Sarbel

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Sarbel
Birth name	Charbel Michael
Also known as	Sarbel
Born	14 May 1982 (1982-05-14) (age 27), Southgate, London, England, UK
Origin	Cyprus
Genres	Pop, modern laika
Labels	Sony Music Greece (2004-2008) E.DI.EL. (2009-present)
Website	http://www.sarbel.com/

Sarbel Michael (Greek: Σαρμπέλ Μιχαήλ; Arabic: شربل مخائيل‎); born 14 May 1982)^[1], known professionally as simply Sarbel, is a British Cypriot pop singer of partial Cypriot and Lebanese ancestry. He is well-known in Cyprus, Greece and parts of the Arab world for his debut single, "Se Pira Sovara", which rose him to international fame, and his subsequent albums Paraxeno Synesthima, Sahara and Kati San Esena. Most notably, he represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with "Yassou Maria" which peaked at number one in Cyprus and Greece, and appeared on the UK Singles Chart.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 2004-2005: Parakseno Sinesthima (Παράξενο Συναίσθημα) 2.2 2006: Sahara 2.3 2007: Eurovision and Sahara: Euro Edition 2.4 2008-Present: Kati San Esena 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 CD singles 3.3 Full Singles Discography 3.4 Music videos 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

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[edit] Early life

Sarbel Michael was born and raised in Southgate, London, England, to a Cypriot father, Elias, himself a singer and bouzouki player, and a Lebanese Maronite mother, a lawyer. Sarbel's family made frequent summer trips to Greece and Cyprus. He received a Jesuit education at St Ignatius' College in Enfield. Sarbel studied music (voice), drama, and performing arts. From the age of 5 to 16 he performed at the English National Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and has recorded Tosca in English for Chandos Recordings as the shepherd boy. ^[1]

He was named after the Maronite Saint Charbel and his name is correctly pronounced "Sharbel", but since standard Greek lacks a "sh" sound, it is pronounced "Sarbel" according to the Greek transliteration ("Σαρμπέλ").

During his school years Sarbel was known to be 'highly motivated' and 'extremely polite'. However, Sarbel's love for singing escalated to souring heights, every year at St Ignatius Sarbel would highlight every talent event and blow everyone away with his angelic 5-Octave Vocal Range

Sarbel said in a recent interview in 2008 "Possibly in the next 5 years or so I will think about starting a family".

[edit] Music career

At 18, looking for some change in his life for his gap year, Sarbel went to Crete, where he sang at the Heraklion Palladium. ^[2] At the age of 21, still living on the Greek island of Crete since his gap year, he was signed on by Sony BMG (Greece) on a six-year recording contract. By the next year, Sarbel had hit the Greek, Cypriot, and Arabic music scene and gained a very popular status as a singer and sex symbol, particularly amongst young female fans.

[edit] 2004-2005: Parakseno Sinesthima (Παράξενο Συναίσθημα)

He shot into the limelight in 2004, when he recorded the oriental hit Se Pira Sovara, featuring popular Greek songstress Irini Merkouri, which first introduced the young singer to fans in Greece, but also across the Middle East (especially Cyprus and Lebanon). ^[3] The song is based on an Arabic song called Sidi Mansour. On the same CD (a CD single) he released a second duet with Merkouri called Agapi Mou Esi. In 2005, he released his first solo album, entitled Paraxeno Synesthima. This album went Gold and was re-released with the Wella-sponsored song Thelo na Petaxo and a bonus track of Boro Boro, which he made famous during his MAD Award Ceremony appearance. The songs Se Pira Sovara, Sokolata, and Thelo Na Petakso became hits and later turned into video clips.

[edit] 2006: Sahara

In July 2006, he released his second album, Sahara. That same year he recorded a duet with Greek singer Natassa Theodoridou called Na' Soun Thalassa which was also included as a bonus song on the album. The tracks Taxe Mou and Sahara instantly became a hit. Other singles from the album included Sahara and Enas Apo Mas which were all later turned into video clips too. In the same year, he once again performed at the Mad Music awards taking his popularity to a new height. This time he performed the song Thriller showcasing his English language talent.

[edit] 2007: Eurovision and Sahara: Euro Edition

Seeing his growing popularity, Greek television ERT asked Sarbel to compete for a ticket to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Finland. Sarbel had to compete against established singer Christos Dantis and fellow new comer singer Tamta. Sarbel enlisted the help of popular Greek-Swedish composers Alex Papacostantinou, Marcus Englof, and Mack to write his song, who are responsible for many of popular Greek singer Elena Paparizou's hits. They wrote the song Yassou Maria, which is performed in English with only the word 'ya sou' (and the name 'Maria') being Greek. There is also a version released in a mix of Greek and English.

On February 28, 2007, Sarbel performed the song live against the 2 singers for the ticket. Although the performance had some sound problems, the went on to receive 39.69% of the combined televotes and jury votes, winning the contest.

In an interview in March 2007, Sarbel made it clear that he doesn't want an international career by saying "I don't care either being famous abroad or starting an international career. I only care for Greece. I grew up abroad but choose to live in Greece. I can't tell you whether Eurovision helps my career or not, because I don't know. It's very dangerous. However, it is an experience I want to live. I want to have fun in the Contest and do my best." ^[4]. Following the win, Sarbel toured Europe to promote his song. He also filmed the video clip for the song and changed the scene performance around a bit. The song eventually placed 7th at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

On 12 March 2007, Sahara was re-released as Sahara: Euro Edition and feature the Yassou Maria CD Single as a bonus. The CD single for Yassou Maria was released on 7 March 2007. The CD single includes Yassou Maria, Yassou Maria (Greeklish version), Enas Apo Mas (Special Holiday Mix) and a duet with Persian singer Cameron Cartio called Mi Chica. Mi Chica is recorded in a mixture of Greek, English, Spanish and Persian and is Latin in style with Greek pop elements.

[edit] 2008-Present: Kati San Esena

After Eurovision, Sarbel took some time off from music to relax. He did not join any singers in Athens in the 2007-2008 winter season, or release a new album. Following Elli Kokkinou's departure from club Votanikos due to her pregnancy, Sarbel took Elli's spot starting 6 January 2008 singing with Natassa Theodoridou and Nikos Kourkoulis.^[5]

The new single "Eho Trelathei" was introduced at the Greek National Final 2008 on ERT.^[6] It is an blend of oriental elements with the main chorus being rock. This was followed by the release of the album Kati San Esena.

To promote his new album amongst his fellow Londoners, he performed at the two day Cyprus Wine Festival of London in 2008. Sarbel felt that "My performance at the Cyprus Wine Festival (in London) is my chance to give something back to my community." And both performances brought tears to his friend's and family's eyes that still live in London. ^[7]

Sarbel was the guest star for the Final of the Cypriot entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2009. He performed three songs and said he would think seriously about going again if Cyprus made him an offer! He also visited the children's hospital in Nicosia where he sang with the children who were the first to have heart operations in Cyprus. Sarbel embarked on a mini North American tour in April 2009 where he performed in Montreal, two nights in Toronto and in New York City.

In July 2009, Sarbel released a two track CD-single titled "Mou Pai". The second track on the CD called "So Perfect" is a song wholly written by Sarbel. He stated that he wrote several songs at the age of 14 and that this was one of them. He is now planning his winter Concert Schedule and the release of a further track which will be more in keeping with his Ethnic style.

Sarbel has announced the beginning of his winter tour with three concerts performing alongside Giorgos Mazonaki in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Australia. He will also be performing two more solo concerts in Australia on New Years Eve and New Years Day. He is also currently working in the studio recording a new single to be released in the spring of 2010.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 2004: Parakseno Sinesthima (Greece #9) GOLD
• 2005: Paraxeno Sinesthima (Second Edition) (Greece #12)
• 2006: Sahara (Greece #9)
• 2007: Sahara: Euro Edition (Greece #11)
• 2008: Kati San Esena (Greece #6)

[edit] CD singles

• 2004: "Se Pira Sovara" GOLD
• 2007: "Yassou Maria" (Greece#1) GOLD
• 2009: "Mou Pai"

[edit] Full Singles Discography

(Not all singles were released on CD)

• 2004: "Se Pira Sovara"
• 2005: "Sokolata"
• 2005: "Thelo Na Petakso"
• 2006: "Sahara"
• 2006: "Takse Mou"
• 2006: "Enas Apo Mas"
• 2007: "Yassou Maria"
• 2008: "Eho Trelathei"
• 2009: "Mou Pai"

[edit] Music videos

• 2004: "Se Pira Sovara"
• 2005: "Sokolata"
• 2005: "Thelo Na Petaxo"
• 2005: "Boro Boro/Chiculata" (Mad Music Awards) [Ft. Chrispa]
• 2006: "Thriller/Pano Stin Trella Mou" (Mad Music Awards) [Ft. Vanesa Adamopoulou]
• 2006: "Taxe Mou"
• 2006: "Enas Apo Mas"
• 2007: "Yassou Maria" (ERT Promo Video)
• 2007: "Yassou Maria" (Official Video Clip)
• 2008: "Echo Trelathei"
• 2009: "Mou Pai"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• MySpace (1)
• Myspace (2)
• International Sarbel Fan-Club
• Greek-English Fan Site
• International Sarbel Forum
• Polish Fan Club

Preceded by Anna Vissi

Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Succeeded by Kalomoira