Essaï Altounian

Essaï Altounian (Եսայի Ալթունյան; born November 5, 1980), sometimes credited as simply Essaï, is a French-Armenian singer, songwriter, keyboardist, music producer and actor.

Biography
Essaï Altounian was born on November 5, 1980, in Paris, France. His grandparents escaped from Kharpet during the Armenian genocide.

Essaï was a law student at Jean Monnet University. He decided to drop out and focus on his passion for music after joining the French soul and R&B group Ideal-3. His first single was "Pardonne Moi" in 1999. His first performance was for the French television program Le monde est à Vous.

At the age of twenty, Altounian signed a solo contract with Mercury Universal. This contract produced two singles " Encore une chance " and "C'est ainsi". He has worked for the French channel TF1 since 1998 and has composed multiple songs for TV programs and shows.

For the theater, he composed music for Anthony Kavanagh's One Man Show, as well as several songs for "Ma femme s'appelle Maurice" by Raffy Shart.

Essaï Altounian is married to the French actress and dancer Geraldine Couf. They have two daughters.

Career
Essaï composed his first song when he was twelve years old. In 1999, he signed a contract with Sony France to become the lead singer of "Ideal-3." Their first single, "Pardonne-Moi", was played on all major French radio stations, including NRJ and Fun Radio.

When Essaï was 21, he split from Ideal-3 and signed a solo contract with Mercury Universal. As a solo artist, he began to receive many invitations from different TV shows including invitations to write and produce for other artists.

In 2001, Essaï landed the role of Count Paris in Gérard Presgurvic's musical comedy "Romeo and Juliet." The show's album sold 2 million copies. Soon, France's First Lady Bernadette Chirac asked him to write and produce "Un Peu de Moi." In 2002, he collaborated with French singer Jenifer Bartoli on her debut album, Jenifer. They collaborated on the song "Que reste-t-il?"

Essaï collaborated with Michel Legrand; together, they produced 25 songs for the 2003 musical adaptation of "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort." In 2006, Essaï also directed the musical production Parisian Cabarets, "Bobino." In 2009, he was the musical director of "La Bataille des chorales," in which 5 choirs competed. In 2010, he was the musical Director of "Le Grand Show des enfants." Both of these were broadcast on TF1.

In 2011, Essaï signed a digital distribution contract with Believe, and his first single, Sweet Family, was released on 4 November 2011.

In 2014, he signed a contract in the United States with Kerry Gordy from Motown music. Together, they produced a new single "Family" released on the label KERRY GORDY Records.

In 2015, Essaï released his song "Je n'oublie pas - Chem Morana," dedicated to the 1.5 million victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide on the 100th anniversary of its occurrence.

Essaï was one of the 6 members of Genealogy, the band representing Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria.

In 2016, Essaï was on the jury of the "Destination Eurovision" show in order to select the next candidate representing Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2018, Essaï was a jury "music expert"  in the American reality talent competition series "The World's Best," where international performers would be evaluated by three judges and the "Wall of the World," which consisted of 50 panelists from around the world with multiple fields of entertainment.

In 2020, Essaï created the musical "Noé, la force de vivre," inspired by the story of Noah's Ark. It premiered on November 27, 2021, at the Paris Longchamp racecourse. It ran for two months. The musical returned in January 2023, at the Palais des Congrès.

In 2023, Essaï announced a new album, set to be released in November 2023. The first single titled "Sans toi" was reelased on September 27, 2023.

Eurovision
Essaï was a member of the supergroup Genealogy, who represented Armenia in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest held in Vienna. The group consisted of six Armenians - five of which represented the Armenian diaspora and the forget-me-not flower, and the sixth member being the center piece of the flower who is from Armenia herself. Their single for the finals, originally titled "Don't Deny," was released on 12 March 2015. It was believed to be a tribute for the victims of the Armenian Genocide. However, the title faced criticism from countries Turkey, alongside Azerbaijan, for its alleged call to recognize the genocide. It was eventually renamed "Face the Shadow."

He became an Armenian citizen along with the other foreign members of Genealogy on 28 April 2015 after being given Armenian passports by then-President Serzh Sargsyan. The group finished 16th overall.