Elpida Karayiannopoulou ( el, Ελπίδα Καραγιαννοπούλου, born October 1, 1950), is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

singer who was one of the most successful singers in Greece and the

Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia ( el, Ομογένεια, Omogéneia), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus). Such places historically include Albania, North Macedonia, parts of ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Known professionally as just Elpida, she released 17 original albums in her 25-year recording history, and regularly topped fever charts run by the Greek state broadcaster,

Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation ( el, Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση AE, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi SA) or ERT () is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Greece. History Overview ERT b ...

(ERT). Internationally, she was known for being a two-time entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest, representing Greece in 1979 with the song " Sokrati" which placed 8th and Cyprus in 1986 with "

Tora Zo The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song " La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcast ...

" which came 20th (and last).

Early life

Elpida Karayiannopoulou was born in Spercheiada,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

; at 14, she moved to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

with her two older brothers to study. Upon finishing school, she wished to be an architect, but instead began to study

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

while working at the same time.

Career

Elpida began her singing career in 1970 when she became the singer of an orchestra and subsequently recorded an album with them. In 1972, she participated in Thessaloniki Music Festival with the song "Den Ton Eida" (Δεν τον είδα, ''I didn't see him'') and was introduced to the public. The same year she also recorded her first solo album, which was presented live with fellow singers

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

, Giannis Parios,

Tolis Voskopoulos __notoc__ Apostolos "Tolis" Voskopoulos ( el, Απόστολος "Τόλης" Βοσκόπουλος; 26 July 1940 – 19 July 2021) was one of the legends of modern Greek music. He also starred in many films and played in the theatre in Athens. ...

, , Giannis Poulopoulos,

Haris Alexiou Haris Alexiou ( el, Χάρις Αλεξίου, ; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, el, Χαρίκλεια Ρουπάκα, ) is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been co ...

, and Grigoris Bithikotsis. In 1973, ERT deemed Elpida the most popular singer in the country at that time. Elpida went on to take part in 13 festivals similar to those of Thessaloniki including Tokyo in 1974 where she placed second and the winner of Viña del Mar Festival in Chile in 1975 with the song "Pos Pes Mou Pos". She received various awards such as the "Reward of Interpretation" in Poland, and a reward for television in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. She also made a lot of television appearances in Latin America, Spain, Germany, England, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the Scandinavian Countries and made several television appearances in Israel. In 1979, Elpida was chosen to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest to represent Greece. She sang the song " Sokrati" (Σωκράτη, ''Socrates'') and placed eighth, receiving 69 points from the 19 participating countries. She released an album which reached gold sales in Israel and reached No. 6 in the local charts in Portugal. Seven years later, she appeared at Eurovision once more, in 1986, but representing Cyprus. She sang "

" (Τώρα ζω, ''Now I Live''), but with less success than in 1979, only garnering four points, and placing 20th (last). 1988 saw the release of the album ''Flas'' from which the song "Opos Se Thelo S'oneirevomai" became a radio hit. In 1994, her sixteenth studio album was released titled ''Mes Ti Nihta Hathika'', with music by

Thanasis Kargidis Thanasis (Θανάσης) is a Greek given name, short for Athanasios (Αθανάσιος), which can mean "eternal life" or "immortal". Notable people with the name Thanasis or Thanassis include: *Thanasis Antetokounmpo (born 1992), Greek baske ...

and

Panos Falaras Panos may refer to: People with the given name Panos is the diminutive of Panagiotis (Panayiotis), a Christian name. * Panos Antsaklis, American engineer *Panos Aravantinos (1886–1930), Greek and German opera scenery and costume designer and ...

Personal life

Elpida married in 1979 and gave birth to her first child, a girl named Hera, in 1980. Her second child, Stephanos, was born in 1985 and led to her absence from the music industry for four years as she spent time with her family.

Discography

*1972: ''Den Ton Eida'' *1973: ''Elpida'' *1975: ''Koita To Fos'' *1975: ''Epi Skinis'' *1976: ''Elpida'' *1978: ''Borei'' *1979: ''Sokrati'' *1979: ''Elpida'' *1979: ''Ta Oraiotera Tragoudia Mou'' (compilation) *1981: ''Me Tin Elpida'' *1983: ''Me Logia Apla'' *1987: ''Flas'' *1988: ''16 Apo Ta Oraiotera Tragoudia'' (compilation) *1989: ''Ela na Paizoume'' *1990: ''Tragoudontas Tis Epohes, 10'' *1990: ''Selida 16'' *1992: ''To Palio Na Legetai'' *1994: ''Mes Sti Nihta Hathika'' *1994: "Zileia"/"Kameno Harti" (maxi single) *1995: ''To Lathos Kai To Pathos'' *1997: ''Me Tragoudia Kai Logia ta Oraiotera Mou, 1972–87'' (compilation)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elpida 1950 births Living people People from Spercheiada 20th-century Greek women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Greece Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Cyprus Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1979 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1986 Thessaloniki Song Festival entrants