Maria Elena Kyriakou (, ; born 11 January 1984) is a

Greek-Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

singer best known for winning the first season of ''

The Voice of Greece ''The Voice of Greece'' is a Greek television talent show created by John de Mol and based on the concept ''The Voice of Holland''. It is part of an international series. It began airing on ANT1 on January 10, 2014, and the final of second seaso ...

'' under the mentorship of

Despina Vandi Despina Malea (; born 22 July 1969), known as Despina Vandi (), is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old. After moving to Athens in the early 1990s, Vandi ...

. She represented Greece in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with her song " One Last Breath".

Biography and career

Early life

Maria Elena Kyriakou was born on 11 January 1984 in

Larnaca, Cyprus Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosia and Limassol. ...

and has lived there since then. She has three siblings; one brother

Kyriacos Pavlou Kyriakos Pavlou (; born September 4, 1986) is a Cypriot footballer who plays for P.O. Xylotymbou. He is the brother of singer Maria Kyriakou Club career Pavlou debuted for AEK Larnaca F.C. in 2002. His nickname is ''Koullis''. In 2006, he tra ...

and two sisters. At the age of 13, her mother registered her at a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. Years later, she studied philosophy at the

University of Ioannina The University of Ioannina (UoI; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, ''Panepistimio Ioanninon'') is a public university located in Ioannina, Greece. The university was founded in 1964, as a charter of the Aristotle University of ...

and during the first year she got a proposition from Giannis Ploutarchos which she did not accept as she preferred to concentrate on her studying. After 2 years at the University of Ioannina she decided to move back to her home country. She then continued her studies at the

University of Cyprus The University of Cyprus (Greek language, Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Turkish language, Turkish: Kıbrıs Üniversitesi) is a public university, public research institute, research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It ...

. After her graduation she opened her own tutorial class. In 2011, her mother applied for Maria Elena to audition for ''

Greek Idol ''Greek Idol'' is a reality television competition to find new solo singing talent. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it is based on the British show '' Pop Idol'' created by Simon Fuller. The first season of the show debuted on March 5, 2010 on A ...

'' but did not go to the auditions.

2014: ''The Voice of Greece''

Kyriakou auditioned for ''The Voice of Greece'' at the age of twenty-nine. Appearing on the third of the eight blind auditions, she auditioned with " Because of You" originally by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

—with all four coaches electing for her to join their teams; from which Kyriakou selected

. During the battles, she performed "

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

" against Eva Kanata–with Despina crowning her as the winner. In the second live show, she performed "

I Have Nothing "I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993 as the third single from '' The Bodyguard'' (1992) by Arista Records. The song was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produce ...

" and was saved by the public. In the third live show, she performed "Den Eisai Edo" and was once again saved by the public along with Stelios Mayalios. In the fourth live show, she performed "

Hurt Hurt may refer to: * Suffering * Pain * Injury Film and television * ''Hurt'' (2003 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Hurt'' (2009 film), an American horror film * ''Hurt'' (2015 film), a Canadian documentary film * ''Hurt'' (2018 film), an ...

" and was saved by the public to proceed to the semi-final. In the semi-final, she performed "

Bleeding Love "Bleeding Love" is a song recorded by British singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album, '' Spirit'' (2007). It was originally written and recorded by American singer Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by American singer R ...

" for her solo performance and "

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a TCP connection state on the server side indi ...

" for her duet with Mando. Kyriakou proceeded to the final after getting 60 points from her coach and 80 points from the public. Her song "Dio Egoismoi" was available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

the day after the semi-final, on 3 May 2014. In the final she performed her original song "Dio Egoismoi" and a duet with her coach with the song "

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" is a song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, released in October 1979. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts (singer), Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and G ...

". As she advanced to the second round along with Kosmidou and Kintatos, she performed " Because of You", the song she performed during the blind auditions. Kyriakou won the series and a record deal with

Minos EMI Minos EMI is a record label, record company based in Athens, Greece. The company serves as the Greek record label and offices of the multinational Universal Music Group. EMI is credited for founding the record business in Greece in the 1930s, b ...

2015: Eurovision Song Contest

Maria Elena Kyriakou won the Greek national final and represented Greece in the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Personal life

Kyriakou is one of the four children in her family among them the known Cypriot

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. In 2006, she married Cypriot

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

Gregoris Gregoriou, with whom she has three children; Kyriakou and Gregoriou divorced in 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Autumn 2015 Horis Esena (Without You) for the show with which it shares the same name. ;Featured in: *2015: "The Otherside" (

Tamar Kaprelian Tamar Mardirossian (; born October 28, 1986), known professionally as Tamar Kaprelian, is an Armenian Americans, American-Armenian singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Kaprelian began her career in 2008, after winning a cover contest organize ...

featuring

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking ...

Elina Born Elina Born (born 29 June 1994) is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Stig Rästa with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". She previously attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song ...

, Maria-Elena Kyriakou & Stephanie Topalian)iTunes: "The Otherside"
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Television

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyriakou, Maria Elena 1984 births Living people 21st-century Cypriot women singers

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

People from Larnaca District Greek Cypriots Minos EMI artists University of Cyprus alumni Modern Greek-language singers of Cyprus Eurovision Song Contest entrants