Despina Vandi, born as Despina Malea on 22 July 1969, is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old.
Vasilis Karras is a Greek folk singer. In 2010, he celebrated his 30th year as a recording artist.
Gia is the fifth studio album by Greek singer Despina Vandi that was originally released on December 19, 2001 by Heaven Music. Since release, it has been re-released several times, and has become one of the best-selling albums of all time in Greece. According to the DVD "Guide of the Greek discography" which is compiled privately by Petros Dragoumanos, it is the best selling album for the last 20 years in Greece. In 2010, Alpha TV's "Chart Show" which uses statistics also compiled by Mr. Dragoumanos, ranked the album as the third most successful album in terms of sales in Greece during 1985-2009 and the most successful album from 2000-2009. The album has sold more than 200,000 units and stands at five times platinum in Greece. It also stands at four times platinum in Cyprus and gold status in Turkey. Additionally, the album was licensed to 35 territories.
"Opa Opa" is a song by Greek singer Notis Sfakianakis, released as a single from his second album Ise Ena Pistoli in 1992. Opa Opa is a laïko dance song and was written and produced by singer Giorgos Alkaios years earlier, and is one of Sfakianakis' most notable of his early works and the most notable version of the song domestically. The song has been covered by a number of artists, taking it to further success abroad. In 1999, Swedish-Greek duo Antique covered it as their debut single with Eurodance elements, reaching the top ten across Scandinavia. Despina Vandi's English-language cover, however, achieved the most success abroad, reaching the top 20 of several markets in Europe and North America.
Phoebus, sometimes spelled Phivos or Fivos, is a well-known songwriter in both Greece and Cyprus. Phoebus is mostly known for his music through Despina Vandi and Katy Garbi, although he has composed albums for many other artists in Greece and Cyprus. A high percentage of the albums he composes receive certification making him one of the most successful Greek songwriters of the 1990s and 2000s, selling 3,500,000 records. In 2009 he founded his own record label, The Spicy Effect, to which he has signed various artists, many of whom he has collaborated with in the past. He has an estimated net worth at 75 million euros.
This page includes the discography of singer Despina Vandi. Vandi began a musical career in 1994 after signing with Minos EMI. She released two albums with little success, Gela Mou (1994) and Esena Perimeno (1996), before beginning an exclusive collaboration with composer Phoebus, which would eventually become one of the most successful partnerships in Greek history, and striking commercial success with her third and fourth albums Deka Endoles (1997) and Profities (1999), the latter which reached multi-platinum status. In the 2000s, Vandi and Phoebus began experimenting with more contemporary, radio-friendly pop influences in combination with laiko repertoire to much initial success. Her single "Ipofero" (2000) became the best-selling Greek single of all time ; after the success Vandi and Phoebus signed to new-found independent label Heaven Music with Gia (2001) remaining the label's biggest sales success, and one of the biggest-selling albums of all time in Greece. For the sales of Gia, Vandi became the first of four artists recording in Greece to receive a World Music Award for "World's Best Selling Greek Artist". With Gia earning success in neighboring markets as well, Vandi embarked on a career abroad briefly to some mild success; she became the first Greek artist to chart on any Billboard chart, reaching number one on the Hot Dance Airplay Chart for 2 weeks and 39 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, although her later singles proved less successful. Vandi released her first live album in 2003 before taking a maternity leave after having her first child. During this time, both her former and current label released a number of compilations and video albums to capitalize on her recent marketability. Vandi returned with another multi-platinum record, Stin Avli Tou Paradeisou, before another maternity leave. 10 Hronia Mazi (2007) was released as a celebration of her 10-year collaboration with Phoebus. In 2009 Vandi and Phoebus announced that they were leaving Heaven Music in favor of a new label founded by Phoebus. The biggest music channel in Greece, MAD TV, in tribute to the 10 years since its foundation called Despina Vandi as the biggest female Greek star in Greek music. Vandi has sold over 1 million records.
"Gia" is a song recorded by Greek singer Despina Vandi. It was originally released as the lead single off her 2001 multi-platinum Greek album also of the same name. Vandi signed with Ultra Records for the international release of the track, and in 2003 a CD single was made available in many markets, following by a 2004 US re-issued which included a new English-language version.
Deka Entoles is the third studio album by Greek singer Despina Vandi. It was released in Greece in 1997 by Minos EMI and was her first album to be certified, reaching platinum status. This is the first album that Despina Vandi collaborated with popular composer Phoebus.
Gela Mou is the first studio album by Greek singer Despina Vandi. It was released in Greece in 1994 by Minos EMI. It includes her very first mass hits "Gela mou", "Den Iparhi Tipota" and "To Adiexodo", a duet with Greek singer Giannis Parios. Αccording to Despina Vandi it sold 14,000 copies.
"Ante Gia" is an EP maxi single by Greek singer Despina Vandi released on December 19, 2002 by Heaven Music. The entire EP was written and produced by Phoebus in promotion of the reissue of Vandi's 5× Platinum album Gia, which was reissued as Gia + Ante Gia and as a box set as Gia + Ante Gia: Collector's Edition. The EP contains all new material, with the title track being a response to the single "Gia" (Hello), inspired by that song but in a negative lyrical context. The remix of the songs "Spania" and "Giatriko" is licensed by Vandi's former label Minos EMI.
"Ipofero" is a 6× platinum CD single by Greek artist Despina Vandi released on 13 December 2000 by Minos EMI. The CD single is entirely composed by Phoebus and was awarded as being the highest-selling Greek CD single at Virgin Megastores and generally in Greece, by Richard Branson of Virgin Group, having sold over 120,000 copies in Greece. The single also stands at 4× Platinum in Cyprus.
Come Along Now is the first international compilation album and fifth compilation album overall by Greek singer Despina Vandi in 2005. It was later repackaged and released in Greece in 2006 by Heaven Music. The album achieved mild success following her debut international release Gia. The album featured her first three international singles.
Singles is a compilation album by the popular Greek singer Despina Vandi, containing her most successful singles under the EMI Music Greece label. The compilation includes singles taken from the albums Gela Mou (1994), Esena Perimeno (1996), Deka Entoles (1997), and Profities (1999). It also included tracks from the singles "Spania" (1997) and "Ipofero" (2001). The CD was also released in Germany and other European countries.
Hits on DVD: Despina Vandi is the second video album by Greek singer Despina Vandi, released in 2004 by Minos EMI in Greece and Cyprus. It features music videos from before she signed with Heaven Music and is a part of the series of compilations Hits on DVD.
The Video Collection: '97–'03 is the first video album by Greek singer Despina Vandi, released in 2003 by Heaven Music in Greece and Cyprus. It features videos from the beginning of Vandi's collaboration with songwriter Phoebus since 1997. All of the music videos were directed by Kostas Kapetanidis.
Giati Fovase is a Greek-language song performed by Greek recording artist Despina Vandi from her live album Despina Vandi Live. It was released as a promotional cd-single from the album in 2004. The song was recorded from her sold-out live concert in Lycabettus theatre in Athens in 2003.
"Mou 'His Perasi" is a song by Greek singer Despina Vandi as a single from her upcoming album. Written by Gavrilis Mosas and produced by Phoebus, the song was released via digital download and on radio stations on November 24, 2011, in Greece and Cyprus, in the hours following its debut on the DC Club.
Allaxa is the 9th studio album by Greek singer Despina Vandi. It was released on April 27, 2012 by The Spicy Effect and contains twelve songs, with songwriter and producer Phoebus involved on every track. The album was certified two times platinum, becoming Despina's first double-platinum album since 2005.
Afti Ine I Diafora Mas is the 11th studio album by popular Greek singer Despina Vandi. The album released on October 6, 2016 under the label Heaven Music and it gained Gold certification. The producer was Giannis Doxas.
