Eleftheria Eleftheriou

Eleftheria Eleftheriou

Eleftheriou performing in August 2012.
Background information
Native name Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου
Birth name Eleftheria Eleftheriou
Born (1989-05-12) 12 May 1989
Frenaros, Famagusta District, Cyprus
Genres Dance, pop
Occupation(s) Singer, actress
Instruments Vocals, piano
Years active 2010–present
Labels Sony Music Greece (2010–2011)
Universal Music Greece (2011–present)

Eleftheria Eleftheriou (Greek: Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου; Greek pronunciation: [elefθeˈria elefθeˈriu]; born 12 May 1989) is a Greek Cypriot singer and actress. She came to prominence through her participation in the second season of the Greek version of The X Factor. Shortly after her elimination, Sony Music Greece signed her and submitted her as a candidate to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. She was later disqualified from the national final, following the leak of her song onto the web by an unknown party.

Eleftheriou had previously participated in the Cypriot national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Play That Melody To Me" featuring Maria Zorli, finishing seventh in the final. Eleftheriou represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, with the song "Aphrodisiac", where she placed 17th (9th on the televoting).[1]

Early life

Eleftheriou was born and raised in Frenaros.[2] Growing up, she enjoyed drawing and dancing, and was an athlete with a passion for singing. At the age of nine, she started courses at a conservatory. From a young age, she started learning piano, theory, harmony, and history of music. At the age of 15, she started voice lessons, and at age 16, she started participating as a soloist in RIK's national folk orchestra.[2]

That same year, Eleftheriou was a candidate to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Play That Melody to Me" featuring Maria Zorli.[3] Although she passed the first semi-final, she finished seventh in the national final.[3] Despite not winning the national final, Eleftheriou decided to continue studying music and performance, enrolling at the University of Surrey. She started singing solo in the Cypriot music scenes at the age of 18, and performed in the musical "Rent" in Nicosia for one season.[4]

The X Factor

In 2008, Eleftheriou auditioned for the first season of new talent show The X Factor Greece.[4] Although she received three out of four yeses from the judges and was granted a spot in boot-camp, she decided not to participate in the show. A year later in 2009, Eleftheriou once again tried out for the show, and received four out of four yeses. Despite being a favourite to win, Eleftheriou was voted off the show during the fifth live episode. The host and singer Sakis Rouvas offered her a spot to sing with him at the Club he was appearing for the winter season live on the show, which she accepted.[5]

Performances

Career

2010–2011: Post-The X Factor, professional debut, and Eurovision 2010

Shortly after her elimination, Sony Music Greece signed Eleftheria and submitted her as a candidate to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.[4][6] A week before the formal presentation of the songs by Greek broadcast ERT, Eleftheriou's song "Tables are Turning" was leaked onto the web by an unknown party.[7] As a result, the song was disqualified from the national final, while the leak also forced the broadcaster to release the rest of the national final songs prematurely the next day, in fear of further leaks.[8]

Despite the disqualification, she released the song in Greek as "Kentro Tou Kosmou" as the first single off her debut album. A music video was shot and released shortly after. Both Greek and English versions of the song were released as digital downloads on 5 March 2010.[9][10]

Eleftheriou started appearing with Sakis Rouvas and Tamta at S-Club on 11 December 2009.[5][11] On 19 August 2010, she started appearing with Nikos Vertis at club Orama in Thessaloniki.[12] Initially scheduled to end by the beginning of October, the shows proved to be a success and have been extended throughout October.[13]

On 6 October 2010, Eleftheriou released her new single titled "Otan Hamilonoume To Fos" (When we dim the lights) with music by Giannis Iermias and lyrics by Faidon Samsidis.[14] In March 2011, Eleftheria was featured on DJ duo HouseTwins' track "Never", credited under the name Elle.[15] An accompanying music video featuring her was also released.[16]

On 1 December 2011, Eleftheriou announced that she had left Sony Music Greece and signed with Universal Music Greece.[17] She stated that it was her choice to leave Sony Music, as Universal Music made her a very good proposal. Eleftheriou further stated that she was currently in the process of searching for new songs to record.[17]

2012–present: Eurovision 2012

On 5 March 2012, it was announced that Eleftheria was one of four acts competing to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, with the song "Aphrodisiac".[18] On 12 March 2012, Eleftheria won the national selection and represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan.[19] During the contest, Eleftheria was reunited with fellow The X Factor contestant Ivi Adamou who represented Cyprus. In the final she placed 17th (9th on the televoting[1])

Following Eurovision, in June 2012 Eleftheriou embarked on a summer tour around Greece named the "Aphrodisiac Tour".[20] In July 2012, Eleftheriou released the English language single "Hearts Collide". A music video shot and directed by Kostantinos Rigos on 14 June 2012 at the port of Piraeus, was released on 4 July 2012.[21] "Hearts Collide" is pop-dance song penned by Obeda and Lunggren, and set the style and tone of Eleftheriou's artistic direction going forward.[21]

For the winter season of 2012–2013, she appeared alongside Panos Kiamos at his residency at Club 22 in Athens, Greece.[22] Additionally, she will accompany Kiamos on his Australian tour in June 2013, as well as his summer concerts around Greece.[22] In May 2013, Eleftheriou was featured on Romanian house project Deepcentral's new song "Raindrops". The video was filmed on the island of Cephalonia, and will be released in June 2013 in Greece and Romania.[22] Eleftheria followed up the release with her own solo single in mid-2013 with the name "Teleiosame".[22] She appeared in the series Your Face Sounds Familiar in March 2014. Her first album was released in March 2014.[23]

Discography

Albums

Digital singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

MAD Video Music Awards 2012

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2012 "Never" Video Clip Dance Nominated

Cyprus Music Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2012 Herself Best Cypriot Artist Won

Madame Figaro Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2012 Herself Best Cypriot Artist Won

Lalore02 Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
2013 "Hearts Collide" Best Song of the year Nominated
2013 "Taksidi Sti Vroxi" Best Song of the year Nominated
2014 "Teleiosame" Best Song of the year Won

References

  1. 1 2 Staff. "ESC 2012 Televoting results.". Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 Staff. ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΟ. (in Greek). Sony Music Greece. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  3. 1 2 Bakker, Sietse (12 February 2006). "Tonight: second semifinal in Cyprus". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Hamilothori, Katerina (10 May 2010). "NewComers – Η Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου στο Music Corner! (10/5/2010)" (in Greek). Musiccorner.gr. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  5. 1 2 Tasos, Evaggelou (8 December 2009). Στο πλευρό του Σάκη (in Greek). Sigmalive.com. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  6. ↑ Staff. "Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου & Ήβη Αδάμου ανήκουν πλέον στο δυναμικό της Sony Music" (in Greek). Sony Music Greece. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Floras, Stella (25 February 2010). "Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou disqualified". ESCToday. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  8. ↑ Floras, Stella (26 February 2010). "Greece: Final songs online ahead of schedule". ESCToday. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  9. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/gr/album/to-kentro-tou-kosmou-tables/id359952443
  10. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/gr/album/tables-are-turning-single/id360179296
  11. ↑ Gritz (14 March 2010). "Ο Sakis επιστρέφει στο S Club!" (in Greek). neolaia.gr. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  12. ↑ Staff (13 August 2010). Βέρτης, Θεσσαλονίκη (in Greek). ourgreektv.com. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Staff (1 October 2010). Παράταση για Νίκο Βέρτη & Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου! (in Greek). Tralala.gr. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  14. ↑ Staff (6 October 2010). "Χαμηλώστε τα φώτα" και ακούστε τη νέα Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου! (in Greek). Musiccorner.gr. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  15. ↑ Staff (29 March 2011). "Άκουσε το πρώτο single των House Twins!" (in Greek). Tralala.gr. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  16. ↑ Staff (2 May 2011). "Το νέο video clip των "House Twins" με την Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου !" (in Greek). Tralala.gr. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  17. 1 2 Staff (1 December 2011). "Η Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου μετακομίζει στην Universal Music!" (in Greek). Tralala.gr. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  18. ↑ "ΔΕΛΤΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ – VIDEO CLIPS ΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΣΥΜΜΕΤΟΧΩΝ" (Press release) (in Greek). Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "ΔΕΛΤΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ – ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΣ ΤΕΛΙΚΟΣ" (Press release) (in Greek). Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  20. ↑ Lopez, Virginia (13 June 2012). "Aphrodisiac Tour kicks off this Friday in Ioannina". eurovisionary.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  21. 1 2 Staff (4 July 2012). "Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου – Hearts Collide" (in Greek). Universal Music Greece. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Meleti, Eleonora (22 May 2013). "Interview on "Mesimeriani Meleti"". Star Channel. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  23. ↑ Her own "answer to the fans" video

External links

Preceded by
Loukas Giorkas
(and Stereo Mike)
with "Watch My Dance"		 Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
2012 		Succeeded by
Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis
with "Alcohol Is Free"


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