"Not Alone" is a song by
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
singer
Aram Mp3
Aram Avetiki Sargsyan (; born 5 April 1984), known professionally as Aram Mp3 (; often stylized as Aram MP3), is an Armenian singer and comedian. He represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song " Not Alone", which finish ...
. It at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2014
The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...
in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The song was revealed on 14 March 2014.
Background and composition
On 31 December 2013 Aram Mp3 was selected by
Armenian First Channel to represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.
On 21 February 2014 it was announced that Aram's song is already chosen, but the song will be premiered together with a music video by March.
Overall the broadcaster received 75 songs from domestic and foreign composers.
The song recording works begun in February 2014. On 14 March the song and music video officially premiered on AMPTV.
The music of the song was written by Aram himself, while the author of the lyrics is Aram's friend
Garik Papoyan
Garik Yurii Papoyan (, born 20 September 1984) is an Armenian actor, musician, presenter, writer and comedian.
Early life
Garik Papoyan was born on 20 September 1984 in Leninakan (now called Gyumri). He received secondary education at No. 19 ...
. When asked about the song message, Aram said, "You should never give up and always fight for love. One kiss can change everything." "Not Alone" is a mix of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
and
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...
. It starts with
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
accompaniment, and in the middle of the song there is also
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
. The dubstep part of the song starts after repeating "You're not alone..." few times. The song ends as it started; with piano accompaniment.
The official remix version by DJ Serjo was released a few days ago before the first semi-final of contest.
Critical reception
The song mostly received positive reviews and was considered one of the main favorites of the 2014 Eurovision. Jess Denham of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' called it an "empowering dubstep ballad". ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' entertainment writer Carl Greenwood gave the song 1 star out of 5 and said, "This song is the musical equivalent of homoeopathic sleeping pills - there's nothing to it but it's still enough to knock you out for a solid eight." ''Sofabet'' editor Daniel Gould stated that "The song is not typical Eurovision fare", because of its structure. Gould called it "a big tune: structurally daring, contemporary and cinematic in feel." Alex Fletcher from ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'' called the song as a "standard Eurovision brooding fare for 1 minute 53", and then continuing his article he notes, "Then there's a key change. Eurovision loves a bloody key change. It then morphs into a dubstep banger with extra knobs on."
Azerbaijani ''Haqqin.az'' website's editor Yulia Mammedova writes that "Not Alone" has a very professional arrangement, but then adds that such a professional arrangement is possible to do only in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
or somewhere in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, meanwhile the arrangement of the song was done by Armenian musician Lilit Navasardyan in Armenia.
In Armenia the song was well received by Armenian musicians.
Hayko
Hayk Borisi "Hayko" Hakobyan (; 25 August 1973 – 29 September 2021) was an Armenian singer and songwriter.
Biography
Hayko was born on 25 August 1973 in Yerevan, Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union). He studied at Yerevan Secondary School ...
, who represented Armenia in 2007, said he liked the song and called it "tasteful" and "energetic".
Similarly, Armenia's 2013 representative,
Gor Sujyan said he "liked the song very much", including the music, lyrics and the instrumentation. He expressed the opinion that it will be "accepted" in Europe.
Hasmik Karapetyan
Hasmik Artashesi Karapetyan (Armenian: Հասմիկ Արտաշեսի Կարապետյան; born 4 July 1977) is an Armenian pop singer.
Career
Hasmik started singing at a young age and composed some songs at the age of 13. (in Armenian) Her deb ...
admitted that she expected a more "rhythmic" song from Aram, but she praised the song and suggested it came out to be a "powerful, moving song, which contains a very important message."
Music video
The music video is directed by Grigor Gasparyan. It was shot in March in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
. On 14 March the song and music video officially premiered on AMPTV.
In 24 hours since the official video was uploaded on Eurovision channel on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, it received more than 200,000 views. By 17 March, it had received more views than any other 2014 entry music video on the channel. On 22 March it surpassed 1 million views.
The video shows Aram Mp3 on a lighted stage surrounded by an orchestra and is intercut with clips of a young woman in her car who had just broken up with her lover.
Eurovision Song Contest

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the
Copenhagen City Hall
Copenhagen City Hall () is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen.
Architecture
The current building ...
, Armenia was drawn to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014. In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Armenia would open the semi-final and perform 1st, preceding
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. Armenia qualified from the first semi-final, placing 4th and scoring 121 points, and competed in the final on 10 May 2014. During the winner's press conference for the first semi-final qualifiers, Armenia was allocated to compete in the first half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Armenia would perform 7th, following
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
and preceding
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
. Armenia placed 4th in the final, scoring 174 points.
The Armenian performance featured Aram Mp3 performing on stage alone. The stage atmosphere during the performance transitioned from dark settings to explosive and pulsating elements projected on the LED screens as the song progressed.
Track listing
*Digital download
# "Not Alone" – 3:03
*Digital download (Remix)
# "Not Alone" – 4:12
Charts
References
External links
*
Full lyrics of the songon Eurovision.tv
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2014 songs
2014 singles
Aram Mp3 songs
Eurovision songs of Armenia
Eurovision songs of 2014
Armenian songs
English-language Armenian songs
Dubstep songs
Articles containing video clips
Universal Music Group singles