The Greek demi-goddess - Despina Vandi

Despina Vandi is one of those singers who can't be anything other than famous. While her personal life lacks all those soaring heights and horrible lows that are the stuff of legend (and tabloid juiciness... Is that even a word? :-P), her charisma and commercial instincts make her one of the most engaging and innovative artists in Greece nowadays, and that has translated in huge sales and near-insane adoration from fans.

However, her professional life isn't devoid of all drama. From early on, everyone decided that she would be Anna Vissi's nemesis, and since then she has been trying to do her best to live up to her public's expectations. And while Anna Vissi is THE consecrated Goddess of Greek music, and La Vandi has never quite managed to substitute her in the hearts and the ears of most Greeks, the truth is that Despina has always set her sights outside Greece, and has steadily built a reputation beyond its frontiers - something that most of her contemporaries have not managed to do well.

With a powerful voice and passionate delivery, Despina has a highly mannered singing style that catches people's attention from the very beginning - it's not like she tries to convey sensuality, but there's something so raw about the way she sings that it's impossible to miss it, or to escape from it. Still, this doesn't mean that all her music is good. Her highs are pretty high, but her lows are... Well, shit. The risk that artists who always strive to be trend-setters have to take is either sounding silly at best if they fail, or crashing badly at worst. In Despina's case, when she doesn't soar, she crashes spectacularly. This makes her albums very uneven, although very interesting - she seems to have a love for all things Middle Eastern, electroclash and just about anything else you can imagine - listening to one of her records is like walking through a gallery of contemporary music from all over the world, and this makes them quite fun! If you want to buy them, go here.



Υποφέρω - Ypofero/I'm Suffering

This is by far Despina's greatest hit ever and a historical track - when it was released as a single, it became six times platinum in Greece, selling more than 200,000 copies! This is the most successful single in the story of Greek pop EVER. When you hear it, you'll be able to see why: this is beyond excellent. This is AWESOME!!!!! It starts with a few lingering piano notes that open what looks like a bizarre electronic ballad, and then builds up slowly only to explode (literally) into one of the best dance songs you'll ever hear. This is, simply put, amazing and it's my favourite song by hers, because it's SO fun to dance to, you won't believe it. Besides, the music and the lyrics are quite dark, and that makes the song all the more enjoyable for the twisted nuts among us :-D! Video.

Γειά - Geia/Hello

This is the UK Radio Edit version of her unique Greek dance epic - the original has a very long and unsettling instrumental introduction that has Despina whispering 'γύρνα' (come back) while a child repeats the title of the song from time to time - I don't want to you to have nightmares, so I've uploaded this Greenglish version instead. It's much shorter, but lets you have all the fun from second one. This is a seriously good song, and it was quite successful in clubs. The album from which it's taken is quite and experience, and you won't regret it if you buy it. Video.

Opa Opa (English version)

This is Despina's second international hit, and it's unbelievably catchy - so much so, that several singers in Greece have covered it, including Elena Paparizou when she was with Antique (more on that on a future post, yay! :-) ). It's also very cute, with a lovely chorus that will stick to you mind for days and some really great guitar instrumentation that makes the song unique - who else could have thought of something like this? Video.

Στην Αυλή Του Παραδείσου - Stin Avli Tou Pardeisou/In Heaven's Yard

This is the title track from Despina's -in my opinion- best record to date, from 2005. It's also a slow traditional song, but it's amazingly beautiful and very, very sad; which is strange, because the lyrics are happy. Needless to say, Despina shines with this type of songs. However, this is not all that the album has to offer - there are some really good pop/Arabic-style dance songs, a few amazing upbeat folksy numbers and, in the superb Special Edition you get, among other things, her wild hit Jambi plus her awful and weird techno-hip hop collaboration, Amanes! Ain't that somethin'?!?! Yeah! Video.