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Kalomira

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Kalomira

Kalomoira (Greek: Καλομοίρα; born Maria Kalomira Sarantis,[1][2] January 31, 1985, West Hempstead, New York, United States),[3] also known simply as Kalomira is a American singer who has achieved recognition in Greece and Cyprus following her participation and win on the Greek talent show Fame Story. Following Fame Story, she continued with a music career and has released four studio albums, represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, and hosted various television shows.

Early life

Kalomoira, known as Carol in America,[1][2] hails from Nassau County, New York. She was born to Greek restaurant owners Nikos (Nick) and Eleni (Helen) Sarantis on January 31, 1985 and has one sister named Georgia.

Since childhood, Kalomoira's dream was to become a pop star.[4] She took part in many extracurricular activities at school including drama productions and musicals. Her favorite instrument was the viola, which she studied for 9 years and played in the school orchestra.[4] She was also Miss West Hempstead (Homecoming Queen) at her high school in 2003 and class president 2 years in a row.[2][3]

On a tip from her cousin Eleni, she entered and won second place at a music contest organized by WBLI Radio.[3] Following her appearance, she opened up several live shows with famous American artists, such as Jessica Simpson, LL Cool J, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Michelle Branch and Nick Lachey.[4]

Kalomoira entered the New York City auditions for Antenna's Fame Story 2 (licensed from Star Academy, a reality talent show similar to American Idol in the United States and Fame Academy in the United Kingdom) and was the only one out of a group of over 200 performers to get picked from the United States and flown to Greece. Despite speaking primarily English, and speaking Greek fairly affluently, Kalomoira went to Greece after having completed one semester of college at Adelphi University where she was a music major with a scholarship, and competed on the three month long show.[5] Kalomoira placed first and her professional singing career began.[4]

Fame Story

After the New York City auditions Kalomoira went to Greece for the start of Fame Story 2. Kalomoira's first song was Katy Garbi’s “Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό” in which she swapped the lyrics “είμαι η Καίτη που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kaiti who you used to love”) with “είμαι η Καλομοίρα που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kalomoira who you used to love”). Her difficulties with Greek songs were not significant enough to hold her back.

Following the success of her first performance, she performed the popular song "Stand by Me". The following week, the challenge became bigger as she performed the Greek song “H Γκαρσόνα” ("The Waitress"), which seemed totally out of Kalomoira's vocal and style capability.[citation needed] She was also told to perform Aliki’s song “Γατούλα” ("Pussycat"), written by Manos Hatzidakis. The songs became more challenging for the singer as her teachers in the academy pushed her to sing Greek songs.[citation needed] Her next songs were “Ανάβεις φωτιές” ("You are lighting fires") and "Dancing Queen".

The judges assigned Kalomoira with Barbra Streisand’s "Woman in Love", a song with special vocal requirements[clarification needed]. Kalomoira fared well, but in the week that followed, Kalomoira's rendition of Stavros Ksarhakos’ “Ένα πρωινό” ("One morning") left the judges unimpressed. Next, Kalomoira chose to perform "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna and managed to stay in the game. This was followed by a duet with another participant (Nikos Mihas) in "Gucci των Μασάι" ("Masai's Gucci"), which gave her a chance to remain in the show for another week.

Marinella’s "Γιατί Φοβάσαι" (Why are you afraid) was difficult for her,[citation needed] but Kalomoira made it through to the next week’s "Περιττός" which was better received. She continued in the game with a performance of Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again". After many weeks of the competition, Kalomoira was one of the final six participants of the game with only two performances left. Her rendition of "Εϊ Καζανόβα" ("Hey Cazanova") equalled her success with Madonna’s "Express Yourself" in the final show. Kalomoira won the contest, earned 200,000 Euros and a recording contract with Heaven Music.

List of Fame Story Songs

Professional career

2004–2006: The first albums

Kalomoira performed in Thessaloniki’s FOCUS from July 8 to August 14. While entertaining audiences by night, she was recording her first album by day. Outside of Greece, Kalomoira has appeared on NBC’s "Today Show" and "Access Hollywood" during the events of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, UPN's Greek Parade where she sang live and was interviewed, Fox News, was in the "Washington Post", "Newsday" and "New York Times" and most currently featured on Oprah for her Eurovision Performance, along with a number of other shows and websites.[6] On September 1, 2004, Kalomoira released her 15 track first album Kalomoira which went gold. She then toured Greece accompanied by the rest of the "Fame Story" participants with appearances in Athens’s "Thalassa". In the same year, she closed her season at the REX studio with Despina Vandi and Thanos Petrelis. Kalomoira received good reviews from critics and was awarded "Woman of the Year - Best Newcomer" by Life and Style magazine.

In 2005, Kalomira released her second album titled Paizeis? (You Playing?) with 12 songs, of which two were written and composed by her. She also agreed to appear with Elli Kokkinou, Andreas Stamos and Constantinos Christoforou at the Piraeus 130 music club. In her program, she included covers of songs such as "Scandalous," "Don't Cha" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart," in addition to songs from her first and second albums. On April 11, 2005 she was a special guest on the first live concert of the first season of Star Academy Bulgaria.

In the fall of 2006, Kalomoira became the female co-hostess on the hit Sunday night show Pio Poli Tin Kiriaki alongside with Grigoris Arnaoutoglou on Mega Channel. In December, she released her third CD I Kalomoira Paei Cinema (Kalomoira Goes to the Cinema). It features songs from classic Greek movies which Kalomoira re-vamped.

2007–present: Eurovision and new album

See also: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and Secret Combination the Album
Evdokia Kadi, Vlad Mirita and Kalomoira at a Eurovision party in Belgrade, May 16, 2008

At the end of 2007, Heaven Music chose Kalomoira to be their contestant in the 2008 National Final to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.[7] Kalomoira picked an R&B style upbeat song with a Greek feel composed by Konstantinos Pantzis with lyrics by Poseidonas Giannopoulos titled "Secret Combination".[8] The song has an "American production" feel to it.[9] On February 27, 2008, Kalomoira won the National Final with "Secret Combination" and represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. To promote the song, Kalomoira had a pre-Eurovision tour and visited several Eurovision countries throughout March and April.[10]

In the first semi-final, held on May 20, 2008, Kalomoira fared well coming in first place while at the Eurovision final, on May 24, she came in third behind Russia and Ukraine with 218 points. In an interview with Eleni Menegaki, she said that her Eurovision participation was the biggest thing that she has done in her career, and that it was also one of the most personal events in her life that will always be remembered with good memories. When asked if she expected to do so well in the competition, she stated that she had always wanted to do well, but above all she wanted the Greek people to be proud of the performance regardless of how well it did. In the same interview, host Eleni Menegaki stated that for her as well as many others, it was one of the most defining points in their view of Kalomoira's career to date. This was due to the fact that it displayed her as more of a mature professional performer, distancing her from the innocent little girl image people had associated her with after her participation in Fame Story.[11]

Kalomoira announced on her online diary that she recorded her new album during September and October 2007 in Greece. The album, named Secret Combination the Album, was released on May 29, 2008 and contained songs in both Greek and English, including "Secret Combination". There is also a bonus rap remix of "Secret Combination" by Master Tempo. The writers are Konstantinos Pantzis, Tasos Vougiatzis and Sunny X.[12]

Kalomoira had been in New York for months after Eurovision because of her sister's baby and did not do any promotion for the new album, which is her lowest charting.[13][14][15][16] In an interview with Downtown Magazine, Kalomoira's father stated that she was treated "like dirt" by Heaven Music and that she may or may not continue her singing career, but that it is up to her, and she will make her decision some time in August.[16] In response, Makis Pounentis, CEO of Heaven Music, claimed that he was "surprised" by Kalomoira's remarks and couldn't offer an explanation, though he did say that her contract would be honored should she choose to go back and sing again.[13] Despite the rumors claiming that Kalomoira had quit singing, she once again returned to the music industry. After a concert upon her return to Greece, she began hosting the Greek version of the game show Big in Japan which will take place in Japan and feature 12 contestants.[17][18] Kalomoira has confirmed via her facebook that she has returned to the studio.

In 2009, Kalomoira performed at various Greek clubs in North America. Some of her concerts included New York City on April 26, Los Angeles on June 25, and Toronto on June 27.[19] She later performed in San Francisco on November 8.

Kalomoira will be returning to Greece in 2010 to host a yet unnamed television project on Alpha TV, as well as record and release a new single.[20] The new single will most likely be her last working collaboration with Heaven Music, as she has decided to leave Heaven Music when her contract is over in June 2010, and sign with Phoebus' new record label currently being set up.[20]

Personal life

In one of her latest interviews for the magazine Tahidromos, Kalomoira posed in her parents' restaurant and she admitted that she got engaged to a Greek Canadian and she is planning to get married some time in 2010.[21]

As a pop icon

Many young people surveyed are considerably tempted to join the ranks of Fame Story, having Kalomoira in mind.[citation needed] Also in 2004, she had a minor credited role in the Greek TV drama series I Lampsi, playing the part of Jennifer, where veteran director Nikos Foskolos compared her to Aliki Vougiouklaki. As of early 2006 she co-hosted the Good Morning show Proinos Kafes in ANT1 TV. In 2007 she co-hosted the very popular Sunday night show Poli tin Kiriaki on Mega Channel.

Discography

All the albums listed underneath were released and charted in Greece and Cyprus.

Studio albums

Year Title Certification
2004 Kalomoira Gold
2005 Paizeis?
2006 I Kalomoira Paei Cinema (Kalomoira Goes To The Cinema)
2008 Secret Combination the Album

CD Singles

Year Title Album/CD Single Notes
2006 "Gine Mazi Mou Paidi" "Gine Mazi Mou Paidi" Fundraiser for the poor and disabled of Greece
2008 "Secret Combination" "Secret Combination" and
Secret Combination the Album 		The Greek entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Year Single Chart Positions
Greece Cyprus UK Canada Europe Ireland Turkey Sweden Denmark Lithuania MTV Adria
2008 "Secret Combination" 1 1 71 31 7 6 18 8 19 17 3

Video albums

Year Title Certification
2005 Kalomoira Special Karaoke Edition
  • Released: September, 2005
  • 1st DVD

Music Videos

  • "Nomizeis"
  • "Petheno Gia Sena"
  • "Proti mou Fora"
  • "Paizeis"
  • "Ki Olo Perimeno"
  • "Medley ("Crazy Girl", "Mambo", "Riko Riko Rikoko" (T'Agori Mou), "Thelo Ta Opa Mou")
  • "Secret Combination"

Guest appearances

  • "Do What You Wanna Do" - ("59's Finest - The Five Nine Ep") (2004)
  • "Teleftea Efkairia" - (Single by "Filoi Gia Panta") (2007)

References

  1. ^ a b "Member needs your help to make her cousin an 'Island Idol'". DC Greeks. Retrieved on March 23, 2008
  2. ^ a b c "Biography for Kalomoira Sarantis". IMDb. Retrieved on March 23, 2008
  3. ^ a b c "Steve and Maria's "Island Idol"". WBLI. Retrieved on March 23, 2008
  4. ^ a b c d "Greece 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved on March 28, 2008
  5. ^ "Long Island's Kalomira Sarantis Competing in Antenna's Fame Story". Greek News. Retrieved on March 29, 2008
  6. ^ "Meet Kalomira: The Greek 'Idol'". Access Hollywood, August 19, 2004. Retrieved on April 24, 2008
  7. ^ "Kalomira; the deadline, the songs and a party". Oikotimes. Retrieved on January 23, 2008
  8. ^ "Η Καλομοίρα σε "secret combination"". MAD TV. Retrieved on January 23, 2008 Template:Gr icon
  9. ^ "Greece: Kalomoira's composer exclusive". ESCToday. Retrieved on January 24, 2008
  10. ^ "Greece: Kalomira's promo tour kicks off". Oikotimes. Retrieved on March 23, 2008
  11. ^ Menegaki, Eleni (2009-01-19). "Interview on "Kafes Me Tin Eleni"". Alpha TV. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Η Καλομοίρα στο studio".Template:El icon MAD TV, May 1, 2008. Retrieved on April 30, 2008
  13. ^ a b Floras, Stella (2008-07-31). "Greece: Kalomira puts career on ice". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-08-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Παρατάει το τραγούδι η Καλομοίρα??".Template:El icon Starbuzz, June 28, 2008. Retrieved on July 10, 2008
  15. ^ "Kalomira stops singing career?".Template:El icon Oikotimes. Retrieved on July 10, 2008
  16. ^ a b "Φως στο τούνελ για το Καλομοιράκι" (in Greek). MAD TV. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-08-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Η Καλομοίρα επιστρέφει στην Ελλάδα..." (in Greek). Music.net.cy. 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2008-11-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Stavridou, Katerina (2008-11-29). Kalomoira: "Big In Japan" (in Greek). Vol. 1025. Teletheatis. pp. 32–33. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  19. ^ "http://www.kalomoira.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=9079". Kalomira Network. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2008-11-12. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Staff (10 December 2009). "Καλομοίρα! Η μεγάλη επιστροφή!" (in Greek). MAD TV. Retrieved 11 December 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  21. ^ Kalomoira Interview (2008) Tahidromos. Retrieved on 2008-10-13.
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Preceded by Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
2008 		Succeeded by
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