Marinella

Early years

Marinella was born in Thessaloniki in northern Greece . Her parents were Greek refugees from Constantinople . Marinella was the fourth and youngest child in the family. Everyone sang in the family, her father tried to teach the children to dance the waltz and tango.

From the age of four, Marinella sang on the radio in a children's program, and then earned her first pocket money by advertising stores in Thessaloniki. She took part in many theater performances for children, but later quit everything to finish school.

At seventeen, she entered the troupe of the theater Mary Laurent. Once the singer of the troupe fell ill, and Marinella was asked to replace her. Soon Marinella became a soloist of the troupe. Later, she joined the military theater, because the salary there was greater. At the same time, she began her career as a singer in Πανόραμα in Thessaloniki , where Tolis Harmas came up with her pseudonym Marinella , inspired by the song of the same name.

Professional career

She recorded her first song Νίτσα, Ελενίτσα in 1957 . Her early career was marked by collaboration with singer Stelios Kazandzidis . Together they managed to become the best duet in Greece, unsurpassed to this day. They performed at the Luxembourg night club in Thessaloniki, where they achieved their first success in Athens, and toured together in Germany and the United States .

They sang the songs of the best composers of that time, such as Mikis Theodorakis , Manos Hadzidakis , Vasilis Tsitsanis, Jorgos Zambetas, Apostolos Kaldaras, Todoros Derveniotis, Christos Leontis. They performed with famous performers of that time - Grigoris Bifikotsis, Sotiria Bella .

In 1974, Marinella was the first representative of Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest . She took eleventh place with the song "Κρασί, θάλασσα και το αγόρι μου". She also performed in several Greek musicals, as a singer and actress. Her popularity was growing. In the late 1960s , 1970s and 1980s , she recorded a number of successful albums and concerts. Marinella developed a new standard for shows in Greek clubs, featuring costumes, dances and special lighting effects. Many of the popular Greek singers of our time use the experience of Marinella from the show of the 80s of the twentieth century.

On July 24, 1984, the album Μεγάλες στιγμές was released; it was Marinella’s interpretation of songs by prominent artists such as Dimos Mutsis , Manos Loizos , Dionisis Savvopoulos , Manos Hadzidakis , Yannis Spanos . In the same year, she took part in the production of Margarita Zorbal's Νεράιδα.

In 1998, Marinella performs in the hall of Megaro Musiki in Athens , performing her hits with great success. Her concert at the small Olympic stadium in Athens in 1999 was a great success, more than 25,000 people attended the concert. In 2003, she collaborated with Yorgos Dalaras . They gave concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as abroad. The tour called “Mazi” (“Together”) was a huge success. The CD from these submissions has reached platinum status .

In 2004, she released the album Ήταν άμμο with new songs by Nikos Antipas and Lina Nikolakopulu . In the same year, she performed at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics , together with Dimitra Galani , Haris Aleksiu , Yannis Parios and Yorgos Dalaras .

In 2005, Marinella released a new album entitled «ποτα δεν γίνεται τυχαία (Nothing is a coincidence) ^[1] , a song written by the famous Greek composer and poet Yorgos Theofanus . The album included duets with famous Greek singers such as Antonis Remos , Glyceria , Costas Makedonas . The album reached a golden status .

In 2006, Marinella released two new albums, the first entitled “Στη σκηνή” (“On the Stage”) and including old concert recordings, and the second entitled “Τα λόγια είναι περιττά - 50 χρόνια τραγούδι” (8 CDs Boxset), in which Marinella's hits came from the very beginning of her career in collaboration with Costas Hadzis .

In the winter of 2006 , after a 10-year break, Marinella returns to performances in Athens nightclubs, every night she performs with Antonis Remos . With success, they continue to perform in Thessaloniki in 2007 . The huge success with the public forces Marinella and Remos to work together again and in 2008 at the Athens Arena club with the new program “Tango Malambo”. The program, as before, raises rave reviews, and the released double album of concert recordings by Marinella and Antonis Remos soon becomes gold ^[2] . In the winter of 2008 - 2009, Marinella performs with Yannis Parios at Diogenis Studio in Athens .

On November 11, 2011, Marinella, Natasha Theodoridou ^[3] and Panagiotis Petrakis ^[4] began their joint winter season performances at the Βοτανικι club in Athens. On February 15, 2012, the “Memories” concert was held in Heraklion on Crete with the participation of Marinella and Natasha Theodoridou ^[5] .

On February 7 and 8, 2012, Marinella performs in Nicosia in Cyprus with Kostas Karafotis ^[6] .

In 2012, Marinella returned to collaboration with the Cypriot composer Yorgos Theofanus , recording new songs in the studio with Theofanus. On April 1, 2012 (the anniversary of EOKA 1955 - 1959 ), the Theofanus song “Ξύπνα Γληόρη” in the interpretation of Marinella ^[7] sounded on all radio stations in Greece and Cyprus, and on May 8, 2012 Marinella performed on the same stage with Yorgos Theofanus in Nicosia ^[8] .

In June 2012 - a joint tour of Marinella and Natasha Theodorid across Australia: June 8 - Canberra , June 9 - Melbourne , June 10 - Sydney ^[9] .

In the summer of 2006, Marinella organizes two charity concerts at the Herod Atticus Theater , namely for the Elpida Association of Friends of Children with Cancer.

In autumn 2009 , Marinella on her own initiative takes part in two charity concerts - a tribute to Stelios Kazanzidis , September 18 at the stadium in Athens and September 23 at the stadium in Thessaloniki . The funds from the concerts were intended for the construction of a dormitory for orphans and helpless children with special needs. The concerts were attended by Jorgos Dalaras , Haris Aleksiu , Dimitris Mitropanos , Glyceria and Paschalis Terzis .

On June 9, 2012 in Melbourne , during performances in Australia , Marinella and Natasha Theodoridou were sung not only for the pleasure of the public, but also for charity, 10 dollars from each ticket went to the Agapi Care fund to care for children with special needs ^{[ 9]} .

On May 7, 1964, Marinella married Stelios Kazandzidis . They broke up in September 1966 . Marinella in 1974 for the second time married singer Tolis Voskopulos . This marriage also ended in divorce in 1981 . Marinella has a daughter, Georgina (Τζωρτζίνα Σερπιέρη) ^[10] .

• Arion 2007 - Honorary Prize for the overall contribution to Greek music ^[11] .

Since the beginning of her career, Marinella has released 66 albums. Among the albums of recent years:

• 1998 : I Marinella Tragouda Kai Thimatai
• 1999 : Me Varka To Tragoudi
• 2004 : Ammos Itane
• 2005 : Tipota Den Ginete Tihea

• Marinella songs on Yandex.Music
• Βιογραφικό | Videos | Φωτογραφίες | Νέα (Greek)
• Μαρινέλλα. Βιογραφικό. Δισκογραφία (Greek)
• Marinella - Fan Club in Pathfinder (Greek)