Aristakes sings Armenian anthem during international match

Amersfoortse Courant (Dutch regional newspaper)
February 13, 2005

NIJKERK – Aristakes from Nijkerk will perform in front of at least thirty
thousand listeners. The singer was asked by the Royal Dutch Football
Association (KNVB) to sing the Armenian national anthem during the
international football match Netherlands-Armenia.

With this, the singer of Armenian heritage, will be the center of attention
on March 30 during the international match that will be played in Eindhoven
in the stadium of football club PSV.

An employee of the KNVB asked Aristakes whether he would like to sing the
Armenian national anthem at the start of the match.

“I immediately sat behind a piano and played the song. He was instantly
captivated,” says the Nijkerkian singer. Aristakes promptly suggested to
sing the Dutch national anthem as well.

“In the current discussions on integration, I think this is a chance to show
how you can adapt yourself in a foreign country”, says the Armenian.

Whether the Dutch anthem will indeed sound from his throat on March 30 is
still to be confirmed by the KNVB. The singer is not nervous for his
contribution to the international football match. “During the anthem usually
only the players are shown.”

Aristakes Yessayan has been living in the Netherlands since 1956. In the
1980s, the singer born in Greece scored two Top-40 hits with the songs
“Diamond Forever” and “Don’t Wanna Live Without You”.

This week the Foundation Square Promotion Nijkerk, organiser of events in
downtown Nijkerk, announced that Aristakes is the new chairman of the
organization.

He replaces Bert van ‘t Hazeveld who wants to have more free time for his
administrative function at football club NSC.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress