Elli Kokkinou

At 53 years old, Elli Kokkinou has this physical status:

Elli Kokkinou (born July 24, 1970) is a Greek singer who was born in Athens, Greece.

Kokkinou is among the most popular singers in Greece today.

She has performed together with Greek music stars such as Anna Vissi, Glykeria, Paschalis Terzis, Sakis Rouvas, Tolis Voskopoulos, Thanos Petrelis, Natassa Theodoridou, Despina Vandi, Giorgos Tsalikis and Kalomoira.

Kokkinou has been certified for the sales of 135 thousand albums by IFPI Greece.

On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Kokkinou the 27th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).

Personal life

In the 1990s, Elli Kokkinou had a relationship with fellow singer Dionisis Schinas. Later, in 2000, she began dating her business manager, Panayiotis Vassiliadis, and in September 2007 the two married. She became a stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. In December 2007, she revealed that she was pregnant with her first child after much media scrutiny. In May 2008 Kokkinou gave birth to a boy. After much speculation and no public joint appearance of the two in six month, Kokkinou and her son moved to a new house in March 2010 with the couple announcing their divorce shortly after. From September 2010 to Summer 2017, was dating Greek basketball player Georgios Bogris. Kokkinou has hails from the village Epitalio.

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Career

Elli Kokkinou grew up in a family with a passion for music. Elli began early in life and was also a member of the dance group at her kindergarten. Her father encouraged her to listen to jazz, mainly jazz, while her mother encouraged her to listen to more mainstream music, such as disco. She began ballet at age five, while at home, she performed and danced for her parents at night. She soon began classical guitar lessons at the Attiko Conservatory, followed by a three-year absence in acoustic and electric guitar lessons. Kokkinou was also interested in sports, and six years ago, she was on a water ski team before she left school. On the team, she won third place in a pan-Hellenic championship as well as several gold medals. Following her graduation, Kokkinou formed "Anonimi" (Anonymous). At the same time, she completed exams and was accepted to the school Valianto, where she studied graphic, free and architectural drawing, and art history.

Elli Kokkinou first worked with music in 1990, with the help of the famous Kostas Tournas. Kokkinou worked with many well-known celebrities in the sport, including Antonis Vardis, Tolis Voskopoulos, Anna Vissi, Pashalis Terzis, Glykeria, Eleni Dimou, and others soon after. At the same time, Kokkinou also provided support for a number of artists' albums.

Elli Kokkinou moved to Los Angeles, California, where she studied voice and piano at the Musicians Institute of Technology for two years. Susan Voaghn's move to the United States afforded her the opportunity to be taught by well-known names in the music industry, including Carl Schroeder, pianist for Sarah Voaghn and Scott Henderson. In 1994, she graduated and returned to Greece.

Elli Kokkinou signed a Sony Music Greece contract in 1996, and in 1998 she released Kapia Mera, a first CD single (Someday). Antonis Vardis produced Antonis Vardis, with lyrics by Manou Tsilimidis and Gioula Gerorgiou.

Elli Kokkinou's debut album titled Epikindyna Paihnidia (Dangerous games) was released in 1999. Andriki Kolonia, her second album, was released in 2000 (Male cologne). "Pao Pao" was the album's first hit single.

She signed with Heaven Music in 2002 and began performing with renowned songwriter Phoebus the following year. She released the album Sto Kokkino (In red) in May 2003, one of the year's most popular launches, receiving double platinum status. Within two months, the album's first platinum award was achieved, and it was also a huge success in neighboring Turkey. In the song "To Gucci Ton Masai," Kokkinou appeared with Giorgos Mazonakis, which made it to the Greek top ten. Following the success of Sto Kokkino, her former label Sony Music, her new brand Sony Music, released (I'm surrendering). Sto Kokkino's platinum release was repackaged in 2004 as Sto Kokkino Platinum Edition, which included a duet with Giorgos Tsalikis and a DVD. The four new songs became instant hits, while the re-release helped raise the bar code to 2nd place.

Elli Kokkinou was named "Best New International Artist" by the "Union of Journalists of Turkey" (MGD) on April 14, 2005, as her Sto Kokkino songs became big hits in Turkey.

Elli Kokkinou returned to Australia in 2005 and began recording songs for her forthcoming studio album with Phivos following a string of performances with Christos Dantis. Kokkinou's fourth studio album, SEX, was certified gold on the day of its debut on November 10, 2005. Ki' Allo Platinum Edition (More) arrived on platinum status shortly and was repackaged on November 13, 2006. Ki' Al'lo launched 4 new songs and a bonus DVD, including a duet with Thanos Petrelis and a French-language translation of the single "SEX" first performed at the "MAD Music Video Awards" in 2006. Kokkinou played with Petrelis at club "Apollon" during the winter season 2006–2007.

Elli revealed on her official website on April 1, 2007, that she had left Heaven Music and Phoebus, saying she would like more creative input as one of her reasons. Heaven Music had also begged her to resign, which she refused to do. Elli declared in July 2007 that she had signed with her original label Sony BMG Greece after a few months without a name.

She made her debut in September 2007 with Nikos Kourkoulis and Natassa Theodoridou at club "Votanikos." Eilikrina, Sheryl's fifth studio album, was released in November 2007. The album debuted at number 2 on the Greek IFPI charts, while her lead single "Lypamai Eilikrina" debuted at number 2 on the Nielsen's Greece Radio Airplay Chart, peaking at number two on the Nielsen's Greece Radio Airplay Chart. The album was soon certified gold. Sarbel replaced her after she stopped singing at Votanikos club due to her pregnancy.

Kokkinou released "Mi Ta Paratas" with music by Dimitris Kontopoulos in November 2008, the title track to the Greek film "O Ilias Tou 16ou" in Greece. "Demenes" for Barbie's "I Barbie Kai To Diamantenio Kastro" was also recorded on her official Myspace page, releasing the song on her official Myspace page.

Alexandra Zakka produced "Pame Ksana" (Let's go again), a digital single released by Dimitris Kontopoulos with lyrics by Alexandra Zakka in late March 2009. Elli started performing in June 2009, marking the first time in a year she had been back on stage. In October 2009, Kokkinou began a North American tour, playing in cities in the United States and Canada. It was the most profitable tour by a female Greek singer in North America since 2004.

On December 11, 2009, Kokkinou signed Phoebus's latest record label, The Spicy Effect, on the same day that Nino signed his. Kokkinou will also collaborate with Phoebus on her forthcoming album as a result. Kokkinou announced at the signing that the first single from her forthcoming album, Phoebus's debuting in January, will be released in January. "Ontos" (Indeed), a digital single released by Kokkinou on January 22, 2010, which featured rapper Ypochthonios. In March 2010, Kokkinou released another digital single called "Apohoro" (I'm leaving) and a remix followed, while a remix came later.

Despina Vandi and Kokkinou started a summer tour around Greece and Cyprus on July 23rd. Kokkinou will be competing with Valiant Karras at club FIX in Thessaloniki in the winter season, starting on October 22, 2010. Phoebus, a songwriter, has written them a duet titled "Den Tin Palevo," which premiered on October 12, 2010. In November 2010, her latest album is scheduled to be out.

Elli Kokkinou, a judge on season 2 of reality singing competition Greek Idol, which began in February 2011, will embarked on a joint North American tour with Despina Vandi and Kosta Karafotis on October 26th. On December 9, 2011, she released Ta Genethlia Mou (My Birthday), her first since 2007's Eilikrina, and her first on The Spicy Effect. The album was released as a Deluxe Digipak, with a booklet and fifteen songs in total. In March 2012, the album was rated platinum. Kokkinou appeared on the album for the 2011-2012 winter season, as a result of the singers Despina Vandi and Nikos Oikonomopoulos' concert series at club Fever. Following the concert series, Kokkinou continued to perform with Oikonomopoulos in Thessaloniki, where he appeared with "Thea" from August to October 2012.

Happy Faces opened in May 2012 in an Athens suburb of Glyfada. When asked why she decided to start a nursery school, she said it came about a year and a half before she was reading the book "Bondo in Kindergarten" to her son Alexander about a little bear that attended nursery school. Kokkinou elaborates on the nursery school's official website that she wished to create a space that felt more like home than a school.

At the Balkan Music Awards in September 2012, Kokkinou's song "Eroteftika" was voted "Best Song in the Balkans from Greece for 2011" after more than 160,000 votes from around the world. Elli released "Kardia Apo Giali" (Heart of Glass) on October 15, 2012. Within the first week of being released, the song debuted on over 20 radio stations in Greece, and YouTube saw over 75,000 viewers in the first week.

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