Despina Olympiou Cypriot Singer Born 1975 in Limassol

Early life

Despina Olympiou, who also performs as Dena Olympiou, was born on 17 October 1975 in Limassol, Cyprus, and grew up there. She took her first steps in music on the island before moving to London, where she studied piano and music theory at Trinity College.

Career

Olympiou began singing professionally in 1992. A year later she relocated to Athens, where she worked with the singer Yiannis Parios and, over the following years, with a number of established Greek artists, among them Haris Alexiou, Michalis Hatzigiannis, Dimitris Mitropanos, Mimis Plessas, Pandelis Thalassinos and Marios Tokas. Early recordings include guest appearances on albums by other performers, and her first solo album, Ton Mation Sou I Kalimera, came out in 2000 with songs by Thalassinos and other composers.

In 2002 she signed with Universal Greece. She began a long creative partnership with Hatzigiannis in June 2003 with the CD single Vale Mousiki, which featured the duet "Na 'soun allios" and reached platinum status a year later. Her second album, Exoume Logo, followed in 2004. In 2005 she released Auto ine Agapi, which contained twelve songs by the writing team Giorgos and Alexandros Pantelia, with one by Lina Dimopoulou; "Kapote" was its first single.

In spring 2007 she issued the single Pes to Dinata, which did well in both Greece and Cyprus. The album Mazi Xorista appeared the same year with lyrics by Eleana Vrachali and Nikos Moraitis, and a gold-certified reissue came out in 2008. That edition includes her duet with Hatzigiannis, "O Paradisos (Den Ftiahtike Gia Mas)". Her album Mia stigmi, written largely by Hatzigiannis, was released around 2010 and reached gold status in Cyprus; its tracks include "Pano stin agapi", "Adynamia" and "Mi m'agapas".

In 2012 she recorded the single "Den s' afino apo ta matia mou" with the rapper Stereo Mike, a release that was well received in Cyprus and Greece and was her first major project without Hatzigiannis. Her singles since then include "Stathera" and "An Voulitho Na S' Arnitho" in 2014, "Harisma Sou" and "Girna Se Mena" in 2016, "Panta Erhete I Avgi" and "Opou Mas Paei I Kardia" in 2017, "Mi Skeftis Xana" in 2020 and "Apousia" in 2021.

In February 2013 the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation announced that she had been chosen internally to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden. Her entry, the Greek-language song "An me thimasai", was presented on 14 February, and English and Spanish versions were prepared for promotion. She performed in the first semi-final on 14 May 2013 and finished fifteenth with eleven points, which was not enough to reach the final.

Recognition

At the 2008 MAD Video Music Awards, Olympiou won Best Duet for "O Paradisos", the song she recorded with Hatzigiannis. Her album Mazi Xorista reached gold certification on its 2008 reissue, and Mia stigmi reached gold in Cyprus.

Personal life

Olympiou has been in a relationship with the Greek entrepreneur Panos Doukas since 2012, and the couple have a son, who was born in 2017. She had earlier been in a relationship with Hatzigiannis, from 2003 until April 2009.