8-month-old baby British Cypriot Saylor needs your help.
This is an urgent appeal to save Saylor an 8-month-old baby girl, with a Greek Cypriot grandfather. Saylor has been diagnosed with a very rare type of leukaemia called JMMl affecting only 1 in a million children. Her only hope is a stem cell transplant, we are desperately appealing to people aged 17 to 55 from the Greek Cypriot community and beyond to become a donor.
All it takes is a cheek swab which is simple and painless. Please register on-line today and order your swab kit at dkms.org.uk, you could be the match to save Saylor.
Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer – those that affect the body’s bone marrow, blood or lymphatic system – such as leukaemia, myelome or lymphona. Yet, just 2% of the UK population is registered as potential blood stem cell donors. People from Cypriot, Greek and mixed ethnicity backgrounds are under-represented as donors.
Diversifying the register is extremely important to people from our community.
dkms.org.uk or scan the QR Code to register today.
Article written by London Greek Radio
Helena Paparizou will announce Greece’s 12 points!
Greece’s Eurovision winner Helena Paparizou will be the spokesperson announcing the Greek jury’s 12 points on Saturday night at the Eurovision Song Contest Finale live at Malmö Arena.
Helena appeared on Thursday nights second semi-final and wowed the arena with a live rendition of “My Number One” during the sing-along medley. We admit to feeling teary eyed with the victorious Eurovision song still sounding as fresh and exciting as ever.
Born and raised in Sweden, Paparizou commanded the stage with her solo act, busting a few Greek dance steps and yelling “Opa!” to the crowd’s delight.
The interval act also featured former Eurovision winners Sertab Erener (Turkey 2004) and Charlotte Perrelli (Sweden 1999).
Greece’s Eurovision entrant Marina Satti with the ethno-banger “ZARI” (Greek word for = dice) went through on the night. Both Helena and Marina at the semis, lady luck, rolling out a couple 6’s at the Greek’s bequest.
Fun fact also, the “My Number One” co-writer is the iconic Christos Dantis, who’ll be headlining our Greekology event in July alongside former Cypriot Eurovision star Konstantinos Christoforou.
Helena has an inextricably close bond to Eurovision: in 2001 she was one-half of Antique with “Die For You”, finishing third in Copenhagen. In 2005, she won the contest in Kyiv and welcomed the world to Athens in 2006. In 2021, Paparizou participated at the “Rock The Roof” party in Rotterdam, in The Netherlands.
Helena who celebrates a 25-year milestone in the music industry, recently released the ultimate “club banger of 2024”. The single “Mavra Gialia” is now on the LGR playlist and fast-tracked to become a mega hit this summer.
She is also soon set to release her eleventh-studio album later this year, mixing pop, dance-floor-rhythms, R&B and the ethnic motif.
Pic (credit): Tryfonas Nakis
Marina Satti unleashes infectious vibes with “ZARI”, Greece’s 2024 Eurovision Entry
Article written by Tony Neophytou
“The Greek instrument of the zournas standing out in the mix. It makes “ZARI” powerful and exciting”.
As Eurovision excitement heats up, Marina Satti’s “ZARI” (Greek word for = dice) is set to take the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Sweden at the Malmö Arena.
Satti will perform in the second semi-final tonight batting for a place at the final on Saturday.
The Eurovision hit song “ZARI” mixes traditional Greek melodies with a modern template. The up-tempo Greek banger feels current and on-trend with Greek music and local charts. It is a unique and original song with a mix of avant-garde and mainstream sounds. It blends ethno-pop with pop-laika, tsifeteli and hip-hop which is very modern and current.
The Greek delegation at Eurovision is setting out to rejuvenate the nation’s fortunes with this entry with a hopeful top 10 finish like classic 00s and 10s’ entries: Songs that were always catchy, super-fun and felt like genuine Greek songs.
Instantly triggering recognition as a Greek song, with the tabla percussion and the zournas standing out in the mix, “ZARI” is both powerful and exciting. It is catchy, contagious and addictive, claims our Eurovision man. It is a production with a strong bassline that reverberates when the volume is turned up full notch with the Ta-Ta-Ta vibrating through the floor at the LGR studio.
Tony Neophytou LGR’s ‘Eurovision fanatic’ says, “Satti is the experimental singer-songwriter and ZARI is a weird and wonderful song. It is brimming with Satti’s personality a little on the ‘brave, bold and brilliant’ side, is the eclectic Eurovision song and not too unlike her hit song “Tucutum” from last year.”
“ZARI” has an elevated ethno female bop with the eclectic Satti style we know, distinctive as a Greek-language song with a true cultural identity, Mr Neophytou views.
“The multiple hooks and a super lush, sumptuous bass are driving a strong song, with the syncopated rhythm demanding your attention. The woah moments and the most unexpected twists and turns have a captivating feel and it’s like a smack or a hit in the gut.” Tony adds. The hook is the useful asset a Eurovision song requires to create a strong impression.
Her closest allies whittled down through 150 songs before landing on this “competitive song” that stands on its feet, as a stage and TV-alluring package. “ZARI” is a hot-take of a Eurovision-engineered song, Satti says.
It is gutsy like lady luck with a dice roll and a fresh track shaking things up. A risky song, it’s like different sides of a zari, or dice, with layers and parts each congruent to each other. This sounds much better on repeat noticing the intricate details in the song. It’s the sort of song “to marinate on all the aspects it stitches together as a studio cut, it’s like a Greek spice with seasoning and feeds our appetite” our LGR ‘man’ says.
“ZARI” mixes up-beat and melancholic vibes – the quieter parts feel introspective. A creeping bass line and subtle drums provide a backdrop for Satti’s head-voice intro that quickly builds up to a fast tumba beat with a climax that feels exhilarating.
Satti blends groovy feels and airy vocals with its crowd-pleasing song. It is mostly sung in Greek, with the “put your hands up” verse switching up with a sweet urban spot.
The studio song is a club and radio-friendly hit for sure. The staging of the performance will be elevated with unique urban visuals and aesthetics with on-point vocals.
A 30-second teaser of the Greek staging is presenting a cohesive stage concept. The long, continuous shot focusses on Satti and the dancers whilst she looks into the camera to connect with the audience. The staging is bright, well-lit with neon colour palette, graffiti graphics and the floor alternates to blue with a nod to the Greek flag. They then pull-out handkerchiefs for a routine to the syrto and kalamatianos, which feels very Greek.
The official music to “Zari” had the quick cuts through the streets of Athens to add to the up-beat vibe to this song. “I am curious at the staging for this and how it channels the infectious vibe to the stage.” Mr Neophytou adds.
Satti’s team is made up of Creative Director Fokas Evangelinos, Mecnun Giasar (Majnoon) is the choreographer, and art direction by NMR.
Satti will perform with four dancers – Huso Cetintas, Vassilis Karagiannis, Yasin AO and Eirini Damianidou. Her backing-vocalist is Erasmia Markidi.
“Zari” was composed by Satti, OGΕ, Nick Kodonas, Kay Be, Jay Stolar, Gino The Ghost, and Jordan Palmer, with lyrics penned by VLOSPA, OGΕ, Satti, and Solmeister.
The official music video had taken a rather quirky slant poking fun at the perceived stereotypes of Greek people and its aesthetics are TikTok-inspired.
“Zari” since its release has smashed stream numbers and gone super-viral. Marina is only the with second female artist ever since Eleni Foureira to top the Greek Spotify chart.
The track released on digital and streaming services hit 10.000.000 streams on Spotify, gaining double platinum one month after its release. The music video surpassed 11 million views, a record-breaking statistic for a Greek Eurovision entry.
Fun trivia also, Greece have a lucky streak at Eurovision in Malmo, with Top 5th and Top 6th finishes, i.e. Koza Mostra featuring Agathonas “Alcohol is Free” (2013), and Cleopatra “Olou Tou Kosmou I Elpida” (1995), to be exact.
Luck, be a lady at the Eurovision semi-final tonight. Satti is rolling a couple of 6’s smashes the tele-vote and qualifies. Satti performs #3 in the running order of 16.
London Greek Radio wishes Greece and Marina Satti the best of luck at the competition.
Article written by Tony Neophytou
Tonight Cyprus compete at the Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final 1, which airs at 8pm BST. The song, which will be performed by 17-year-old Australian born Cypriot-Greek rising star Silia Kapsis, will be flying the flag high at Malmö with “Liar”.
Cyprus have a couple of acts, one from 2018, namely Eleni Foureira she will sing a minute-version to “Fuego” opening the semi-finals this year. The current Cypriot act Silia will be immediately on next, song #1!
CyBC made the official announcement last September with Kapsis’ song written by Greek songwriter, composer, and producer Dimitris Kontopoulos, well-known in Eurovision circles. He also collaborates on the track with lyricist Elke Tiel.
The up-tempo Cypriot entry “Liar” is a dance-pop banger, addressing themes of misplaced trust, deception, self-worth, and truth in a world of fake news and lies.
A well-made, radio-friendly and catchy Eurovision number, it is a bombastic production with nice brass elements; the song’s intro siren captures the attention. It ebbs and flows with the punchier bass and a climatic dance break is a strong dynamic to the track.
Silia is a super-talented singer, dancer, and actress, making up a solid Eurovision entrant and will be very promising for Cyprus’ chances. The CyBC hierarchy believe that the singer is the perfect entrant for this year’s contest.
Cyprus has big ambitions for this year’s contest, bringing on board renowned choreographers Kelly Sweeney and Guy Groove including Cypriot creative Charis Savvas.
Cyprus’ official music video “Liar”, the country’s Eurovision promo for this year’s contest, was released on 29th February. Silia is the star of the music video directed by Kostas Karydas, filmed at the City of Dreams Mediterranean hotel in Limassol. It teases her strength as a skillful mover, for the much more elaborate stage routine later at the contest for this song.
The self-aware nods to Silia and her “Liar”, through lyrics “Shoulda known that you are a liar, but I looked the other way”, is coupled with a fearless look, she’s got the sass and power to live her truth.
The CyBC Eurovision page explains the concept. “In the said video… we see through the eyes of Silia Kapsis a series of oppressive situations that a fake world and the negative side of social media often impose. In the second part of the music video, we see Silia Kapsis reacting to these situations, rocking the boat and daring to live her truth while at the same time inspiring others to follow her in a celebration of liberating oneself from such lies.”
LGR’s ‘Eurovision fanatic’ Tony Neo said: “Silia is a likeable soul and a promising act. She is a youthful, exuberant, exciting, and emphatic lively dancer. She’s skillful at urban street dance which is current and now. The hints from her music video to Liar suggest she possesses the skills-set and assets which an energetic Eurovision song requires. Her stage presence and charisma which no doubt help to elevate this song. We’ve been following Silia since last year and we are excited to finally hear the song!”
Silia is simultaneously singing and dancing and her four dancers are all Danish with Theo B. Koefoed, Thomas Hegnet, Sebastian Laurentius Nielsen and Martin Daugaard. The stage concept is imagined by Guy Groove and Kelly Sweeney, while Charis Savvas is in charge of the rehearsal in Athens. Her vocal coach is Victoria Chalkitis, known to work with artists for the big occasion.
Cyprus‘s staging is of well-known Eurovision Creative Director Dan Shipman of Black Skull Creative working alongside Martin Dietmann.
“I have my fingers crossed for the song’s chances. It feels as though a visually captivating treat is on-the cards,” Mr. Neophytou says.
Cyprus competes in Semi-Final 1 at Malmö Arena on Tuesday night the 7th of May at 8pm on BBC 1. Silia performs in slot #1 in the running order of 15.
The Eurovision Final takes place on Saturday 11th May, on BBC 1 and London Greek Radio wishes Silia and Cyprus the very best of luck in the competition.
Btw, UK is tele-voting nudge, nudge, wink, wink… not that we’re hinting don’t you know 😉 🇨🇾
Follow Silia Kapsis on instagram at: @silia_kapsis.
Article written by Tony Neophytou
