“Frenchwomen with an Armenian heart”, this is how the well-known French-Armenian singer Rosi Armen names herself. She is one of the legends of the 20th century, brightest stars of French music, who by singing on different stages of the world also sang a few Armenian songs by all means. Rosi Armen has sung with Charles Aznavour, Gelbert Bekeau, Maurice Chevalier; Julio Iglesias has written songs especially for her. Her beautiful and subtle songs have been heard in different countries of the world.
In order to feel the famous glamour of Frenchwomen it’s even enough to look at Rosi Armen and understand that age only makes women more beautiful. Her appearance and the fluent style of singing still bring back memories from stage lights and applauses. Elegant, high-taste Rosi Armen is a real star. It’s been a while since she last threw any concerts. Her last visit to Armenia was 16 years ago. Her songs were beloved by our mothers and grandmothers. She has been a legend for them. At the beginning of December Rosi Armen visited Armenia for a few days in order to be filmed in the New Year music program for Public Television.
– You haven’t been to Armenia for a long time. You have probably noticed certain changes, haven’t you?
– What I see in Armenia right now is very good. New houses, buildings, foreign model expensive cars. But I haven’t seen Armenia in depth. I hope there is the same culture remaining.
– Do you have new Armenian songs in your play list?
– I’m not quite familiar with the new music. Of course, in my play list I mostly have French songs but every time I come to Armenia I always want to sing Armenian songs. I was born in Paris and was brought up in the French culture. I attended French schools. We didn’t have Armenian schools at that time, we could only visit an Armenian class only once a week but we all knew that it’s very important for us to attend that class and learn our mother tongue.
– Almost all the Armenians around the world tried to teach their children Armenian generation after generation. How do the young French-Armenians look at that?
– Many want to save the Armenian language but not everyone. Of course the young ones try to maintain the language because they feel the necessity of communicating with Armenians. The Armenian spirit is very powerful in France. Armenian lobbying in France does it best not to let Turkey join the EU because of the genocide issue.
– You were saying that when you quit singing you would do some modeling of clothes. Haven’t you changed your mind yet?
– Oh, I love modeling. I always try to follow fashion and I think I do a good job in matching clothes. I think I have a good taste and am able to collect the right types of clothes.
– Can we expect to see a new brand “Rosi Armen” in the near future?
– Why not? But hardly my clothes can be exclusive. I can do good prêt-a-porte.
– Do women in Armenia have good taste in clothes?
– Armenian women dress up like Frenchwomen. It’s all the same clothes; even the stores are the same. I visited a few stores in Yerevan and noticed that even the brands are the same. Nowadays people in all countries wear the same clothes – Armenians, the French, Russians, Chinese, etc.
– Is that good?
– Both good and bad. It’s good because the difference is invisible and it’s bad that the national originality is losing.
– In order to be happy does the woman have to pick only the right and favorite profession?
– Of course not. If you do the right occupation and your favorite one you may say that you are 70% happy. How about the rest – 30%? You should always have a family and children next to you. Only a good family can make the man/woman happy.
– Can the family and profession hinder each other?
– They can and it often happens. In cases like that it’d be good to compromise a bit. If I’d thought that I should only care about my career I wouldn’t have gotten married and had children. And in that case I’d be a lonely and strict person like singer Dolida. And at the end of my life I’d ask myself what I have done to my life; just singing? What else? I realized this when I turned thirty. I had been singing and traveling at least 9 months of the year. I was spending most of my time at the airports, restaurants, hotels or on stages. Every time after the concert I’d go to my hotel room and didn’t even wish to eat anything. I was all alone and was thinking I should go to bed soon to be ready for the next day’s concert. And I was alone thinking how long I shall keep singing like this? Therefore, both family and art are important and both should be equally balanced.
– You have two sons. What are their occupations?
– My elder son is a composer, writes songs for films. My young son is a businessman.
– What do you do when you have moments of solitude now and then?
– You know, when you sing starting from age four, you receive inspiration from the audience by their claps and “bravos”.
– We know that you have many pets at home.
– I like all kinds of animals, except for maybe mice and rats. But I love dogs and cats and I have those in my house. And I also have one fish. Its name is Hantz. The aquarium is in the kitchen and every time I go to the kitchen to make coffee in the mornings Hantz swims to me cheerfully and asks for food. It’s very strange and exciting for me.
– Don’t you want to be occupied by protection of animals like Bridget Bordeaux?
– Bridget does a great job. If you see how animals are killed you won’t forget that till the end of your life. Recently there was a Chinese program on French TV, where they showed how the dogs and cats were kept in small and narrow cages. Their fur was taken out even when they were still alive. It was terrible… Later their fur is sold to make clothes and sell them to us. And after watching this program I decided I shouldn’t buy anything made of fur. I have my favorite fur coat but don’t want to wear it any more.
– Perhaps when you open your boutique in Yerevan you won’t sell any clothes made of fur.
– It’s too soon to speak about the boutique right now but it’s a great dream of mine.