Alsou Ralifovna Abramova (; ; ; born 27 June 1983), better known as just Alsou, is a Russian singer. She represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 in which she came second with the song Solo right after Denmark, giving her recognition across Europe. Alsou hosted the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 held in Moscow. Biography Early life Alsou was born in Bugulma, Tatar ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. Her father, Ralif Rafilovich Safin, who is of Bashkir descent, is a former LUKoil executive and a current member of the Federal Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. He is also the owner of the FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi football team and was named the 100th richest citizen of Russia by Forbes magazine in 2004. Alsou's mother, Raziya Iskhakovna, is an architect of Volga Tatar descent. Alsou is a Muslim. She has an older half-brother called Ruslan (1973), an older brother called Marat (1977, not to be confused with tennis player Marat Safin), and a younger brother called Renard (1996). When Alsou was one-year-old, her family moved from Bugulma to Siberia. At age five, Alsou asked her parents for a piano. She was then allowed to attend a private music school. After living in Moscow due to her father's business, she then moved to Syosset, New York and later to the UK where she entered a private architecture college. While living in London, Alsou visited Russia often. In 1998, at the wedding of her brother Marat which was celebrated on the bank of the Moskva River, Alsou sat at the grand piano and sang I Will Always Love You. After this private performance her family began to persuade her to pursue a professional singing career. Later life On 7 September 2006, Alsou gave birth to her first daughter at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. On 29 April 2008, Alsou gave birth to her second daughter in Tel-Aviv. On 10 August 2016, Alsou gave birth to her son, Rafael, at the Ihilov hospital in Tel-Aviv. Career Beginning At the age of 15 Alsou was introduced to music manager Valeriy Belotserkovskiy. She again performed "I Will Always Love You" and impressed the manager. He began work with Alsou the next day. Her debut Russian album was the self-titled Alsou (Russian: Алсу́) was released 16 September 1999. It was very successful in Russia and spawned 3 singles: "Zimniy