Alex Sparrow

Alexey Vorobyov (Alex Sparrow)
Alexey Vorobyov (2011)
Background information
Birth name	Alexey Vladimirovich Vorobyov
Born	(1988-01-19)January 19, 1988 (age 29) Tula, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Genres	Pop music
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, Accordion
Labels	Universal Music Russia
Website	alexsparrow.com

Alexey Vladimirovich Vorobyov (Russian: Алексей Владимирович Воробьёв; 19 January 1988) is a Russian singer and actor who performs both in Russian and English. For international purposes Vorobyov is also credited as Alex Sparrow, a translation of his Russian name. He is best known for appearing on the Russian version of The X Factor at the age of 17 in 2005. In 2006 Vorobyov was contracted by Universal Music Russia, and in December 2007 was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Y-PEER, a youth-based initiative of the United Nations Population Fund. Vorobyov represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany.

Alex was born on 19 January 1988 in Tula (Russian:Тула), RSFSR, Soviet Union. His father was head of a company and his mother remained at home as a housewife. Alex played football as a child and played for the local youth team in Tula. At first he wanted to pursue a career in sports, but later chose to pursue music as his profession.

Alex studied the accordion at the College Of Music. Whilst there, he participated in many competitions. When Alex graduated he decided to return to the musical school, however this time he opted to study in the vocal department. For a short period of time, he was the lead singer of the Tula folklore ensemble "Delight".

In 2005 Alex won the gold medal for his solo performance at the Delphic Games IV. In the same year Alex went to Moscow where he was ranked #3 in a TV competition. He later moved to Moscow and entered more competitions. In 2006, he signed a contract for Universal Music Russia. In July of that year Alex was one of the performers at the "Big Eight" which was held in St. Petersburg. He was one of the executors of "Youth Eight" and was also given the opportunity to sing during the closing ceremony. In 2007, Alex won an MTV award for upcoming artists.

In 2008 and 2009 he competed in the Russian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with the songs New Russian Kalinka and Angelom Biht but lost to Dima Bilan and Anastasia Prikhodko respectively. On March 5, 2011 he was eventually selected to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, with the song "Get You", written by highly successful Moroccan producer Nadir Khayat (RedOne). In 2008, he entered the national selections for the Russian Eurovision song with "New Russian Kalinka", he came in fifth place.