Sarbel Michael Maronitis ( el, Σαρμπέλ Μιχαήλ Μαρωνίτης; ar, شربل; born 14 May 1981) known professionally as Sarbel, is a British-Cypriot

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

singer. His singles include " Se Pira Sovara"

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 ...

: 'I've just taken you seriously'], and albums '' Parakseno sinesthima'' ['Strange feeling'], ''Sahara (Sarbel album), Sahara'' and '' Kati san esena'' ['Something reminiscent of you']. Ηe represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with "

Yassou Maria "Yassou Maria" ( el, Γειά σου Μαρία) is a song recorded by Greek-British singer Sarbel, written by Alex Papakonstantinou, Marcus Englöf and Markus "Mack" Sepehrmanesh. It is best known as the entry at the Eurovision Song Contest ...

Biography

Early life

Sarbel was born and raised in Southgate, London, England, to a Greek Cypriot father, Elias, himself a singer and

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

player, and a Lebanese

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...

mother, a lawyer. Sarbel's family made frequent summer trips to

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 wi ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. He received a Jesuit education at

St Ignatius' College St Ignatius' College is a Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 11–18 in Enfield, London, England, founded by the Society of Jesus. It was formerly a grammar school, only accepting boys who had passed the Eleven plus exam. ...

in Enfield. Sarbel studied music (voice), drama, art, and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

. From the age of 5 to 16 he performed at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and has recorded Tosca in English for Chandos Recordings as the shepherd boy.
He was named after the Maronite Saint Charbel Makhluf, Charbel. and his name is correctly pronounced "Sharbel", but since standard

lacks a "sh" sound, Greeks pronounce the name "Sarbel" in accordance with the Greek transliteration ("Σαρμπέλ"). Sarbel sang yearly at St Ignatius and other talent shows.

Music career

At the age of 18, Sarbel went to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, where he sang at the Heraklion Palladium. At the age of 21, still living on the Greek island of Crete, he was signed on by Sony BMG (Greece) on a six-year recording contract.

2004–2005: ''Parakseno sinesthima (Παράξενο Συναίσθημα)''

In 2004 he recorded the Arabic hit " Se Pira Sovara" featuring Greek singer Irini Merkouri. The song is based on an Arabic song called " Sidi Mansour" by Saber Rebaï. On the same CD (a CD single) he released a second duet with Merkouri called "Agapi Mou Esi" My love' In 2005, he released his first solo album, entitled '' Parakseno sinesthima'' (in

Παράξενο συναίσθημα). This album went Gold and was re-released with the Wella-sponsored song "Thelo na Petaxo" I wanna fly' and a bonus track of "Boro Boro", which he made famous during his MAD Award Ceremony appearance. The songs "Se Pira Sovara", "Sokolata" Chocolate' and "Thelo Na Petakso" are some of his notable songs.

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'' Wish you were seawhich was also included as a bonus song on the album. The album includes "Taxe Mou" Promise me' "Sahara" and "Enas Apo Mas" One of us'

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 The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in Helsinki, Finland. Sarbel had to compete against established singer

Christos Dantis Christos Dantis ( el, Χρήστος Δάντης; born Christos Vlahakis, 26 September 1966), is a Greek multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, lyricist, and record producer best known for his hits such as "To Palio Mou Palto" and "Ena Tra ...

and fellow newcomer singer

Tamta Tamta Goduadze ( ka, თამთა გოდუაძე; el, Τάμτα Γκοντουάτζε, Támta Gkontouátze; born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Tamta, is a Georgian-Greek singer. She first achieved popularity in Greece in ...

. Sarbel enlisted the help of Greek-Swedish composers Alex Papacostantinou, Marcus Englof, and Mack to write his song, who are responsible for many of Greek singer Elena Paparizou's hits. They wrote the song "

", which is performed in English with only the word 'yassou' (and the name 'Maria') being Greek. There is also a version released in a mix of Greek and English. On 28 February 2007, Sarbel performed the song live against the two singers for the ticket. Although the performance had some sound problems, he 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.". 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 "

" CD single as a bonus. The CD single for "Yassou Maria" was released on 7 March 2007. The CD single includes "

", "Yassou Maria (Greeklish version)", "Enas Apo Mas (Special Holiday Mix)" and a duet with Persian singer

Cameron Cartio Kamran Sabahi ( fa, کامران صباحی; born 9 April 1978), known professionally as Cameron Cartio, is an Iranian-born Swedish pop singer. Being signed to Sony Music, he released his debut album ''Borderless'' in 2005. Cameron having been ...

called "Mi Chica" which was recorded in a mixture of Greek, English, Spanish and Persian and is Latin in style with Greek pop elements.

2008–2012: ''Kati san esena''

Sarbel started singing at Votanikos club in Athens, at 2008, along with Natassa Theodoridou and Nikos Kourkoulis. The new single "Eho Trelathei" reek for 'I have been driven crazy'was introduced at the Greek National Final 2008 on ERT. It is a 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.
In July 2009, Sarbel released a two track CD-single titled "Mou Pai" under his new signing with E.DI.EL record label. The second track on the CD called "So Perfect" is a song written by Sarbel. Sarbel toured internationally performing alongside

Giorgos Mazonakis , birth_date = , birth_place = Athens, Greece , death_date = , genre = Greek Folk-Pop, dance , years_active = 1992–present , label = Universal Music Greece (1993–2001)Heaven Music (2001–2016) Minos EMI (2017;present) , we ...

in Sydney,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in Australia and other various solo appearances and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. His new CD album was released in the Spring of 2011. The first single from this CD Album was the pre-release from the album and was called "Kafto Kalokairi" with the initial performance at the Pavilion on the 18 March 2011. The release was accompanied by a music video for the single filmed on the cruise ship Cristall. The following single was "Pou Na Girnas" released in November 2011 and was penned by Greek composer Alexis Serkos. The video clip was released in conjunction with single to launch Sarbel's winter tour of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

and the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

region.

2012-present

After a tour of Dubai, and other Arab countries, Sarbel went back to the studio and recorded a new single "Proti Ptisi" reek for 'First Flight'which was released in early 2013 and followed up with a tour in Crete, Athens, Beirut and Cyprus. He was also involved in his new record company Honeybel Music which produces lounge music predominantly bought and used in Dubai. Sarbel was a guest as well at the London Eurovision Party which took place in the Shadow Lounge in Soho. The event was organised to promote the representatives for this year's Eurovision Song Contest and Sarbel as an earlier contestant was invited to perform by public demand.

Discography

Studio albums

All the albums listed underneath were released and charted in

and

CD Singles

Full singles discography

* 2004: " Se Pira Sovara" * 2005: "Sokolata" * 2005: "Thelo na petaxo" * 2006: "Sahara" * 2006: "Takse mou" * 2006: "Enas apo mas" * 2007: "

" * 2008: "Eho trelathei" * 2009: "Mou pai" It suits me'* 2011: "Kafto Kalokairi" Hot summer'* 2011: "Pou Na Girnas" Why come back?'* 2013: "Proti Ptisi"

Music videos

* 2004: "Se pira sovara" * 2005: "Sokolata" * 2005: "Thelo na petaxo" * 2005: "Boro Boro/Chiculata" (Mad Music Awards) eat._Chrispa.html" ;"title="Chrispa.html" ;"title="eat. Chrispa">eat. Chrispa">Chrispa.html" ;"title="eat. Chrispa">eat. Chrispa* 2006: "Thriller"/"Pano stin trella mou" (Mad Music Awards) [feat. Vanesa Adamopoulou] * 2006: "Taxe mou" * 2006: "Enas apo mas" * 2007: "Yassou Maria" (ERT Promo Video) * 2007: "Yassou Maria" (Official Video Clip) * 2008: "Eho trelathei" * 2009: "Mou paei" * 2011: "Monaxa esy" * 2011: "Kafto Kalokairi" * 2011: "Pou Na Girnas" * 2013: "Proti Ptisi"

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarbel 1983 births Living people British people of Lebanese descent British people of Greek Cypriot descent Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2007 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Greece British pop singers MAD Video Music Awards winners Modern Greek-language singers People from Southgate, London Sony Music Greece artists Greek people of Lebanese descent Greek people of Cypriot descent 21st-century British singers 21st-century British male singers