HELENA PAPARIZOU

FACTS:
Elena Paparizou is referred to as plainly Paparizou. She was born on January 31st, 1982 and is still alive to this day. Her nationality is Greek though she was born in Sweden.

CHILDHOOD/ROAD TO STARDOM

• Helena was born in Sweden to Greek immigrant parents.
• During her childhood she studied singing, dancing, and acting while also balancing her school obligations.
• At 17, Helena teamed up with Nikos Panagiotidis to form the dance-pop duo "Antique."
• Their cover of the song "Opa-Opa" put Helena on the map to stardom.

POP-FOLK:
Elena Paparizou belongs to the fused musical genre of Pop-folk. This genre is characterized by the fusion of pop, folk, and dance music, or in other words, the fusion of commercial music, the ethnic elements of each area, and the "nightclub" music. It includes trendy beats with cultural elements from each artists regional area. Similar American artists like Paparizou include Art Garfunkel and Britney Spears.

AWARDS:
Throughout her career, Paparizou received 3rd Place in the 2001 Eurovision Sing Contest and 1St Place in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.

Her three most famous songs include: "Gigolo," "Dinata Dinata," and "My Number One."

"MY NUMBER ONE"

• This hit was released in 2005.
• The song is about a great love. Elena shows appreciation to who she considers to be her treasure and her "number one."
• This relates to Paparizou's life b/c during this time, she found her "number one" love, music!
• This song belongs to the Pop-folk genre since it has trendy beats, but also includes instruments popular in Greek culture and song.

WORKS CITED:
billboard.com & allmusic.com