Maria Elena Kyriakou ( el, Μαρία Έλενα Κυριάκου, ; born 11 January 1984) is a

Greek-Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

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 Vandi - ΣΤΑ 'ΔΩΣΑ ΟΛΑΑ ( el, Δέσποινα Βανδή, ), born as Despina Malea () on 22 July 1969, is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six ye ...

. 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 ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 14 ...

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

Kyriacos Pavlou Kyriakos Pavlou ( gr, Κυριάκος Παύλου; 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 nicknam ...

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 ins ...

. Years later, she studied philosophy at the

University of Ioannina The University of Ioannina (UoI; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, ''Panepistimio Ioanninon'') is a university located 5 km southwest of Ioannina, Greece. The university was founded in 1964, as a charter of the Aristotle Un ...

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: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου) is a public research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It admitted its first students in 1992 and has approximately 7000 students. History The University of Cyprus wa ...

. 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 Al ...

'' 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 Because of You may refer to: Music Albums * ''Because of You'' (James Darren album), 2001 * ''Because of You'' (Ne-Yo album), 2007, and the title song (see below) * ''Because of You'' (Tony Bennett album), 1952, and the title song, a cover ...

" originally by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

—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 a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

" 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: Original Soundtrack Album'' (1992) by Arista Records. The song was written by David Foster and L ...

" 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" 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 English singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album ''Spirit'' (2007). It was written and originally recorded by Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder. The song was released as t ...

" for her solo performance and "

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Auditory system#Central auditory system, Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a Transm ...

" 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 software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

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 1979 song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Gary Klein. The song was recorded for Streis ...

". As she advanced to the second round along with Kosmidou and Kintatos, she performed "

", the song she performed during the blind auditions. Kyriakou won the series and a record deal with

Minos EMI Minos EMI is a 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, by producing th ...

2015: Eurovision Song Contest

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

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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 le ...

. In 2006, she married Cypriot

sports journalist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

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 ( hy, Թամար Մարտիրոսեան; born October 28, 1986), known professionally as Tamar Kaprelian, is an Armenian-American singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Kaprelian began her career in 2008, after winning a cove ...

featuring

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

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,, 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 with ...

People from Larnaca District Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Greece Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2015 Greek Cypriot people Minos EMI artists University of Cyprus alumni Modern Greek-language singers