986 in Yerevan, which was then part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992, she relocated to Hamburg, Germany. They briefly moved back to Armenia in 1995 but soon returned to Germany. Mukuchyan attended school in Hamburg, from 1998 to 2006, while also working as a part-time waitress. 

While in Germany, Iveta joined a music club and sang Celine Dion’s hit “My Heart Will Go On” during an event, leading her parents to realize her potential as a singer. Mukuchyan later enrolled at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, leaving her design studies in Germany incomplete. 

Iveta Mukuchyan began her musical journey in 2009 by participating in the fourth season of Hay Superstar, the Armenian equivalent of Pop Idol, where she claimed the fifth spot. Her performance earned her the Discovery of the Year award at the Armenia Awards in Moscow. She also made a notable appearance on the French track “L’amour n’a pas de loi” from Ararat 93’s debut album, Amalgame, in 2010. In 2011, she participated in Parahandes, an Armenian version of the British show Strictly Come Dancing, but didn’t make it to the semifinals. That same year, she also earned third place in The Voice of Hamburg, a German singing competition.

Mukuchyan made several appearances on Armenian talk shows and graced the cover of El Style magazine. In 2012, she stepped into the international arena by participating in the second season of The Voice of Germany. She went on to win in the second stage of the competition. The same year, El Style magazine hailed her as the “Sexiest Armenian” and featured her on their cover in December.

In October 2015, Iveta Mukuchyan debuted her single “Simple Like a Flower,” complete with a music video. The same month, Armenian Public Television chose her to represent Armenia at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. She performed “LoveWave,”, which was selected as Armenia’s entry in February 2016. The song and its music video premiered in March 2016. She promoted “LoveWave” at the Eurovision Pre-Party concert in Moscow in April 2016, but modified some lyrics in light of the ongoing Artsakh conflicts.

During the first Eurovision semifinal in May 2016, Mukuchyan stirred controversy by displaying the flag of the disputed Republic of Artsakh, leading to backlash from the Azerbaijani press and a “serious breach” statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This could have potentially led to Armenia’s disqualification from future events. In response, Mukuchyan expressed her allegiance to her homeland and her desire for peace. “LoveWave” finished seventh at Eurovision.  Beyond music, she starred in the 2016 adventure-comedy film Run Away or Get Married and recorded the film’s soundtrack.

At the Pan Armenian Entertainment Awards in November 2016, Iveta was appointed Armenia’s entertainment ambassador and performed her Eurovision song “LoveWave” and a new single, “Amena,” which she said speaks to women’s transformations, inner struggles, and values.

In December 2016, she launched her first EP, “IvaVerse”.  In early 2017 Iveta collaborated with Aram Mp3 on a single called “Dashterov,” which later won a Song of the Year award. She announced a traditional-music project, again with Aram Mp3, based on their joint single. The project received a Best Collaboration of the Year award and Mukuchyan was recognized as the Diva of Armenian Pop.

In January, Iveta announced an upcoming song which was released on February 1st under the title “Siraharvel Em Qez”. She embarked on an ambitious music project in South Africa known as “The Journey of a Woman”. Over the course of the year, she gave solo performances at Moe’s on the 5th restaurant in Dubai on multiple occasions: March 15th, April 19th, and May 5th. She also participated in the 2018 Swallow Music Awards, where she received the prestigious award for Best Female Singer of the Year.

On April 1st, Mukuchyan held a concert at the KAMI Music Club with her band, performing songs from her Dashterov project as well as her most recent singles.

She co-starred in the 2017 movie The Path of Our Dream. That same month, she released her debut solo album, “Armenian Folk”. In November, she and her sister launched their own brand at the MADE shopping center.

During the 2018 protests in Armenia, Iveta Mukuchyan vocally supported the anti-government demonstrators, performing “Hayastan Jan” in Yerevan’s Republic Square on both days of the Prime Ministerial election. Later, on May 31, 2018, she collaborated with SONA and Ara Martirosyan to host a concert at the Aram Khachaturian Grand Concert Hall. 

That summer, Mukuchyan collaborated with record producer Narek Mets Hayq on the song “Mets Khagh”, featuring Roland Gasparyan and Hayk Karapetyan. In October 2018, the first and second parts of her South African project were released, titled “Margo” and “Rich Bitch” respectively.

Mukuchyan, alongside other Armenian singers, staged a tribute concert titled “For You, Aznavour” in October 2018, to honor the late French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour. Following the concerts, she released an Armenian version of Aznavour’s song “Quand Tu M’Aimes” (When You Love Me).

On November 17, 2018, she debuted a new song, “Hayastani Axjikner” (Armenian Girls), during an episode of the Armenian comedy show Women’s Club. 

On International Women’s Day, Iveta Mukuchyan staged her first performance at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles, California. To generate awareness for this concert, she featured on several Armenian television shows broadcasted in the United States. On April 28, 2019, she unveiled the third and concluding part of her trilogy “The Journey Of A Woman,” titled “United.”

Mukuchyan showcased her single “Hayastani Axjikner”  on May 11, 2019. During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in October 2020, Iveta Mukuchyan curated a virtual music concert named Rock for Artsakh which featured both Armenian and international artists. In November, she was involved in a charity song for Artsakh named “Mez Vochinch Chi Haghti” (Nothing Will Win Us) alongside other renowned artists.  Iveta, in the same month, sang the single “Nevagivup” and received an accolade at the 2020 Distinctive International Arab Festivals Awards (DIAFA) in Dubai. 

In 2021, Mukuchyan joined the panel of judges for AMPTV’s The Masked Singer. Later, in December 2022, she co-hosted the 20th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan, Armenia, alongside Garik Papoyan and Karina Ignatyan.

Entries

LoveWave

Country
🇦🇲 Armenia

Year
2016

Language
English

Lyrics
Iveta Mukuchyan
Stephanie Crutchfield

Music
Lilith Navasardyan
Levon Navasardyan

Backings
Sona Gyulkhasyan
Christina Mangasaryan
Masha Mnjoyan
Lilith Navasardyan
Anushik Ter-Ghukasyan

Results Semi

Points: 243
Position: 2
Running order: 7

Results Finals

Points: 249
Position: 7
Running order: 26