Stephanie (singer, born August 1987)

Stephanie Nonoshita Topalian (Armenian: Ստեֆանի Թոփալյան; Western Armenian: Սթեֆանի Թօփալեան; born August 5, 1987), professionally known as Stephanie (ステファニー (Sutefanī)), is an American singer and actress of Armenian and Japanese descent who is signed with SME Records Japan (part of Sony Music). She released two albums, self-titled Stephanie in 2008 and Colors of my Voice in 2009 and has won the Japanese Music Awards in 2007. A number of her songs have been featured in Japanese films and she has also taken roles in a few Japanese films, notably Pride and Tokyo Tribe. In 2014, she was included in the Armenian super group project Genealogy to represent Armenia in the 2015 version of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Face the Shadow".

Stephanie
Born
Stephanie Nonoshita Topalian

(1987-08-05) August 5, 1987
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Armenia
Occupation
  • Singer
  • Actress
Years active2007–present
Musical career
GenresPop
LabelsSME Records
Associated actsGenealogy

Early life and education

She was born to a Japanese mother and an Armenian American father in Los Angeles, California. Although Stephanie is residing in Japan, she has a strong commitment to her Armenian background and is very attached to her grandparents. Her paternal grandmother Koharik Mikaelian Topalian was born in Lebanon and her paternal grandfather Jean Pierre Topalian was from France.

Stephanie graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University Law School. She is bilingual and speaks English and Japanese.

Career

She began singing at a young age and at age 13, she moved to Japan with her family. At 14, Stephanie sent an audio demo tape of her singing to various music productions,[1] and received a response from a Japanese music producer Joe Rinoie. Rinoie was impressed with her singing, and at the age of 19 Stephanie made her major debut in Japan from SME Records (Sony).[1] She achieved the "Best New Artist Award" at the prestigious 49th Japan Record Awards in 2007 and afterwards released two albums.

Her debut single "Kimiga Iru Kagiri" and the follow up single "Because of You" became the ending themes of the anime Kiss Dum. Her fifth single "Changin", was also featured as the last ending theme of the anime D.Gray-man. In early 2008, her single "Friends" became the second ending theme for the anime television series Gundam 00. The song appeared in the Top 10 of Japanese Oricon charts.

As an actress Stephanie debuted in the film Pride in 2009, based on Yukari Ichijo's shōjo comic. She portrayed the protagonist Shio Asami, and also took part in the film's theme song, "Pride ~A Part of Me~" that featured SRM. Aside from Pride, Stephanie also starred in 2009 in the short film It's All Good which was fully scripted in English and in 2014 in Tokyo Tribe and a short film.

Eurovision
Main article: Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

In February 2015 she was announced as a member of the music group Genealogy (made up of singers from Armenia and the Armenian diaspora) that represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Stephanie Topalian represents the Asian continent in the formation whereas the Ethiopian Vahe Tilbian represents Africa, the American Tamar Kaprelian the American continent, the French Essaï Altounian the European continent and the Australian Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian Oceania and Inga Arshakyan Armenia. The super group sang "Face the Shadow", the Armenian entry to the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria. She became an Armenian citizen along with the other foreign members of Genealogy on 28 April 2015 after being given Armenian passports by President Serzh Sargsyan.[2]

Discography

Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak positions
JPN
Oricon
[3]
Stephanie (ステファニー)
  • Released: March 5, 2008
  • Label: SME Records
  • Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download
 25
Colors of My Voice
  • Released: June 17, 2009
  • Label: SME Records
  • Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download
 102
"—" denotes items which did not chart, or were released before the creation of a chart.

Singles

As a lead artist
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
JPN
Oricon
[3]		 JPN
Hot 100
[upper-alpha 1]
"Kimi ga Iru Kagiri" (君がいる限り, "As Long as I Have You") 2007 36— Stephanie
"Because of You" 50—
"Winter Gold" 80—
"Friends" (フレンズ, Furenzu) 2008 87
  • RIAJ (digital): Gold[7]
"Changin’" (featuring Roma Tanaka) 50—[upper-alpha 2] Colors of My Voice
"Pride (A Part of Me)" (featuring SRM) 2009 8263
"Future" 155—
"Towa ni" (永遠に, "Forever") 2012 —— Non-album singles
"Sakura Zaka" (桜坂, "Cherry Blossom Hill") ——
"Precious Love" ——
"—" denotes items that did not chart, or were released before the creation of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 in 2008.
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
ICE
[9]
"Face the Shadow"
(among Genealogy)		 2015 47 Non-album singles
"The Otherside"[10][11]
(Tamar Kaprelian featuring Elhaida Dani, Elina Born, Maria-Elena Kyriakou & Stephanie Topalian)		 —
"—" denotes items that did not chart.

Promotional singles
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
JPN
Hot 100
[upper-alpha 1]
"Beyond Myself" 2008 76 Stephanie

Guest appearances
Title Year Other artists Album
"Twister (Kingdom Mix)" 2012 Yoko Shimomura Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Original Soundtrack
"Someday (Kingdom Mix)"
"Jump Over Yourself (Papapayapa)" 2013 Takeharu Ishimoto Subarashiki Kono Sekai Crossover: Tribute
"Calling (Kingdom Mix) (Live Ver.)" Takeharu Ishimoto, The Death March

Notes
  1. Sources for chart positions are as follows: "Friends",[4] "Beyond Myself",[5] "Pride (A Part of Me)".[6]
  2. "Changin'" did not enter the Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 48 on the physical Top Single Sales chart.[8]
gollark: I mean, maybe you *could*, but that would be uncool.
gollark: Information which harms you.
gollark: Generally speaking, "infohazards" are (*mostly* hypothetical?) hazardous information of some sort.
gollark: http://www.scpwiki.com/system:page-tags/tag/infohazard
gollark: What if your password is an infohazard, so you can't safely enter it?

References
  1. Shegrikyan, Zaven (March 24, 2015). "Exclusive interview with Stephanie Topalian!". ESC Bubble. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (28 April 2015). "Eurovision Armenia: Genealogy meet the president of Armenia". Esctoday. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  3. "ステファニーの作品" [LISA Products]. Oricon. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  4. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). February 6, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  5. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). March 12, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  6. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). January 21, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  7. "有料音楽配信認定 月次認定作品" (in Japanese). RIAJ. July 20, 2017. 2017年6月. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  8. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). July 31, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  9. "Netlistinn viku 21, 2015". Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  10. Wiwibloggs: Tamar Kaprelian releases ESC collaboration "The Otherside"
  11. iTunes: "The Otherside"

Further reading
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