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BIOGRAPHY

Michalis Hatzigiannis
	BIOGRAPHY | GALLERY | GOSSIP

Michalis Hatzigiannis, born in 1971 in Nicosia, is a very popular singer from Cyprus, who has earned admiration both by the reviews and the public, not just for his voice, but also for his music choices.

Michalis is a graduate of the Cyprus Music Academy, Royal College of London with a degree in piano, guitar and music theory.

At a very young age he started his career in Cyprus with three records that all went platinum. In May of 1998, he represented Cyprus in the Eurovision song contest. He had an excellent performance with an interpretation of an original composition, ‘Genesis’.

Later in Athens, he collaborated with the composer Yiorgos Hadjinassios and the lyricist/poet Michalis Bourboulis to create the album ‘Agigma Psychis’ (Touch of Soul), released in December 1998, which quickly went platinum and included music and songs for the TV series of the same name. The two stand out songs on the album being ‘Agigma Psychis’ and ‘To Soma pou Zitas’ (The Body You seek).

In March of 2000 he released his first solo album with the title ‘Paraxeni Giorti’ (Strange Celebration). Important composers and lyricists contributed to the making of this album, which was to produce some of the biggest hits of that year. The song ‘Mono Sta Oneira’ (Only in Dreams) stayed at No 1 on Greek radio with airplay running several weeks, with two other songs from the same album, ‘Paraxeni Giorti’ and ‘Kai tha Chatho’ (I’ll disappear), had similar success.

The album went double platinum and became a career landmark for the young singer-songwriter on the Greek music scene. In November the same year, he began his live shows in Athens with great success. Early in 2001 he released the CD single ‘Den Echo Chrono’ (I Have No Time, lyrics by Mariannina Kriezi, and music by M. Hatzigiannis), quickly reaching the top of the charts, going platinum. Later, the same year, he appeared in a successful live performance with renowned Greek singer Haroula Alexiou and toured Greece for the first time that summer. In the spring of 2002 he released his second solo album ‘Kryfo Fili’ (Secret Kiss), which has since reached triple-platinum. Michalis composed most of the songs himself, with lyrics written by Eleni Zioga, Eleana Vrachali, Mariannina Kriezi and others.

The album contains a series of hits including ‘Eisai Edo’ (You Are Here) ‘To S’ Agapo’ (I Love You), ‘Choris Anapnoi’ (Breathless), ‘I Ekdromi’ (Excursion), ‘Kapnos’ (Smoke) and others. This album, which confirms Michalis creative talent, established him as a successful singer-songwriter and a promising performer in the Greek music scene. In the summer of 2002 he toured Greece again, sharing stage with Greek singing great Demetra Galani. In 2003 he released ‘Monos Mou’ (All Alone) and toured throughout Greece appearing in 63 sold out shows. In the winter of 2004, he continued his season of successful live performances in Athens and Saloniki.

In April 2004, he released his third, much awaited, solo record, ‘Akatalili Skini’, boosting his career and popularity even further. Michalis represented Cyprus at the official ceremony in Warsaw in April 2004, marking the accession of 10 new countries to the EU and participated in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games He spent the winter of 2004-2005 in Iera Odos with Paschalis Terzis in the most successful programme of the year, remaining there until April and from there going to Thessaloniki. Michalis received 3 awards in the official Greek Music Awards in 2002, 4 in 2003, and 5 in 2005, including the award for the Best Male Performer of the Year.

In April 2005, the Greek national Music Awards, Arion, awarded Michalis, the Cypriot representative of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998, with five Arion Awards including, Album of the Year, Pop Album of the Year (both for his album Akatalili skini), Best Pop Male Singer of the Year, Best Artistic Male Singer of the Year and Best Pop Song for Gia ‘sena.