Despina Vandi
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| Despina Vandi Δέσποινα Βανδή |
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 Despina Vandi performing at the BOOM Club in Thessaloniki in 2007.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Despina Malea |
| Also known as | Despina Vandi |
| Born | July 22, 1969 |
| Origin |  Greece |
| Genre(s) | Modern Laika , Pop, dance |
| Years active | 1994-Present |
| Label(s) | Minos EMI (1994 - 2001) Heaven Music (2001-Present) Escondida Music (2004 - present) |
| Website | http://www.despinavandi.com |
Despina Vandi (Greek: Δέσποινα Βανδή) (born Despina Malea, 22 July 1969, near Stuttgart-Tübingen, West Germany, now Southern Germany) is a Greek singer famous mainly in Greece and Cyprus, with moderate international success too.
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[edit] Personal life
Although born in Germany, Vandi's family was from Kavala, Greece, where she and her family moved when she was six years old. As a result, she did not learn German, unlike the rest of her family. She has one older brother and an older sister. Living in a lower middle-class family her dream was to become either an actress or a singer but she always knew that she should have something more solid as a background so she went on to study psychology, philosophy, and education at the University of Thessaloniki. At the start of her singing, Despina changed her last name to Vandi, to hide that she was singing from her parents.
Despina Vandi is married to Demis Nikolaidis, ex-international soccer player and current President of AEK soccer club. She has a four year old daughter named Melina and has recently given birth to her first son in late August.
[edit] Career
[edit] 1994–1996: Early years
Despina Vandi's first album was released in 1994 under the Minos EMI label, titled Gela Mou (Smile at Me). This album was distinguished by her duet To Adieksodo (No Way Out) written by Vassilis Karras, with Giannis Parios, a very popular singer at the time.
In 1996, Despina Vandi released her next album, Esena Perimeno (You're The One I'm Waiting For). Hits on this album include Esena Perimeno, Den Pethainei I Agapi, and Efiges songs written by her friend and now musical director Tony Kontaxakis.
[edit] 1997–1999: Popularity established
1997 proved to be a big year for Despina Vandi as she teamed up with popular songwriter Phoebus. Phoebus wrote the songs of Vandi's next album, Deka Entoles (Ten Commandments), which was awarded platinum status in Greece. Despina Vandi's partnership with Phoebus would turn out to be a very successful one, and they celebrated their 10 year partnership with the release of 10 Hronia Mazi (10 Years Together). With the success of "Deka Entoles" Despina Vandi quickly became popular in the Greek Music industry with a string of hits and popular appearances.
Later that year, Despina experimented with acting. She was asked to play a guest star role in the hit television show "Dio Xenoi" (Two Strangers). Despina accepted the role and made her first appearance on television. She played a singer of a local small city, who was able to change the sexuality of the main gay character. She managed to gain good reviews for her acting talent.[citation needed]
Despina's next album Profities (Prophecies) was released in 1999 and was certified gold the day of its release. It eventually became a triple platinum album in Greece. Later that year Despina gave her first sold-out solo concert at the concert hall of Lycabettus with 7,000 people in attendance.
[edit] 2000–2002: Further success
In 2000, Despina Vandi released the single Ipofero (I Suffer). The single went six-times platinum and was awarded as being the most successful single of all time in Greece, by Richard Branson of Virgin.[1][2]
Despina Vandi and Phoebus decided to sign with Heaven Music, a new break-out record label in 2001 owned by the Athena Group. Despina's next album Gia (2001), meaning "Hi" was a double album including 21 new songs. The album went 4x platinum in only 11 days. Many of the songs on the album became hits not only Greece, but also in neighboring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon. Shortly after, Vandi gave a free concert in Thessaloniki drawing in a reported 62,000 people.
At the 2002 World Music Awards, Vandi was awarded as the World's "Best Selling Greek Artist".[3] It was the first time that this award was given to Greek artist who actually lived and worked in Greece. For her acceptance speech, Despina said "Above all though, I would like to thank my Greek fans around the world. I dedicate this award to all the Greeks who have supported me with their love all these years and it is because of them that I find myself here at this moment."
Following the success of Gia, Despina released a CD single titled "Ante Gia" (Goodbye) in 2002, with the title track being a remix of "Gia". The single also included three new tracks and another remix, and achieved double platinum status. Gia and "Ante Gia" were then compiled and re-released as "Gia & Ante Gia: Collector's Edition", along with four previously unreleased remixes.
[edit] 2003: International career
With Gia having gone multi platinum in the Greek market, some of the songs broke out into the international market in neighboring countries. Seeing potential in an international career, she embarked on one in 2003.
Her first three international singles, "Gia" (2003), "Opa Opa" (2004) and "Come Along Now" (2005) entered the charts around the world. Her first internationally-distributed albums are named after the songs "Gia" and "Come Along Now". "Gia" and "Opa Opa" have both charted on the Billboard Dance chart, with Gia reaching number 1. All three singles reached #1 on the Australian charts.
She made an appearance on the hit international show Top of the Pops where she performed her song "Gia" as she was included in some of that week's best-selling popular music artists.
Her work has been remixed by celebrated global DJs and producers, such as Armand Van Helden, Milk & Sugar, Nick Skitz, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez, Pete Tong, Bass Bumpers, DJ Gregory, Level K, XTM, Minimal Chic and Highpass amongst others.
Her albums Gia and Opa Opa have been Records of The Week on BBC Radio 1's dance shows. Despina Vandi has also won many international awards.
At the end of August (2004) Despina performed live at the Beatstock Festival in New York.
[edit] 2004–2006: Stin Avli Tou Paradisou
Despina's next studio album was released at the end of 2004, titled Stin Avli Tou Paradisou (In The Garden Of Paradise). It reached double platinum status and in 2005, the album was repackaged as a special edition and included 5 new songs, including a duet with Giorgos Mazonakis.[4] Katiana Balanika guest starts in one of the music videos for the album. The special edition was released in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
In July 2006, Despina gave a concert in the theater of Lycabettus in Athens singing many of her popular songs.
[edit] 2006–Present: "Kalanta" and 10 Hronia Mazi
Despina Vandi released the CD single "Kalanta" (Carols) in Greece on November 22, 2006, which reached double platinum status.[5] The videoclip of "Kalanta" was released on December 19, soon followed by the video of her next hit single, "Mehri Mai Mina" (Till The Month Of May).
Vandi performed her last show ever at the Rex Music Theater on February 18 and it will mark and end to singing there for the past seven years. Due to her pregnancy, Vandi did not plan any summer concerts for 2007, and on 21 August 2007, she gave birth to a healthy boy, her second child after Melina.
On October 10, 2007 (10/10) Vandi released her new single "Thelo" (I Want) simultaneously on all radio stations and TV stations across Greece at 10 AM.[6][7] It marked her 10 year anniversary of collaborating with Phoebus. The song reached the top of the Nielsen's Radio Airplay chart for Greece for 5 consecutive weeks.[8]
On November 16, 2007, Vandi released her second radio single from the new album called "10 Hronia Mazi" (10 Years Together), the title song of the album.[9] The song is a rock ballad about the 10 year collaboration with Phoebus which charted on the airplay charts.[citation needed]
The album 10 Hronia Mazi was released December 6, 2007 and is a triple CD featuring 15 new songs.[10] The first CD features 8 new pop and rock songs and 2 remixes, while the second CD features 7 new Laika songs and 3 remixes. The third CD is a "bonus" and features some of the best songs from Vandi and Phoebus with new mixes as a thank you to their fans. The album achieved platinum certification on the first week, but it should be noted that this included preorders.
Vandi featured on the gold-certified album "Sehnsucht" (Longing) by German band Schiller which was released in early 2008, providing vocals for the song "Destiny", composed by Phoebus.
On March 6, 2008, Vandi released the third single from 10 Hronia Mazi, titled "Agapi" (Love), along with a video to promote it.[11] The single was on the MAD TV platinum Charts for 6 weeks with one week at #1. On April 24, 2008, Vandi released the fourth and final single from 10 Hronia Mazi named "Fantasou Apla". The video was filmed at the same time as "Agapi".
[edit] Discography
[edit] References
- ^ Βανδή-Branson στο Λονδίνο.(Greek) MAD TV, May 29, 2001. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
- ^ O Branson τίμησε τη Βανδή!.(Greek) MAD TV, May 23, 2001. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
- ^ Δέσποινα Βανδή.(Greek) Music.net.cy. Retrieved on April 15, 2008.
- ^ 4 νέα τραγούδια από τη Δέσποινα και το Φοίβο σε μια ειδική έκδοση. Heaven Music. Retrieved on January 20, 2008
- ^ Η Δ.Βανδή και ο Φοίβος στέφθηκαν με άλλη μια διπλή πλατίνα.(Greek) Heaven Music. Retrieved on January 20, 2008
- ^ Το Νο1 τραγούδι της ελληνικής δισκογραφίας για 5 εβδομάδες.(Greek) Heaven Music. Retrieved on January 20, 2008
- ^ 10 / 10 στις 10:00.(Greek) MAD TV, October 8, 2007. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
- ^ Nielsen Greece Top 20. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
- ^ ΔΕΣΠΟΙΝΑ ΒΑΝΔΗ - ΦΟΙΒΟΣ - "ΔΕΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΜΑΖΙ" - ΚΥΚΛΟΦΟΡΕΙ ΤΕΛΗ ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ.(Greek) Heaven Music. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
- ^ 6 Δεκεμβρίου η Δέσποινα.(Greek) MAD TV, December 3, 2007. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
- ^ Δέσποινα Βανδή - Αγάπη: photo report.(Greek) MAD TV, March 6, 2008. Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
[edit] External links
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