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 Elena Paparizou
Elena Paparizou (Έλενα Παπαρίζου in Greek characters; born 31 January 1982 in Borås, Sweden) is a popular Greek singer, best known in Europe for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 for Greece with the song, My Number One. Biography
Early Life Elena Paparizou was born in Borås, Sweden, to Greek immigrant parents Volos and Karditsa and was raised in Örgryte, Gothenburg[1]. Paparizou's artistic talents and eagerness to excel became apparent very early, and she was soon involved in singing, dancing and acting, training in combination with her academic studies at school. Antique Main article: Antique (duo) Paparizou, determined to succeed with and fulfill her dreams of being an entertainer, joined childhood friend and fellow Swede-Greek Nikos Panagiotidis, at the age of seventeen, to form Antique. The duo quickly signed their first record label contract, with the Swedish record label Bonnier. Their debut single, Opa Opa, became a huge hit, reaching number one on the single charts and gaining gold status following its release in August 1999. The band's subsequent fame and success, strongly associated with the international promotion of Greek culture, led to them being selected as Greece's representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen. The band reached a third place with the song, (I Would) Die for You. Although equalled by Sakis Rouvas's effort Shake It in 2004, it was Greece's highest place in the competition until Elena won the contest as a solo artist in 2005. Antique's success in the Eurovision Song Contest led to them recording multiple platinum albums, playing a European tour, and collaborating with many other Greek artists. Paparizou has admitted that Greek music had been something of an acquired taste for her, saying that the name 'Antique' was probably a reflection of her childhood impression of it being something rather distant and old-fashioned; something that she only really associated with her summer holidays in Greece. Solo Career 2003-2004: Protereotita Despite the group's success, Antique broke up in 2003 on good terms, as the band had "run its natural course," and Paparizou set about going solo. She signed a solo recording contract with Sony Music and, in December 2003, released her first solo single, Anapantites Klisis (later released in English as I Don't Want You Here Anymore), a song written especially for her by singer and songwriter Christos Dantis. The single sales were strong, and it received a Gold certification in Greece. During the winter of 2003-2004, Paparizou appeared alongside one of Greece's biggest male singers, Antonis Remos, at the Studio Pireos nightclub. In spring 2004, she released her first solo record, Protereotita from which Antithesis, Anamnisis, Katse Kala, and Stin Kardia Mou Mono Thlipsi became major hit singles. Her success brought her to the Fever nightclub for the winter season 2004-2005 alongside Sakis Rouvas. 2005: Eurovision Because of her popularity in Greece, where she ended up spending more and more time, Paparizou was approached to represent the country for a second time in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. She performed My Number One, Let's Get Wild, and OK on the Greek national final, with My Number One winning the televote. There was also a song called The Light in Our Soul, but it was later disqualifed due to it being released prior to the contest, thus breaking the rules. The song went onto win the final contest (with backing vocals provided by Cypriot former Eurovision-participant Alex Panayi), and brought the contest to Greece for 2006 for the first time in the contest's history. Paparizou re-released her first album Protereotita in Greece, with a second CD containing her Eurovision entrants, and English versions to previous songs, such as I Don't Want You Here Anymore, Antithesis, and If You Believe Me as well as a ballad version of (Ehis Kero na Mou Feris) Louloudia. The 10 track CD was also available separately for those who already owned her debut album. A 16-track compilation of the Eurovision entrants and songs from her debut album was also released in Sweden under the title, My Number One. In the summer and fall of 2005, Paparizou toured in Australia and North America with Greek artist Nikos Kourkoulis, selling out many venues. She was also named the official ambassador of the Greek Ministry of Tourism, and My Number One was used as backing music to their international television advert. On 14 July 2005 the King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden caused controversy by placing his hand on Paparizou's back, lower than what is socially acceptable. It happened after she had performed at his daughter's birthday celebrations; according to the Royal Court, "his hand slipped." [2] In the fall of 2005 Paparizou went to studios and recorded a new CD single called Mambo!. The single included Mambo as a Greek and English version, Panta Se Perimena, and Asteria. The CD single stayed on the Greek charts for 10 weeks, including Christmas week, and reached platinum status. The track was also released in Sweden in April 2006, following a succession of hit singles there taken from the album, My Number One. Paparizou's debut album was re-issued for a third time in Greece to contain a third CD (in addition to the actual album and the Eurovision disc), containing both English and Greek versions of Mambo! and three other new Greek songs.
Elena Paparizou on the cover of her first album Protereotita.
2006: Yparhi Logos & English Album At the end of 2005, Paparizou went back to studio to work on her second Greek language album and her first official English language album. Paparizou's second album in Greek, Yparhi Logos, was released in Greece on April 12, 2006. The album consists of 2 discs, the first featuring 14 brand new tracks, including Mambo! and the second featuring 9 live tracks from her Mad Secret Concert (including covers of Don't Speak by No Doubt, Outside by George Michael, Smooth Operator by Sade, Like a Prayer by Madonna and Just Walk Away by Céline Dion) as well as 5 new non-album tracks, and a remix of the title track, which is the second single. The video for that single, Yparhi Logos, aired on the day the album was released. In parts of the video Paparizou does not sing along in tune with the lyrics this may be because in the near future she will release the song in English and will use the same video. The first time people got to hear the song was when it premiered live form at the Arion Music Awards. Gigolo is another song on the album, which will likely be the third single, as it has been sent to Greek radio. The album Yparhi Logos entered Greek charts at number one and remained there for two weeks then gradually decresed. It is gold in Greece
Elena's latest album Yparhei Logos. Elena's smash Mambo! stayed at number one in the Greece charts for 10 weeks and went certified platinum. It was the Greek On May 20, 2006, Paparizou graced the stage of Eurovision once more, to sing her song My Number One as the opening act. She later on to sing Mambo!, and then presented the award to the winners Lordi. During a press interview there, she said that people should expect to hear a lot of Mambo! and Gigolo in English over the summer, as she tries to pursue her international career. Paparizou has already released Mambo! in Sweden on a two track CD single peaking at number 4 on the Charts. Sweden is the first of many countries in which Paparizou will be releasing Mambo!. The other countries in which Paparizou plans to release Mambo! are: Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Turkey, and Spain. Big records companies in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, China, Canada, South Africa, and Australia will also promote the song. The Scandinavian promotion of the song will be from Bonnier. To gear up for the world-wide release of Mambo!, Paparizou has filmed a new video targeted for a more international audience. All the promotion for Mambo! will be done to get her name familiarized in those countries, so she can gear up for the release of her first solo English album there. Paparizou has already finished putting the finishing touches on it. Her new English album will definitely feature 5 songs from Yparhi Logos, including Mambo!, Gigolo (English Version), Let Me Go (Pote Xana), The Game of Love and You Set My Heart on Fire. The album will also feature a track entitled Heroes, which Paparizou will perform at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Sweden in August 2006. The album is due to be released in September 2006. In Sweden the album will be released on the 23rd August 2006. Moda Records officially released 6 sneak previews of My Number One remixes on their official website www.ModaRecords.com that they will use to promote the song in the US. The 6 remixes given were Norty Cotto's My clubber lover Mix, Josh Harris Vocal Club Mix, Georgies #1 Anthem Mix, Mike Cruz Vox Mix, Valentino Epic Mix, & Chris the Greek Mix. Remixes of Mambo! will also be released shortly by them. Because of the releases in the US, Elena Paparizou is expected to be in the US much of the summer promoting here music. On Monday June 5th 2006, Paparizou attended a special party, where she will receive official certifications for 3 of her releases. Her CD Protereotita - Euro Edition was awarded 2X Platinum, the CD single Mambo! was awarded Platinum, while her latest studio album Yparhi Logos was certified Gold. In early June iTunes shot a new advert to be aired in Greece. Due to the popularity of Elena's song Mambo! in Greece, it was chosen as the soundtrack. Shortly after this iTunes released another advert this time Gigolo (Greek Version) was chosen as the soundtrack. On 17th June the International video for Mambo! aired in France for the first time ever. On 20th June, one of the tracks on Elena's next English album entitled "To All The Heroes" was found at [[3]]. The song fetures Elena singing in English and Spanish. It will also be the official song of the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Sweden this August. Moda Records officially announced that they will be releasing My Number One as a CD single in the US featuring the original song and 10 remixs on July 3, 2006. Current Projects Elena is currently touring the world promoting her new song Mambo!. Her new English Album is due out in September 2006. Elena is getting ready for her performance she at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Sweden in August 2006. There she will perform a new ballad from her English album entitled Heroes. In America Mambo! and My Number One will be remixed and released by Moda Records, who are famous for promoting Anna Vissi in the lucrative American market. Elena has completed recording the theme song for a new show on Mega Channel called "17". Trivia
Languages Elena speaks fluent Greek, Swedish, and English, and has also studied French and Spanish. She has mentioned that her dream would be to make a song with lyrics comprised of words in every language in the world.
'Elena' versus 'Helena' The correct spelling of her first name is a subject of confusion. In Greek, there used to be an accent called a spiritus asper accent to indicate the 'h' sound (just as the 'h' in 'Helena'). This was abolished several centuries ago, and the Greek name 'Έλενα' was already pronounced 'Elena' at the time of Elena Paparizou's birth. The spelling with the spiritus asper however was maintained in a system known as polytonic orthography which, having no vocal significance, finally ceased to be used some decades ago. Elena Paparizou on the other hand, was born in Sweden where the name's version 'Helena' exists, and one could presume with little uncertainty that many Swedes transliterated her name as 'Helena'. That is to say, Paparizou's name is Elena, but has been misspelt 'Helena'. Even though many swedes mispell it, her official name has been registered by Swedish authorities as 'Elena' which has also been used by her and previously by media in Sweden. Her name has always been spelt 'Elena' during her career in Greece, but in Sweden, and in various other countries as her second appearance in Eurovision (in 2005) approached, the spelling 'Helena' grew more common, and the songstress herself admitted in a Swedish interview that she was forced by her record company to spell her name with a 'H'. Her official website is HelenaPaparizou.com, and the "H" appears on all official releases outside of Greece. The singer, however, has made it known that her name is correctly written as Elena, according to the exact transcription from Greek, and this is how she prefers to be known.
Elena Paparizou, the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 Discography Albums
CD Singles
Singles
B-Sides
Video Clips
DVDs
Links
Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
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