Eurovision song contest

Inga and Anush Arshakyans, a sister duo, represented Armenia in 2009 Eurovision song contest with their song “Nor Par” (also known as “Jan Jan”). The song won the national selection, beating its 20 competitors of various genres. Written by Mane Hakobyan and arranged by Ara Torosyan, the song follows ethno-pop genre with rhythmic beats and a little bit of Armenian touch. The lyrics of “Nor Par” (written by Vardan Zadoyan and Avet Barseghyan) are mostly English.
In 2009, Eurovision song contest took place in Moscow, Russia, in the country of the previous year’s winner Dima Bilan with the song “Believe”. The Arshakyan sisters’ performance was quite different from others. Blue colored traditional Armenian costumes (taraz) that had black collars and long braids attached to them with Armenian traditional hats really made them stand out. Besides the artists’ appearance, the background screens showed ornaments and symbols mainly in green and pink colors which made the show look spectacular. Near the end of the song, lights were added while the dancers activated gadgets in their hands sending out green lights. The video-clip of the song is quite unique as well, since it’s made of an arranged flash-mob, where hundreds of people dance to the song.
The song “Nor Par” came 5th in the semi-finals with 99 points and opened the top ten in the final with 92 points getting ahead of Russia with only 1 point. It was also the first Armenian song that entered the Pmachinery Top 30 and remained in the chart for 16 weeks. The winner of the 2009 Eurovision song contest became the song “Fairytale” performed by Alexander Rybak who presented Norway.
Inga and Anush Arshakyans both graduated from S. Aslamazyan music school and A. Babajanyan Music College. They became a duo in early 2000s and as a duo have won several awards including the Tigran Nalbandyan award in the “National Music Awards” in December 2005 for their single “Tamzara”.