Marinella (born May 20, 1938 - ) is a popular
Greek singer whose career has spanned several decades. She was born Kyriaki
Papadopoulou, in the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. She released her
first song in 1957, "Nitsa Elenitsa" (Little Helen). Her early career was marked
by her collaboration with singer Stelios Kazantzidis.Marinella was the first Greek singer to participate in the Eurovision Song
Contest of 1974, placing eleventh with the song "ligo krasi, ligi thalassa kai
to agori mou" ("A little wine, a little sea and my man"). She also performed in
several Greek musicals, both as singer and actress.Her popularity rose in the 70's and 80's, with a string of successful albums and
live shows. She developed a new standard for shows in the Greek night clubs,
introducing costumes, dancing, and special lighting effects. Many of today's
popular Greek singers (Anna Vissi, Despina Vandi etc.) have modelled their shows
on Marinella's shows of the 80's.In 1998 Marinella performed in the Megaron Music Hall of Athens, performing her
older hits to great acclaim.In 2002 she collaborated with George Dalaras. They gave concerts in Athens and
Thessaloniki as well as abroad. The tour was entitled "Mazi"(together) and the
double CD reached platinum status.In 2004, she released a brand new album with new songs by Nikos Antypas and Lina
Nikolakopoulou. In the same year she performed at the closing ceremony of the
2004 Summer Olympics.In 2005, Marinella released a new album entitled "Tipota den ginete tychea",
composed by famous Greek composer and lyricist Giorgos Theofanous. The album
reached gold status and includes duets with famous Greek singers, such as
Antonis Remos, Glykeria and Kostas Makedonas.In 2006, 2 new compilations of Marinella were officially released, the first
entitled "Sti Skini" and containing older live recordings and the second one
entitled "Ta Logia Ine Peritta - 50 Chronia Tragoudi", which is a complete 8 CDs
boxset with Marinella's greatest hits from the beginning of her career till her
collaboration with Kostas Hatzis at "Recital".Marinella returned to nightlife by performing with Antonis Remos in the winter
season 2006-2007 at Athinon Arena. It was a much anticipated show in Greece,
especially given that Marinella had not appeared in any music club for 10 years.
Her great quality of voice and the strength of her performances turned this live
show to the most succesful one for this year in Athens! Marinella is now
continuing presenting her live show at Pyli Axiou Music Hall in Thessaloniki.Even though Marinella is often considered a singer of folk songs, her range is
quite broad and has included a variety of musical styles including traditional,
laika, pop, blues, and jazz. Marinella is characterised as "The Great Lady of
Song" in Greece, where she is regarded with great respect. She rarely makes
public appearances, and her concerts are few.
