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Famous Like Me > Singer > V > Anna Vissi

Profile of Anna Vissi on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Anna Vissi  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 20th December 1957
   
Place of Birth: New York City
   
Profession: Singer
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

Anna Vissi (In Greek Άννα Βίσση or ΑΝΝΑ ΒΙΣΣΗ, born December 20, 1957) is a Greek singer.

Album 2005
Anna Vissi
2004 Magazine
Anna on the 2005 cover of Music Life Greek magazine
Anna Vissi on the cover of 2005 In Style Greece

Anna Vissi has sold close to 1.5 million albums in Greece. In 2005, she also enjoyed success in the US, claiming the Number 1 position on the Billboard Dance Charts with 'Call Me'.

According to Room 210 (Greek Magazine published in 2004) Anna Vissi is considered "A true diva of the Greek musical stage, a role model for all other peformers of similar genres and one who determines all the latest music and fashion trends". Anna is followed By Despina Vandi and then Elli Kokkinou.


Early life

Anna Vissi's parents observed their daughter's passion for the performing arts — drama, singing, songwriting, and dancing — at the early age of six. She attended the Cyprus Conservatory, and her parents took her to local pageants when she was older. She won first prize for "Best Voice" when she was 12 at a local contest in Cyprus.

A few years later, her family relocated to Greece.


Career

Anna Vissi was born in the city of Larnaca, in Cyprus. She started studying music at the age of 6 at a local conservatoire, while she was singing from 5 years old, every Sunday in a place for children, where she used to go with her family. She participated with her older sister Lia, (and took the first price) in a competition for new talents, saying she was 14 although she was 12. Two years later, she was the main singer at Y. Kotsonis opus "Ayia Tilliria" which was also her first TV appearance. In 1973, her family moved to Athens, where she continued her studies in the National Conservatoire and also appeared with many well-known singers (G. Dalaras, H. Alexiou, V. Papakonstantinou, Y. Parios) in the famous night places of Plaka, in Athens. At the same time she was simultaneously studying Law at the University of Athens. In the meantime, she collaborated with many important greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis (1974/5), Stavros Kouyioumtjis (1974/5), George Hadjinassios (1974), Doros Yeorgiades (1974), Nicos Carvelas (1975) and Michalis Terzis (1976). In 1977 she went on tour with G. Dalaras and H. Alexiou, giving remarkable concerts with the most famous at Rainbow, London (June). In the same year, she won the prize for Best Singer and Best Song (As Kanoume Apopse Mia Arhi / Let's make a start tonight) of the year at the Annual Song Festival of Salonica (Palai des Spor). Just before 1978, (October 1977) her first personal LP was released called “As kanoume apopse mia arhi” (Let us make a start tonight). In 1978 she was proposed by ERT (Greek National Television) to represent Greece at the 23rd Eurovision Song Contest. There were two songs to select from, “Poso s' agapo” (How much I love you) and “Kos Nobel” (Mr Nobel). Finally, due to controversies between the composers of the songs, her participation was disqualified and Tania Tsanaklidou went to the contest. In 1980, Anna took place at the 25th Eurovision Song Contest representing Greece. She sang a song called “Autostop” (Hitch-hiking) with Epikouri and ended 13/19 with 30 pts. Two years later, she represented Cyprus at the 27th ESC with the song “Mono i agapi” (Only love) which ended 5/18 with 85 pts. In 1983 she married Nikos Karvelas, a very talented composer, with whom she collaborated in 1975. After their marriage, she started a close collaboration with her husband. This still lasts until today, making a big turn in her career. Since 1975, all her releases have become gold or platinum and Anna has been (along with G. Dalaras and H. Alexiou) one of the top selling greek artist. In 1986, she participated at the Cypriot National Final for Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Thelo na gino star” (I wanna be a star) taking the second place. This song is still unreleased till today. Some of her most successful albums include “I epomeni kinisi” (The next move, 1986), “Tora” (Now, 1988), “Empnefsi” (Inspiration, 1988), “Fotia” (Fire, 1989). In 1989 she made her debut as a radio producer on ANT1 Radio. Her radio program had the title of one of her songs “Ta koritsia ine atakta” (Girls are naughty) and was aired every weekend. In the same year she participated with the song “Klaio” (I'm crying / unreleased) at the Greek National Final for Eurovision Song Contest, ending second. In the early 90s, she was the first (after famous singer Marinela) to mount spectacular shows in Greece (along with her husband Nikos Karvelas) starting with her appearances at Diogenis Pallace (Fotia era) and then at Rex (presenting the famous “Anna Vissi Show“). In November 1991, a big dream of Anna and Nikos came into being. It was “Daimones” (Demons), the first Greek rock opera. It was based on a libretto by Stavros Sideras and staged at Atticon Theatre in Athens, for two years. Roger Williams was the director and Anna Vissi (queen, Rozanne), Yiannis Samsiaris (Daniel), and John Modinos (inquistor) were the leading actors. Critics were flattering while “Daimones” was played on foreign TV stations and attracted the attention of Broadway agents. A year later in October 1993, she had the leading role of Aphrodite, in the one act opera by Stavros Sideras “Ode to the Gods”. It was held only once in Limassol, Cyprus, during the celebrations for the Commonwealth Day. The then president of the Republic of Cyprus, G. Clerides and Queen Elizabeth II, were between the audience. The following years Anna and Nikos released albums that became gold and platinum. They included “Lampo!” (I'm shining!, 1992) with latin influences, “Emis” (Us, 1992), “Live!” (1993), “Re!” (Hey, you!, 1994), “O! Kipros” (Oh! Cyprus, 1995) with traditional cypriot songs. In 1994 she was the hostess on the ANT1 weekly TV show “Me agapi Anna” (Lovingly Anna), while one year after she gave a concert in Cyprus, supporting the defenses of the island. In 1996 Anna released the double platinum album “Klima tropiko” (Tropical climate, 1996). She then ruled the whole Greek market! After giving more than 40 successful concerts all over Greece, she mounted a spectacular, three-hour show at the club Gazi. She is the most successful one-woman performer-artist of Greece. At New Year's eve (1997), by invitation of the Mayor of the city of Athens, she performed in the Parliament Square in front of more than 20,000 people and all of Greece, vie TV. In the same year a new album was released called “Travma” (Wound, 1997) that became gold in less than two weeks and three times platinum in only six months. In the same year, “Epic” released a promo single containing the song “Forgive me this” (1997). Producers of the promo single were Peter Asher and Ric Wake (Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole). After a while, a new CD single was released with the same song along with “Crush”, “Mavra Gialia” (Black sunglasses) and “Eleni”, as well as a re-release of her multi platinum album “Travma” with a bonus CD, containing songs from previous albums, only in Australia. In 1998, she released a new Greek album called “Antidoto” (Antidote, 1998), that sold more than 80,000 copies in just a week This broke all the previous records. She then gave a sold-out charity concert at the Presidential Palace in Cyprus, with the presidential orchestra of the Russian Confederacy (Telethon) and continued with two sold-out concerts in London, in February 1999 (Forum Music Theatre, Palladium Theatre). There was also a mini tour in the USA, giving concerts in Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Chicago, Boston and New York (Madison Square Garden). Journalists and everyone that saw her shows, were astonished. The Los Angeles Times wrote "...a performance so charismatic, so filled with sheer magnetic talent... expect big thinks from this potential new international star", while the New York Times wrote "with raised arms and delicately stepping feet, she was no unapproachable, packaged pop diva, but an irrepressible entertainer". In April 2000, she performed at London's Royal Albert Hall, at the so-called "millennium show", with her own magical way of singing full of passion and energy, in front of people from Sony International, marketing managers from Europe, and fans from the UK. In the next month, the 13th of May, she performed “On a night like this” (prod. and com. Brian Rowling, from her forthcoming international album) at the Miss Universe Pageant, at Eleftheria Stadium in Cyprus, accompanied by eight dancers (choreographer Shaun Fernandez). Some months later, her first international single was released called “Everything I am” (2000), containing the original version and three remixes of the song (Almighty Mix, Eiffel 65 RMX, Groove Brothers Remix), and a song in Greek and English lyrics called “Moro mou, no tomorrow”. She also filmed her first video clip of that single, directed by Antti Jokinen (Solar films, Finland), that costed 80,000,000 Drachmas (310,000 dollars). Apart from the English single, she also released a new Greek single called “Ayapi Ipervoliki” (Excessive love, 2000), containing six new songs. Having sold more than 75,000 copies in just 10 short weeks, it became triple platinum and finally five times platinum, selling more than 100,000 copies. To promote the single, she presented a unique show for the Greek standards at Asteria Club with husband Nikos Karvelas and the boy band ONE, with Shaun Fernandez as the choreographer. In September 2000, she gave a charity concert at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia (Cyprus) in front of 12,000 people, with ONE and a group of dancers from Sony International. She sang songs from the very beginning of her career to her current carrier (1973 - 2001). The concert was said to be unique for all of Greece and Cyprus. In the same year he released her international English language album called “Everything I Am” (2000). It contained 12 songs by Russ Ballard, Mark Taylor, Graham Stack, Steve Torch, Paul Stanley, Tina Shafer, Julian Harris, Danielle Gerber and of-course her husband Nikos Karvelas. Producers of the album were Brian Rawling (Cher, Enrique Iglesias), Ric Wake (Celine Dion) and Peter Asher (Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Cher). In Greece, after a week, the album reached gold status (20,000 copies +), while Australia, S. Africa, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Norway and Asia started promoting it. In November 2000 her new Greek album was released, entitled “Kravgi” (Scream, 2000), reaching double platinum status in just a couple of hours, and breaking all the records. It finally became 7x Plantium - a double album with 24 new songs and a duet with Kaiti Garbi. Some months later, she started presenting a show with Kaiti Garbi and the boyband ONE in Fever Club, while she accepted the invitation of the Mayor of Athens to perform in the Parliament Square, at the celebrations of the New Year's Eve 2001. Just before Easter, a second single from her international album was released. It was called “Still in love with you”, with remixes (Radio Edit, Soda Club Radio Mix, Soda Club Mix, Soda Club TV Track) and production by Brian Rawling. In June 2001 she was the main singer in a spectacular production in Bucharest (Unirii square, nearby river Dambovitei) along with the No smoking band and the famous cinema director and producer Emir Kusturica. The concert (2001, Peace Odyssey) included a multimedia show, opening with a water screen that wowed more than 150,000 people who were present, marrying music with the most modern expression of art. Kusturica along with producer and director Agelos Hadjiandreou undertook the artistic direction of the event. Three months later (3rd of September) she gave a concert in Cyprus (GSP Stadium), singing and dancing in front of more than 18,000 viewers, for more than 3 hours. Just a day before, she was awarded for the seven times platinum “Kravgi”. She described her next step, as the diamond of her career, a challenge she set to conquer, searching for new expressional dimensions. The music theatre “Mala, i mousiki tou anemou” (Mala, the music of the wind, 2001), based on a true love story that took place during II WW in Auschwitz, between Mala Zimetbaum and Edward Galiñski. Not only did she pass her acting ambitions with flying colors, but she left in awe everyone, critics and public, who observed her inexhaustible talent on stage. The play, which was staged at Pallace Theatre in Athens (19th of Jannuary 2002), was written by her husband Nikos Karvelas, directed by Yiannis Kacleas and accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by George Niarchos. Next year she was in Fever Club in Athens, performing with one of the most important Greek singer, Yiannis Parios ("the singer of love") with whom she had already collaborated in the late 70s. There, she promoted her new album “X” (X, 2002) with producer George De Angelis. In September 2003, she gave another sold-out concert in Cyprus, at the Tzirion Stadium in Limassol, with songs from her 30 years career. Also, she was awarded with a prize for her whole contribution from the Cyprus Paraolympic Organization, while a square in Larnaca was named after her. She also met and talked with the president of the Republic of Cyprus, in the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia. Just before 2004, her new album was released called “Paraxenes Eikones” (Strange images, 2003). To promote the album, she started appearing in Diogenis Studio, with Constantinos Christoforou, Nino and Hi5 (popstars) band. On the 31st of March 2004, she performed in the Liberty Square, (Nicosia) at a concert part of the celebrations for Cyprus's entry at the European Union, after an official invitation from the Republic of Cyprus. In May 2004 she went on a small tour in England and USA, with Lambis Livieratos (with whom she collaborated back in the early 90s), while in July her album “Paraxenes Eikones” was re-issued (Paraxenes Eikones summer special edition, 2004) with bonus CD single called “The remixes” (2004). On 29th of August 2004 she performed at the closing ceremony of the XXVIII Olympiad, in Athens. She then gave a concert in Cyprus on 3 September, at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, where she sang for the first time her new English song called “Call Me” (English version of her Greek dance hit “Eisai”). After that concert she moved to the USA, for the preparation and promotion of her single “Call Me” that has been included in the playlists of major radio stations, both in USA and Europe. In the Billboard Charts of USA, the single which features 12 remixes, went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play chart. Anna then performed at the Legendary Copacabana in New York City for the KTU PartyGras. During the winter and till the Summer or 2005 Anna went around to clubs as apart of her Mini-USA Tour. Anna has since released a new Greek Album called “Nylon” which is the first Dual-Disk ever to be released in Greece. Many Dual-Disks have been released worldwide, by major artists. On a Dual-Disk, one side acts as a CD and the other as a DVD. The CD that includes Rock, Dance, Ballads and Hip-Hop, was released in both a regular CD version and a Dual-Disk version. On the CD Anna did a duet lead singer of the Hip-Hop Group Goin' Throu called "Erotas H Polimo" (love or war). She is said to be releasing a new International English Album in spring 2006 or around march 2006. The CD will be a USA release and not an Import. It will include songs such as “Call Me”, an English version of her Greek hit “Agapi Ipervoliki” called “Desire”, and an English version of another Greek Hit “Eho Tosi Agapi” called “Love For Real” A Word Tour for 2006 is also in the Works.


Discography

Albums

    • 2006 English Album "Unreleased"
    • 2005 Nylon (dual-disk) Currently - Platinum (60,000 copies)
    • 2005 Call Me + Lie (single) - Gold CD (10,000 copies)
    • 2004 Anna Vissi LIVE - Platinum CD (40,000 copies)
    • 2004 The Remixes 2004
    • 2003 Paraxenes Eikones (2003/2004) - 2X Platinum CD (80,000 copies)
    • 2003 The Remixes 2003
    • 2002 X - 2X Platinum CD (80,000 copies)
    • 2000 Kravgi - 6X Platinum CD (350,000 copies)
    • 2000 Ayapi ipervoliki - 4x Platnium (80,000 copies)
    • 2000 Everything I Am - Gold CD (20,000 copies)
    • 1999 Anna Vissi - Best Of
    • 1998 Antidoto - 3X Platinum CD (150,000 copies)
    • 1997 Travma - 3X Platinum CD (150,000 copies)
    • 1995 Klima Tropiko - Platinum CD (60,000 copies)
    • 1994 O! Kypros!
    • 1994 Re! - Platinum CD (60,000 copies)
    • 1993 Live! - Platinum CD (100,000 copies)
    • 1992 Lambo - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1992 Emeis - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1990 Eimai - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1989 Fotia - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1988 Epnefsi - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1988 Twra - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1986 H Ypomeni Kinisi - Platinum CD (100,000 copies)
    • 1985 Kati Symvaini - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1984 Na 'xes Kardia - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1980 Nai - Gold CD (50,000 copies)
    • 1980 Ta Kalutera Mou Tragoudia
    • 1979 Kitrino Galazio - Platinum CD (100,000 copies)

Almost 1.5 Million Albums Sold


International Releases

    • 2004 Paraxenes Eikones (Turkish Release)
    • 2002 X (turkish release)
    • 2002 Kravgi (Australian Release)
    • 2001 Kraugi (Turkish Release)
    • 2001 Everything I am (Dutch release)
    • 2000 Re (Turkish Release)
    • 1999 Anna Vissi (international release)
    • 1997 Trauma (Australian Release)
    • 1997 Forgive Me This (Single)
    • 1997 Forgive Me This (Promo)
    • 1994 Re! (Turkish Release)
    • 1982 Love is a lonely weekend


Singles


    • 2005 Call Me
    • 2004 Live Promo Single
    • 2004 Remixes 2004
    • 2004 Paraksenes Ikones (promo)
    • 2003 The Remixes
    • 2002 Tasis Aftoktonias (promo)
    • 2002 Hitmix
    • 2001 Still In Love With You
    • 2001 Mala - I mousiki tou anemou (OST)
    • 2000 Everything I am
    • 2000 Agapi Ypervoliki (EP)
    • 1999 In The Mood (Promo)
    • 1998 S´eho epithimisi (Promo)
    • 1997 The Remixes
    • 1995 Amin
    • 1995 Min Ksehnas
    • 1995 Ime poli kala
    • 1980 Autostop (promo)
    • 1978 Kos Nompel / O!Maria
    • 1977 As kanoume apopse mian arhi
    • 1976 Mia mikri psihoula /Thelo
    • 1974 To palio to aeroplano
    • 1973 O, ti kosmos mpampa


DVD'S


    • 2005 Nylon Dual-Disk
    • 2004 Anna Vissi Live
    • 2001 Anna Vissi: The Video Collection

See Also

  • List of Greeks
  • List of number-one dance hits (United States)
  • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External Links

  • Official Website
  • Official Website at Sony Music Greece
  • Anna Vissi informational Fansite

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Anna Vissi