AVRAAM RUSSO, A SYRIAN ARMENIAN WHO REALIZES FAME IN RUSSIA
Azad Hye, United Arab Emirates
March 7 2006
Azad-Hye, Dubai, 7 March 2006: In its 6th December 2001 issue, “The
Moscow Times” Russian leading English-language newspaper’s reporter
Elvan Levent describes the new phenomenon of the Russian pop music
with the following words: “After 16 years of performing at clubs and
restaurants in Britain, Syria, France and Cyprus, Avraam Russo is well
on his way to becoming a confirmed pop star — in Russia. Russo, who
speaks seven languages and can sing in 14, is a Syrian-born musician
of Turkish descent. Now 31, he moved to Russia five years ago and is
today on his way to the top of the local charts”.
In the following year (2002), Avraam Russo won a Russian national
premium award called “Pesnya Goda” (the song of the year) for his
famous hit “Daleko Daleko” (Far away in Russian), originally taken from
the Egyptian Arab famous singer Amr Diab’s song “Tamalli Ma’ak” (2000).
What is the story behind Avraam Russo? Is he really of Turkish descent?
Quite the contrary. Russo’s real name is Apraham Ipjian (nicknamed
Apo or Apig).
Born in 1969 in Aleppo, Apig comes from a very poor family. He had
three brothers and lost his father in early age. His mother used to
work in hard manual works, serving households in that northern city
of Syria, where a community of 50 thousand Armenians live.
As he discovered his singing talent, he was soon involved in several
amateur bands, making part-time appearances in family style outdoor
restaurants (such as Ramaya, Aleppo Family Swimming Pool, Somar,
Ouroubeh, etc.) and in hotels (Al Amir) in Aleppo.
In 1993 he moves to Cyprus and works in a night club for two years
earning no more than US$ 200 per month. However, his presence on the
island of Aphrodite proves to be important for his future career.
During one of his visits to Cyprus a Russian Jewish tycoon Telman
Ismailov (now Vice President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and
owner of huge retail enterprises in Moscow and entertainment outlets
such as Prague Restaurant), a well connected person with Russian
politicians (including the Mayor of Moscow), attends one of his
multi-lingual performances and upon noticing his talent, he immediately
invites him to work in one of his prestigious outlets in Russia.
Ismailov, originally from Baku, Azerbaijan had been living (and
thriving) in Moscow since the early 1990s.
After hesitating for one year, Apig eventually takes his advice. At
that time he was back in Syria. His first trip to Moscow was in 1995.
In a relatively short time he gets to be famous. With the help of
a girlfriend he learns Russian and prepares a repertoire in many
languages, exactly the way he used to do in Syria and Cyprus. His
linguistic abilities helped him to overcome the language barrier. His
command of European languages was also impressive. During his
childhood, he used to live for some years in Europe, when his father
was still alive.
There was always a kind of mystery about his origin. People
made different speculations, judging on his knowledge of several
languages. He himself had not explicitly referred to his ethnic
background, maybe due to an informal agreement he made with his manager
before receiving wide recognition. After all Russian fans might be
fascinated with his songs and style and would not be interested to
know about his origin. Armenians of Aleppo though insist in branding
him as their fellow compatriot.
Photo: 21lj41
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress