Arpine Martoyan (known professionally as Maléna) is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia. Maléna studied at the Sayat-Nova music school, one of the leading music schools in Armenia, from the age of 6 for 7 years, where she learned to play the cello, solfege, and musical literature. After graduating, Maléna began her singing career by attending the studio of Naira Gyurjinyan, an Honored figure of Armenian culture, where she studied for 5 years. Maléna has always been passionate about singing and is inspired by pop and R&B music.

Since 2020, Maléna has been collaborating with TKN ENTERTAINMENT, a Yerevan-based record label owned by tokionine, her current producer and songwriter. She was initially set to represent Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Why,” but the country withdrew due to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. In 2021, Maléna collaborated with the well-known Russian rapper-singer Kristina Si on the song “Chem Haskanum,” which has 3.2 million streams on Spotify and has topped charts in Russia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan for months. Maléna was selected again to represent Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Paris, France, with the song “Qami Qami” (“Wind, Wind” in Armenian), which she co-wrote. She won the contest, earning 224 points and becoming the second Armenian entrant to win the competition. As a result, Armenia earned the right to host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

In May 2022, Maléna appeared during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, announcing Yerevan as the host city for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Following her win, Maléna received the Armenian Scholarship for a summer program at the Berklee College of Music, supported by the Armenian Fund and Tigran Hamasyan. She performed her winning song at the Armenian Heritage Park in Boston on July 31, 2022.

On October 23, 2022, Maléna released a cover of the song “Cheri Cheri Lady” by the German band Modern Talking. In February 2023, the song went viral on TikTok in Indonesia and Vietnam, reaching the top of the iTunes and Top 50 Viral on Spotify in Vietnam. It debuted at number 72 on the Billboard Vietnam Hot 100 list published on March 2, 2023. One of the members of Modern Talking, Dieter Bohlen, shared Maléna’s cover on his Instagram stories.

In 2022, she was appointed the UNICEF Armenia Goodwill Ambassador and has since toured various regions of Armenia, participating in events related to climate change issues, women’s rights, and other topics. In May 2023, she was selected as Armenia’s spokesperson to announce the Armenian jury results in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. She has also served as a jury member for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice and for the “new generation” once. In 2022, Maléna released her song called “Can’t Feel Anything,” which she co-wrote with the talented and successful singer-songwriter Rosa Linn. She premiered and performed “Can’t Feel Anything” during JESC 2022, which was hosted in Armenia.

In 2022, Maléna had a European tour with Aram Mp3, an Armenian singer and comedian. They performed together in Holland, Belgium, and Germany. In 2023, Maléna released her song “Flashing Lights,” which became very successful and was played daily on UK radio. In October 2023, she was revealed as one of the co-writers for Armenia’s Junior Eurovision 2023 entry, “Yan Girls”.