Giorgos Alkaios

Giorgos Alkaios (Greek: Γιώργος Αλκαίος; born 24 December 1971) is a Greek recording artist. His career began in 1989 after appearing on a Greek reality show. Following a brief period of stage acting, Alkaios dedicated himself to music. His first single, "Ti Ti", made him popular in Greece. His distinctive musical style fuses Greek and Oriental elements with modern pop music. To date he has been certified with 5 platinum and 9 gold albums. Alkaios represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "OPA", and placed 8th in the Final.

Early life Giorgos Alkaios was born in Athens to Greek and Portuguese parents. He is the son of Giannis Vassiliou, a successful Greek elafro-laiko singer. His mother, Maria (Rodrigues) Griggs – Author of "Mama Sou: Metamorphosis of a Mother" and accomplished IT Programmer Analyst – recently returned to Boston, MA after 8 years living in Pembroke, Maine where she focused on writing her memoir of the abduction of her son by his father. Immediately after his birth, Alkaios moved to Boston, where he lived for three years. At the age of sixteen Alkaios dropped out of high school to become an electrician by attending Delta school where he obtained a degree. The show featured 1,500 new actors, singers, and dancers, which were later narrowed down to twenty, with Alkaios being one of them. While on the show, he studied dance with Daniel Lomel, acting with Niki Triantafilidou, and music with Giorgos Hatzinasios, among others. Rehearsals lasted over two months and the show premiered at the ancient theater Epidavros. At the time, Alkaios became the youngest actor to be cast in a historic play and also perform in a historical theater. On 12 March 2010 Alkaios and Friends were selected by the Greek public along with a jury, to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "OPA". On 25 May 2010, Alkaios performed 13th in the first semi-final finishing 2nd with 133 points, thus granting him a spot in the Final. On 29 May 2010, Alkaios performed 11th in the final, and finished in 8th place with 140 points.

Since then, Alkaios seems to be retired on the Greek island of Milos, while in December 2011 – January 2012, record sessions took part for a "reloaded" of all his hits under the working title "Deja vu". Some tracks have already emerged on YouTube. And a forthcoming tour is under discussions.

Discography

Studio albums 1992: Me ligo...trak 1993: Ah! Koita me 1994: Den peirazei 1995: Anef logou (Gold) 1996: Entos eaftou (Platinum) 1997: En psichro (Platinum) 1998: Ichi siopis (Platinum) 1999: Sirmatoplegma (Gold) 2000: Pro ton pilon 2001: Oxygono 2003: Kommatia psichis 2004: Aithousa anamonis (Special Edition) 2006: Nichtes apo fos 2007: Eleftheros 2008: To diko mas paramithi

Compilations 1999: Ta dika mou tragoudia-The Best Of '92-'99 2002: Ta Tragoudia Mou

Live albums 2005: Live Tour

EPs and CD singles 1999: The Remixes E.P. 2002: Karma 2010: Dos mou ligo fos

Production discography Giorgos Alkaios has also penned for several other artists. The internationally charted song "Opa Opa", which has been covered by many singers, has been released as a single by Notis Sfakianakis, Antique, and Despina Vandi. The Antique version charted in the top 10 of some European charts. Despina Vandi's version reached No 3 in the US Billboard Hot Dance Radio Airplay.

Friends Music Factory Friends Music Factory was an independent record label established by Giorgos Alkaios and fellow musician and friend Dionysis Schinas in November 2008. Apart from traditional points of sale, releases by the label are also distributed to news kiosks around Greece and Cyprus, often bundled with special edition publications at a discounted fixed price.

Other artists and employees from the label helped pen the lyrics to Alkaios' Eurovision song "OPA", some of whom performed with him on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.