Dimitris T. Kontopoulos (; born November 9, 1971) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Personal life

Dimitris Kontopoulos was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

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on November 9, 1971. After graduating from the Ziridis school, he continued his studies in film scoring at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

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and the

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. Kontopoulos is married and has two children.

Career

Kontopoulos became active in the music industry in 1999–2000. In 1999 he released as a producer the album 'Etsi ime ego' by Iro. The singles of the album 'Etsi eime ego' and 'Tipota' topped the Greek charts making the producer famous nationally. In 2001, he released the second album of Iro as a producer and composer. The singles 'Apogeiosi', 'Etsi eine oi sxeseis' and 'Moni mou' also topped the charts. In 2002, he produced and composed the album of Giannis Vardis. The first single of the album 'Gia ena lepto' topped all charts and remained at the first spot of the National Airplay Chart for over 12 weeks. In 2003 he became involved with the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

when he wrote the song "Mia Stigmi" sung by Giannis Vardis. The song competed in the national final to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, but came in second place to Mando and ' Never Let You Go' which went to Eurovision. Though the entry did not win the national final, it topped the charts in

for 11 weeks. Also in 2003 he started to compose the music for a movie of the famous Greek director Nikos Perakis. The song of the movie 'Meine mazi mou apopse' reached the number one position in the charts. In 2004 he composes the song 'Esena mono' for famous Greek singer Katy Garbi. In 2005, Kontopoulos again wrote a song for Eurovision, but this time for

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. "Shadows" performed by Anastasia Stotskaya placed third in the Russian national final. In 2006 Kontopoulos composed the score of the popular television series 'Loufa kai Parallagi'. The song of the 'Pano stin trela mou' won the first spot of the Annual National Airplay Chart. In 2006, with Greece hosting the Eurovision Song Contest after Elena Paparizou's victory with the song " My number one", he once again tried to take part in the Greek final as a composer, this time for

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...

. That year, the Greek audience selected four songs including "Welcome to the party" written by Kontopoulos. At the national final, the song came in second with Nikos Karvelas's '

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing, is all that exists; it is an antithesis of ''nothing'', or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to . The uni ...

' going to the contest. In 2007, Kontopoulos composed the song 'Ola giro sou girizoun' for

Sakis Rouvas Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas (, ; born 5 January 1972), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Sakis, is a Greeks, Greek singer, actor, businessman and former pole vaulter. Born in Corfu, Rouvas won medals with Greece's U18 and U20 national sp ...

. The song remained for more than a year in the top 50 of the National Airplay Chart. Having taken a break in 2007, Kontopoulos returned with the

dance pop Dance-pop is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developi ...

song ' Always and forever' sung by Kostas Martakis. At the national final, the song came in second but it entered for many years the playlist of international Abercrombie and Fitch stores. In 2008 he produced the song 'Shady Lady' composed by

Philipp Kirkorov Philipp Bedros Kirkorov (, ; ; born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. Kirkorov's career began in 1985 with participation in the Soviet musical TV show "Wider Circle". Since 2000, he has maintained public interest in his pe ...

and performed by Ani Lorak who represented Ukraine at the Eurovision song contest and placed second. In 2009 Kontopoulos composed the song ' Kai se thelo' for Sakis Rouvas. It remained at the first spot of the National Airplay chart for 8 weeks and the song became a cover in Bulgaria and Estonia. In 2009 Kontopoulos also produced and composed the album 'Solnce' of Ani Lorak. For the song 'Solnce' of the album he won a Russian Grammy award in the Golden Grammofon awards at the Kremlin. On July 19, 2008, it was announced that Dimitris Kontopoulos would be the composer for

and Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. He composed three songs: 'Out of control', 'Right on Time', and 'This is our night' which were voted on at the national final in February 2009. The song titled 'This is our night' got the most votes and thus represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, which took place in Moscow. After the results of the jury and the tele-voting were announced, the song was placed seventh on the final scoreboard. In 2010 he released a new song for Sakis Rouvas titled 'Spase ton hrono'. The song topped the Greek charts for months. In March 2010 Kontopoulos became a member of the jury of the ''Greek Idol'' show. In September 2010 Kontopoulos released the new song of Sakis Rouvas called 'Parafora'. The song was in the number one spot of the National Airplay Chart for weeks. In December of the same year Kontopoulos released the ballad 'Einai stigmes', performed by Antonis Remos. In February 2011 Sakis Rouvas released his new song 'Oi dyo mas' by Kontopoulos. In March the song topped the National Airplay chart becoming the 6th song of the duo Kontopoulos/Rouvas that topped the charts. In September 2011, the three top Greek male artists released songs of Dimitris Kontopoulos: Antonis Remos released as a single the song "Tora Epizo", Sakis Rouvas the song "Kane na mi sagapiso" and Michalis Hatzigiannis performed the song "Axizo" of the movie "Loufa kai parallagi: Seirines stun Steria". In summer 2012 Kontopoulos composed the song "Poses hiliades kalokairia" sung by Demy.In December 2012 Michalis Hatzigiannis and hip hop artist Midenistis performed the song of Kontopoulos "Se ena toixo" which remained for 15 weeks at the first place of the National Airplay chart. In January 2013 Dimitris Kontopoulos composed the song "H agapi erxete sto telos" for the advertisement of Lacta chocolate, the song was performed by Antonis Remos stayed for 4 months on the second place of the national airplay chart while the advertisement won 3 Cannes Lions awards as the best advertisement of the decade. In December 2013 Helena Paparizou released his song "Iroas" that entered the top 10 National Airplay chart for 4 weeks while a week later one of the most popular Greek artists Despina Vandi released his song "Hano esena". The song remained at the first place of the Greek airplay chart for 11 weeks. In February 2014 it was announced that Kontopoulos will be the mentor of Vandi at the Greek edition of the Voice TV show. In May 2013 Dimitris Kontopoulos participated at the Eurovision Song Contest with Azerbaijan. His song "Hold me" performed by Farid Mammadov came second with 234 points, the most points that Azerbaijan has ever received at the Eurovision Song Contest.While it received the maximum 12 points from 10 countries.
Kontopoulos is one of the two composers of the song " Shine" of The Tolmachevy Sisters which took part in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

for

. In May 2016 Dimitris Kontopoulos participated at the Eurovision Song Contest with Russia. His song "You're the only one" performed by

Sergey Lazarev Sergey Vyacheslavovich Lazarev ( rus, Серге́й Вячесла́вович Ла́зарев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈlazərʲɪf; born 1 April 1983) is a Russian singer. He is most famous for his singing career, when ...

came third with 491 points, despite winning the televote. In 2017, he was the composer for Demy and Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. He composed three songs: "Where the time comes around", "Angels", and "This is love" which were voted on at the national final in March 2017. The song titled "This is love" got the most votes and thus represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, which took place in Kyiv. After the results of the jury and the tele-voting were announced, the song was placed 19th on the final, the second-worst result that Kontopoulos has ever had at the Eurovision Song Contest as composer. He got his worst result

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

with the song " X my heart" by Aisel Məmmədova which became 11th in the first semi final and did not qualify. In the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

he was more successful with a 3th place in the grand final for the song Scream by

. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

he won the Moldovian pre-selection ''O melodie pentru Europa'' for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

by Natalia Gordienko. He also wrote the song " SUPERG!RL" for the Greek singer

Stefania ''Stefania'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hemiphractidae. They are native to the highlands of the Guiana Shield in southern Venezuela, Guyana, and adjacent far northern Brazil. Most are restricted to the tepui highlands, but '' S. evansi'' ...

. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the contest was cancelled and the songs did not compete on stage. For the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...

he wrote the songs "

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

" for Natalia Gordienko () and " Last dance" for Stefania (). Both qualified for the Grand final and "Sugar" became 13th, "Last dance" 10th, the first Top-10 position for Greece since 2013. He was chosen to write the for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the European Br ...

, tying the record for authoring Eurovision entries for the highest number of countries (seven) with Thomas G:son. Kontopoulos has to-date composed and produced 14 albums, out of which 8 have gone platinum and two of those twice platinum.

Copyright controversies

Mansurov sued Dimitris Kontopulos (composer) and

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Hellas AE (publisher) for stealing his original work in 2011. The Greek court said that the similarity between 2 songs are more than 50 percent. The entire process finished in 2023 in favor of Mansurov.

Awards

* 2003 Arion Award (IFPI) ''Best Pop Album'' "Apogiosi", Iro * 2006 Arion Award (IFPI) ''Best Pop Song'' "Pano Stin Trela Mou", Vanesa Adamopoulou * 2006 Arion Award (IFPI) ''Best Soundtrack OST'' "Loufa & Paralagi" * 2007 Arion Award (IFPI) ''Best Pop Song'' "Ola Gyro Sou Girizoun",

Production discography

* "Etsi Eimai Ego" - Iro * "Apogeiosi" - Iro * "Koita Me Anteho" - Iro * " Emmones Idees" (2003) - Katy Garbi * "Meine Mazi Mou Apopse" (2003) -

Irini Merkouri Chrysovalanto Chalilopoulou (; born 26 May 1981), known professionally as Irini Merkouri (, ), is a Greek pop and laïko singer. Career Early life Merkouri was born and raised in Ilion, Greece, Ilion, Athens to Hellenization, Hellenized-Romani pe ...

* "I Liza Kai I Alli" - Kostas Doxas * "Pes Mou Ti Niotheis" - Giannis Vardis * "Yalina Oneira" - Aspa Tsina * "Thelo Na Matho" - Antonis Vardis * "Koita Me" (2002) - Giorgos Mazonakis * "Argises" - Aleka Kanellidou * "Krifo Fili" (2002) - Michalis Hatzigiannis * "Dekapentavgoustos" - Michalis Delta * "Marina Handri" - Marina Handri * "Tha Skisi I Omada" (2004) - All Stars * "Schedon Pote" - Apostolia Zoi * '' Iparhi Agapi Edo'' (2006) -

* '' This Is My Live'' (2007) - Sakis Rouvas * '' Irthes'' (2008) - Sakis Rouvas * '' Solntse'' (2009) - Ani Lorak * '' Giro Apo T'Oneiro - Elena Paparizou * '' Parafora'' - Sakis Rouvas * '' Entasi'' - Kostas Martakis

Eurovision Song Contest

Production credits

* 2012: " We Are the Heroes" by

Litesound Litesound is a Belarusian pop rock band formed in 2005 by brothers Dmitry and Vladimir Karyakin. In 2010, they released their debut album ''Going to Hollywood''. Two years later, in 2012, the band was chosen to represent Belarus in the Eurovision ...

, 16th (semifinal) * 2020: "

What Love Is ''What Love Is'' is a 2007 romantic comedy film, written and directed by Mars Callahan and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Matthew Lillard, Sean Astin, Anne Heche, and Gina Gershon. Premise The film is shot one evening, mostly in a man's apar ...

" by

Uku Suviste Uku Suviste (born 6 June 1982) is an Estonian singer-songwriter, pianist and music producer. He was scheduled to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, befor ...

, Cancelled * 2021: " The Lucky One" by

, 13th (semifinal) *2021: "

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

" by Anxhela Peristeri, 21st

Eurovision Pre-Selections

* 1998: "Se Nostalgo" by Vivetta Koursi, 3rd * 2003: "Mia Stigmi" by Giannis Vardis, 2nd * 2005: "Shadows" by Anastasia Stotskaya, 3rd * 2006: "Welcome to the Party" by

, 2nd * 2008: " Always and Forever" by Kostas Martakis, 2nd * 2009: "Out of Control" by

, 3rd * 2009: "Right on Time" by

, 2nd * 2009: " This is Our Night" by

, 1st * 2017: "Angels" by Demy, 3rd * 2017: " This is Love" by Demy, 1st * 2017: "When the Morning Comes Around" by Demy, 2nd * 2020: "

" by Natalia Gordienko, 1st

Movies

* "I Liza kai i alli" * "Vitsia gynaikon" * "Dekapentaugoustos" * "E.D.E.M." * "Apoliti Stigmi" * "Giro Giro Oloi" * "Money Go Round" * "The Midnight Kicker" * "How To Escape" * "Christmas Gift" * "Trapped" * "Loufa kai paralagi, sirines sto Aigaio" * "Psyhraimia"

Theatre

* "Kammena Vourla" * Ta paidia stin exousia" * "Oliki Eklipsi" * Ta dakria tis Kleitemnistras" * "Franky and Johnny"

TV

* "Schedon pote" * "Ola edo plirononte"

Commercial

* Bold & Ogilvy * Leousi * Status * AudioVisual * Kino * Stefi * Anosi * Red Code * Ekso * Max * Foss * Comrade * Modiano * Studio ATA * Upstream

References

External links

* http://www.voxstudios.gr Official Website of the Studio *
Dimitris Kontopoulos
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kontopoulos 1971 births Berklee College of Music alumni Greek male songwriters USC Thornton School of Music alumni Living people Musicians from Athens