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Tomas N’evergreen about Eva Rivas, Sona Rubenyan, Armenian Duduk and More. Exclusive NEWS.am STYLE

12:05, September 29

By Syune Arakelyan - In 2003, Danish singer Tomas N’evergreen’s “Every Time (I See Your Smile)” and “Since You’ve Been Gone” became hits. Among many Armenians Tomas is also famous for his song “In a Moment Like This,” co-performed with Christina Chanee. They took the song to “Eurovision 2010” to represent Denmark.

In our exclusive interview, Tomas N’evergreen shares his thoughts on the Armenian Eurovision entry in 2010 (performed by Eva Rivas) and our participant in “New Wave 2014,” Sona Rubenyan, what made N’evergreen move and live in Russia, and much more. See the answers revealed below.

- Tomas, why did you decide to change your surname Christiansen to “N’evergreen”?

- Névergreen is like a play with words from my song “Don’t give up”, where one of the lines goes: “Could this be an evergreen”, but when we recorded it, it sounded like I sang: “Could this be a nevergreen” and we thought it was funny for a second :) My boss at the record company, Kjeld Wennick, thought it was a good name and he was usually right, so that became my artist name for better and worse :)

- When did you understand that music should be your main occupation?

-I was always occupied with music. It’s my escape from the real world. From childhood I had a lot of music around me. At home we were listening to The Beatles and to classical music and jazz. My mother and father played instruments, so I was playing on their piano and guitar from a very young age. And when I was around 5, I fell in love with drums. From that age I wanted to be a drummer...

- But you became a singer and your song “Since You’ve been gone” has become a mega hit. Did you expect that it was going to have that huge of a success?

- Before the release of “Since You’ve Been Gone”, I had a hit with the song “Every Time I See Your Smile”, so the success of “Since You’ve Been Gone” didn’t come as a shock. I liked the song, with its dramatic, melancholic verse and uptempo chorus, so for me it was natural that every one else liked it as well. I thought: nice - finally people appreciate my talent. I didn’t realize how much luck it takes to become number 1, and how lucky I had been.

-Tomas, for many years you have lived in Russia. Why did you decide to move and live there?

-At first I came to Russia, because of the success with “Every Time I See Your Smile”. I had some concerts in St Petersburg and Moscow and I fell in love with a girl and we were living together for around 3 years. But we divorced, and suddenly I was on my own again. I still had my friends in Russia and my studio and concerts here, so I still have a place outside Moscow. My daughter lives in Denmark, so I travel back and forth.

-You took part in “Eurovision 2010” representing Denmark. What do you think, what is the importance of that Contest?

- I don’t think that the “Eurovision Song Contest” is very important. Not even, if you win. It is hard to explain why someone would want to go up on stage in front of 150 million people, but I like it :)

- That year Armenia was represented by Eva Rivas, with the song “Apricot Stone”. What can you say about her as a singer?

-This is one of the songs I remember from that year. I like the rhythm in the song and the performance was very nice. Eva is a good singer, a beautiful girl and a good performer. Very professional. I also like the emotional duduk in the song. It is good to have some national ethnic touch to the songs in “Eurovision”. Armenia always has good results in “Eurovision”.

- Before representing Denmark, you took part in Russian National selections for “Eurovision” in 2009. Is it possible that one day you will represent Russia in that Contest?

-If I was asked to represent another country than Denmark, I would consider it, but Russia usually wants Russians to represent their country. The first king of Russia was from Denmark, though :) Ryurik was his name and he was crowned king in Novgorod in the year 864. So our blood has been mixed before :)

-You were one of the special artists at “New Wave 2014”, performing a duet with A Studio. It would be very interesting for Armenians to know your professional opinion about our participant of that Contest, Sona Rubenyan.

- Sona really surprised many of us in Jurmala with her strong voice and her excellent singing techniques. I’m sure she is a singer we will hear a lot from in the future.

-Tomas, you also have made several duets with Russian stars: A Studio, Kristina Orbakayte, Leonid Agutin…What new collaborations can we expect from you in the near future?

-I am working on my new album and there will also be some featuring artists on some of the songs. There is a girl, who lives in London, called Lady D, that I am making a song with at the moment.

-Do you have plans to visit Armenia and have concerts here?

- I hope to come with concerts to Yerevan very soon. I am touring at the moment and I would love to see your country.

- Do you want to say anything to your Armenian fans all over the world?

-Thank you for listening. Hope to see you soon.

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