"Opa Opa" is a song by Greek singer

Notis Sfakianakis Panagiotis "Notis" Sfakianakis ( el, Νότης Σφακιανάκης; born 2 November 1959) is a Greek singer of folk music, and is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time in Greece and Cyprus. Sfakianakis began his career i ...

, released as a single from his second album ''Ise Ena Pistoli'' in 1992. Opa Opa is a

laïko Laïko or laïkó ( el, λαϊκό �ραγούδιlaïkó 'tragoúdi'' ; “ongof the people", "popular ong, pl: ''laïká'' 'tragoúdia'' is a Greek music genre composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek peopl ...

dance song and was written and produced by singer

Giorgos Alkaios Giorgos Alkaios (Greek: Γιώργος Αλκαίος; born 24 December 1971) is a Greek recording artist. His career began in 1989 after appearing on a Greek reality show. Following a brief period of stage acting, Alkaios dedicated himself to m ...

in 1999. The song has been covered by a number of artists, taking it to further success abroad. In 1999, Swedish-Greek duo

Antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

covered it as their debut single with

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

elements, reaching the top ten across Scandinavia.

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 ...

recorded an English-language cover, which reached the top 20 of several markets in Europe and North America.

Cover versions

Antique cover

Greek-Swedish

eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

duo

covered the song and released it in July 1999 as the lead single from their debut album, ''

Mera Me Ti Mera ''Mera Me Ti Mera'' (Greek: ''Μέρα με τη μέρα''; en, Day by Day) or ''Opa Opa'' (in Scandinavia) is the debut album by Greek musical group Antique. The album was released in 1999 by V2 Records in Greece, and by Bonnier Music in Scan ...

''. Their version reached the top ten in Denmark, Norway, Romania, and Sweden.

Track listing

# "Opa Opa" (radio edit) - 3:36 # "Opa Opa" (extended mix) - 5:07 # "Rhythmos" - 5:03

Music video

The music video was directed by Fred Wood and takes place in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. A second video was also released.

Release history

Charts and certifications

"Opa Opa" fared well in the charts and was Bonnier Amigo's first international hit release in 2000. It entered the Swedish charts on July 15, 1999 and remained for 16 weeks, peaking at number 5. The song entered the Norwegian charts where it peaked at nine staying charting for eight weeks. "Opa Opa" also charted in Switzerland where it peaked at number 51, charting for five weeks.

Despina Vandi cover

With the success of her album ''

Gia ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth M ...

'' (2001) in Greece and neighbouring markets, Vandi embarked on a career abroad with remixes and English versions of her past songs, most notably "

", which entered the charts of several countries worldwide. She followed with " Come Along Now", from the album of the same name while "Opa Opa" was used as the second single from both aforementioned album and the international edition of ''Gia''. For its release, the lyrics were rewritten in English and dance-pop elements were added into the Greek arrangement. Vandi's version has achieved the most success abroad, managing to reach the top ten and top twenty in several European markets.

Music video

The music video was directed by Kostas Kapetanidis. The video is shot over six scenes, with Vandi changing outfits a total of seven times. The video begins with a flash of Vandi's logo, while she can be faintly seen in a red bikini through translucent glass of a sauna; the same shot was used to create the cover of the single. The video returns to this scene numerous times throughout, sometimes with other females appearing in the shot and sometimes with Vandi and a male. It also features Vandi and friends sitting around and later dancing at a club, and on a boat, while there are a further two scenes of Vandi singing alone in front of a background, one of which she appears on top of a motorcycle. During the climax of the song, Vandi punches through glass with her bare fist.

Track listing

# "Opa Opa" (Bass Bumpers video edit) # "Opa Opa" (Bigworld radio mix) # "Opa Opa" (Chippe mix) # "Opa Opa" (Milk & Sugar radio mix) # "Opa Opa" (Milk & Sugar vocal club mix) # "Opa Opa" (Bass Bumpers club mix) # "Opa Opa" (Armand Van Helden dub) # "Opa Opa" (Video)

Release history

Charts

=Weekly charts

=Year-end charts

References

{{Despina Vandi 1992 songs 1999 singles 2004 singles English-language Greek songs Greek-language songs Notis Sfakianakis songs Antique (band) songs Despina Vandi songs Music videos directed by Kostas Kapetanidis Songs written by Phoebus (songwriter) Number-one singles in Greece Ultra Music singles tr:Opa Opa