Being such a huge fan of international pop music, I am always amazed at the number of artists that can end up having massive success in some countries, while they will be completely unknown in others.
The US is especially notorious for being almost impossible to 'break' into. Record stores are littered with albums from established international artists that failed to have any chart success at all. Even US record labels have been accused of paying off radio stations to play tracks from artists like Mariah Carey, Beyonce & Britney Spears (i.e. Pay For Play.) In 2005 one of the worlds largest record labels 'Sony BMG' was found guilty of 'Pay for play' and had to pay 10 Million dollars in a settlement.
One artist that reached massive international success across Europe in the last few years is Helena Paparizou. You may remember Helena as the lead singer for Greek band - Antique who had a number of hit singles between 1999 - 2003.
After going solo and releasing her debut album in 2004, Helena was approached to represent Greece at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. She accepted and 'My Number One' became the 2005 Greek entry at Eurovision. The song won the contest and shot Helena into the international spotlight overnight.
After a succcessful tour in 2005 she went back into the studio and the first new song to be released was 'Mambo,' which stayed at number 1 in Greece for an outstanding 10 weeks straight!
2006 saw the release of her second album 'The Game Of Love' in English and 'Yparhi Logos' in Greek. Various record labels across the globe acquired the rights to release her music. Depsite success in Greece, Sweden, France and Belguim, Helena wasn't able to be everywhere at once. Tracks were released in The US and the UK but failed to have any success due to little or no promotion at all.
I expect to hear big things from Helena over the next year and so should you! Her first two albums have been extremely well done and are full of hits! Discover Helena Paparizou below...
Trivia - Although Helena releases music outside of Greece under the name 'Helena.' Her real name is infact Elena Paparizou but goes with Helena to avoid confusion in pronounciation in other countries.
Helena Paparizou - Mambo
Helena Paparizou - You Set My Heart On Fire
Helena Paparizou - Gigolo
Helena Paparizou - The Game Of Love
Helena Paparizou - Heros
Helena Paparizou - It's Gone Tomorrow
Bonus - Antique - Follow Me (Club Mix)
The US is especially notorious for being almost impossible to 'break' into. Record stores are littered with albums from established international artists that failed to have any chart success at all. Even US record labels have been accused of paying off radio stations to play tracks from artists like Mariah Carey, Beyonce & Britney Spears (i.e. Pay For Play.) In 2005 one of the worlds largest record labels 'Sony BMG' was found guilty of 'Pay for play' and had to pay 10 Million dollars in a settlement.
One artist that reached massive international success across Europe in the last few years is Helena Paparizou. You may remember Helena as the lead singer for Greek band - Antique who had a number of hit singles between 1999 - 2003.
After going solo and releasing her debut album in 2004, Helena was approached to represent Greece at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. She accepted and 'My Number One' became the 2005 Greek entry at Eurovision. The song won the contest and shot Helena into the international spotlight overnight.
After a succcessful tour in 2005 she went back into the studio and the first new song to be released was 'Mambo,' which stayed at number 1 in Greece for an outstanding 10 weeks straight!
2006 saw the release of her second album 'The Game Of Love' in English and 'Yparhi Logos' in Greek. Various record labels across the globe acquired the rights to release her music. Depsite success in Greece, Sweden, France and Belguim, Helena wasn't able to be everywhere at once. Tracks were released in The US and the UK but failed to have any success due to little or no promotion at all.
I expect to hear big things from Helena over the next year and so should you! Her first two albums have been extremely well done and are full of hits! Discover Helena Paparizou below...
Trivia - Although Helena releases music outside of Greece under the name 'Helena.' Her real name is infact Elena Paparizou but goes with Helena to avoid confusion in pronounciation in other countries.
Helena Paparizou - Mambo
Helena Paparizou - You Set My Heart On Fire
Helena Paparizou - Gigolo
Helena Paparizou - The Game Of Love
Helena Paparizou - Heros
Helena Paparizou - It's Gone Tomorrow
Bonus - Antique - Follow Me (Club Mix)
4 comments:
Helena is my favourite greek diva ever. 'Game of Love' is my all time favourite Paparizou track and why she isn't an international superstar is beyond me.
I love this place!!!!
The problem with Helena is she just doesn't seem willing to abandon my country, Greece, and work for greater, bigger things.
She needs to stop wasting time AND her voice in Greece and focus on her international career now that she's still relatively young. With her Swedish connections, I am sure she can find great pop there and become the superstar she clearly deserves to be.
She shouldnt have to WTBX!. Sweden is jam packed with girls of her sort...
Carola, Robyn, Lena, Shirley, Nanne, Linda(theres many more).
So in many ways expect more but not when its just gonna take her away from audiences who have already fallen for her.
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