Helena Paparizou - Singer
Age: 44
Country: Sweden Occupations:
Singer
Domains:
Pop Music
Helena Paparizou (also written as Elena Paparizou) is a Swedish-born Greek singer, songwriter, and television personality. She was born on January 31, 1982, in Borås, Sweden, to Greek immigrant parents from Thessaly, and grew up in Gothenburg.
Early Career and Antique
Paparizou launched her professional music career in 1999 as half of the Swedish-Greek duo Antique, alongside childhood friend Nikos Panagiotidis. The duo blended modern Eurodance beats with traditional Greek folk music (laïko). They achieved widespread recognition in 2001 after representing Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with the track (I Would) Die for You, placing third in the competition.
Solo Success and Eurovision Win
Following Antique's disbandment in 2003, Paparizou signed a solo contract with Sony Music. Her debut solo album, Protereotita, was released in 2004.
Her major breakthrough came in 2005 when she represented Greece as a solo artist at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with the song "My Number One". Her performance—which featured dynamic dance routines and a mix of pop and traditional Greek instrumentation like the bouzouki and lyre—won first place. This marked Greece's first-ever victory in the contest.
Subsequent Career
Following her Eurovision victory, Paparizou released a series of successful albums in both Greek and English, including Iparhi Logos (2006), The Game of Love (2006), and Vrisko To Logo Na Zo (2008), which topped charts in Greece and Cyprus.
Beyond her recording career:
She transitioned to television, serving as a coach on The Voice of Greece and appearing in various performance and talent programs.
She has earned dozens of MAD Video Music Awards—holding the record for the most wins by any artist—along with a European Border Breakers Award and an MTV Europe Music Award.