Helena Paparizou Biography

Elena Paparizou (Έλενα Παπαρίζου in Greek characters; born January 31, 1982, Gothenburg, Sweden), whose first name is often mis-spelled 'Helena', is a popular Swedish-Greek singer, perhaps best-known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, in which she represented Greece with My Number One.

Elena Paparizou was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Greek parents.
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Elena's artistic talents and eagerness to excel became apparent very early, and she was soon involved in singing, dancing and acting. As she wanted to develop her talents, Elena began her training in these arts even while she was still at school.

A significant turning point in Elena's life was the creation of Antique, a group she set up with her childhood friend and fellow Swede-Greek Nikos Panagiotidis at the age of seventeen. Almost immediately, Antique signed their first record label contract with the then newly founded record label Bonnier in Sweden. 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 song was the second big hit in an 'immigrant' language in Sweden, after Tarkan's Simarik, popularizing music in other languages than English. The band's rapidly-increasing fame and success in the subsequent period, strongly associated as it was 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 solid third place, sought by the help of Elena's revealing dress, voice, and most of all, the song, Die for You. Although equalled by Sakis Rouvas's effort Shake it in 2004, it was Greece's highest place in the competition until she won the contest in 2005. 'Antique's' major success in the Eurovision Song Contest led to a promising future and a successful career which included many platinum albums, a European tour, and collaborations with many highly successful and accredited artists from Greece and abroad.

Elena Paparizou performing in Chicago, Illinois.Despite the group's major success, their journey as 'Antique' came to an end in 2003. Making one of her most difficult decisions ever, Elena decided to pursue her passion and her musical journey alone. This brought her to the dynamic team of Sony Music where she signed her first contract as a solo artist. In December 2003, she released her first single as a solo artist, Anapantites Klisis, a song that was written especially for her by famous singer and songwriter Christos Dantis. Quite naturally, Anapantites Klisis became a major hit and remained at the top of airplay charts as well as the sales charts for a long time, reaching gold status.

During the winter season of 2003-2004, Elena appeared beside one of Greece's biggest male singers, Antonis Remos, at Studio Pireos night club. In spring 2004, she released her first personal album Protereotita from which Antithesis, Anamnisis, Katse Kala and Stin Kardia Mou Mono Thlipsi became major hits. Her major success brought her to Fever music night club for the winter season 2004-2005 alongside of Sakis Rouvas.

Following her popularity in Greece, where she ended up spending more and more time, she became a popular choice to represent the country for a second time in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, in which she won the contest for Greece with My Number One. It was the first time in the contest's history that Greece had won. This time she acted as a solo artist, but had backing vocals sung by Alexandros Panayi. She 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, that she only really associated with her summer holidays in Greece.In the summer and fall of 2005 Elena toured in Australia and North America with Greek artist Nikos Kourkoulis. Elena performed many sold out concerts.

HELENA PAPARIZOU PICTURES

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HELENA PAPARIZOU BIOGRAPHY