Armenia chooses Misha — aka Michael Grigoryan — for Junior Eurovision 2017

(wiwibloggs) – They’re one of the most successful countries at Junior Eurovision, having secured eight Top 5 finishes in 10 appearances.

And on Tuesday Armenia kicked off its bid to win Junior Eurovision 2017 by revealing its singer — 9-year-old Michael Grigoryan, who will perform as Misha.

Selected internally by AMPTV’s creative team, young Misha launched his music career at the tender age of four. While other kids were busy chewing on crayons, this precocious singer was already forging a working relationship with his future producer Lira Kocharyan, who is the founder and director of the famous music group “Voices of Artsakh”.

Misha has been an active member of the group ever since and has participated in a number of prestigious international festivals, including last year’s New Wave Junior where he finished as runner-up. He’s also represented his country at events in France, Switzerland, Brussels, Russia and Georgia, so probably has more frequent flier miles than you.

The kid is a performer of the first order, as you can see in the video above.

Artists at Junior Eurovision have a tendency to scream and shout. Misha can do power, but he also knows when and how to keep it cool and let charm lead the way. No nerves here!

His cover of “Uptown Funk” even got Eurovision 2016 star Sergey Lazarev — one of the New Wave judges — moving. Surely Europe won’t be able to resist either.

Misha has music in his blood, as his father conducts NKR’s army orchestra and his mother is a music teacher at the local kindergarten.

But Misha is not a one-trick pony. According to AMPTV:

“Misha enjoys listening to music, reading and watching cartoons. He loves playing the violin, the piano and the drums. Misha dreams of performing with Robertino Loretti, Stevie Wonder and Bruno Mars. He has already covered songs by Michael Jackson, Sting and James Brown. He has also covered ‘Lonely Day’ by System of a Down. Misha’s cover version was praised by the group’s lead vocalist Serj Tankian and was shared via his social pages.”

“In 2015 Misha presented his first music video ‘Poqrik Karabakhtsi’ – a song about love and peace, which quickly grabbed people’s attention and is still loved among Armenians.”

“In 2016 Misha represented Armenia at the ‘New Wave Junior’ international music competition. His song ‘Poqrik Karabakhtsi’ was one of jury’s favorites. As a result Misha ended up as the runner up of the competition. In his acceptance speech he invited everyone to Armenia, to explore its culture and traditions.”

“In May 2017 Misha appeared in the ‘Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity’ ceremony’s live broadcast, were he, together with other Armenian stars, sang ‘Ari im sokhak’ (a famous Armenian lullaby). His gentle voice touched millions of viewers across the world.”