London Greek Radio

George Mazonakis, one of the biggest stars in Greece, is coming to London for the first time for a special show on February 28th.

The multi-platinum singer has experienced profound success throughout more than 20 years of his discography and live performances. He put himself in a continuously changing and evolving process concerning his personal style and his repertoire choices. He has always been known for his crystal clear opinion about his aesthetic directions, his sheer professionalism and the simplicity of his beliefs. It seems that is all about a singer which is hard to compromise in the stereotypical categories that already exist in the Greek music industry.

George’s temperament, unique interpretation and innovative views have changed the way of nightlife, with very successful appearances at famous nightclubs in Athens.

London-based Microtone Productions is happy to welcome George and his 10-piece band to London, for the first time in his career, for a special show at KOKO on February 28th. Tickets are available via the Ticket Web website, click here to purchase yours. Advance online tickets are £35 or you can purchase yours on the door for £40 per person.

Article written by London Greek Radio

Cyprus has confirmed that Hovig Demirdjian will be the Cypriot representative for the up-coming Eurovision Song Contest 2017 which takes place in Kiev, in Ukraine.

The Cypriot broadcasters internally selected their choice announced through a press release on Friday 21st October; He will fly the Cypriot flag at next May’s annual music event.

Hovig, 27 years-old, was born in Nicosia, a Cypriot artist of Armenian origin. He will sing a song composed by Thomas G:Son, a Swedish song-writer. He produced 2016’s Cypriot entry, co-writing the Minus One ‘Shine’ track, and qualifying well enough to the final, did pretty much alright in fact. His involvement shows ambition to impress at the competition, with his notable many credits including, Sweden’s victory of 2012 in the song contest.

The date for the release of the song has not yet been specified for listeners, which leaves Cypriot fans in eager anticipation. The LGR website will have the song on its release date in the months leading up to the competition.

Hovig is a professional singer and song-writer with 10 years under his belt. This versatile performer is handling pop to Laika and emotive ballads. Excitingly enough, for this reviewer London Greek Radio Dj, his Laiko tune ‘Ego Gia Sena’ goes in to his favourites list, on the LGR air-waves. Well, this is somehow adding a more pleasant touch, because we know the artist a little bit, from his work.

He is very well liked by the Cypriot public, his evolving fan-base, largely beginning with his long-run on live shows of the Greek X Factor. The same year Miss Ivi Adamou was in the series, herself flying the Cypriot flag at 2012’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Hovig finally realises his long time goal pursuing his shot at Eurovision and he’s certainly had a try at it a couple of times before at the local finals. He had a song ‘Stone In A River’ finishing 4th, at 2015’s Cypriot heat stages, likewise, his ‘Goodbye’ tune rated 3rd during 2010’s pre-selection.

This is looking very likely that third time is the charm now he’s attained his goal proper.

He feels absolutely honoured to sing for his native Cypriot land, and is very much looking forward to it.

On his Facebook page, Hovig posted, ”Nai! (Greek word for yes), that’s all I said to CyBC when they popped the Eurovision question.

”This year, I intend to work very hard, day and night, to deliver the best possible performance in Kiev.

Cyprus is a diverse, and a hot island. Diversity runs in our ideas, our people and our music.

Our small island is an oasis of awesome talented people with amazing Mediterranean temperament.”

He concluded, ”Eurovision is happening guys and it’s going to be fun. Let’s do this!”

The press conference held at the Nicosia’s RED, where Hovig performs a lot, was made up of the Cypriot delegation’s Evi Papamichael and Kleitos Kleitou both expressed their hopes and confidence about our Cypriot chances in the song contest.

Hovig thanked them for selecting him as the artist and promised he will do his absolute best at the sing-off event. He thinks Cypriot talent is immense, he puts it, it’s a small nation but it’s really huge talent-wise, if you take in to account the extent of so many talented individuals.

Hovig will be certainly looking to equal the island’s solid qualifying record lately, following Minus One and John Karayiannis the year before, acts which made it to the final outright.

He will do whatever it takes to get to the final, Hovig, emphatically put it. This task is very likely to be very tough for sure, and will need lots of hard-work to make sure he passes to the last round, he’s very focused to knuckle down to achieve this, he points out.

Gson said he felt privileged, and honoured, to be writing his second Cypriot song in two years.

Meanwhile, CyBc CEO Thanasis Tsokos gives us a little quote by saying, ”Eurovision surely exists in the Cypriot nation’s DNA…” He’s of the opinion Cyprus’ participation is vitally relevant to encouraging, and promoting young Cypriot talent. It pays off economically and other ways, to being part of such a big thing. To which, he added, for a small state, like we have with the Cypriot state it is very important to be physically present, at these events.

He believed in Hovig’s talents and abilities and predicted he will qualify okay, adding, he forecasted rightly the same thing about Minus One, Tsokas told us.

We at London Greek Radio will be following all of the developments in the weeks to come and looking forward to have the song in our hands, where you will hear it first, and as always to happily support #teamcy and #eurovisioncy in the run-up to the contest.

The Semi-Finals will span from 9^th May 2017 to the 11^th May 2017, with the Final to take place on 13^th May 2017, where he will be hoping to stamp his authority on the rest of the Eurovision nations.

Article written by Tony Neophytou

London Greek Radio is celebrating 27 years since it went on air on November 13th 1989, transmitting to the huge community of Greek and Cypriot listeners, and not only. To put it this way, using our geeky style ‘Greek-y’ statistics to break this down…

This is the equivalent to 324 months, 1,408 weeks and 9,862 days to be exact…

We at London Greek Radio are celebrating our second anniversary in as many weeks after our last October 8th birthday in which LGR was first launched on-air in 1983, marking the beginning of a long epic phase of the UK’s only 24-7 Greek hits radio station.

The sometimes turbulent history is absolutely fascinating; during the 1980’s LGR survived a number of police raids in attempts to close the station down, forcing it to relocate premises regularly, from above a Greek delicatessen in Muswell Hill to the up-stairs of a Dj’s house in Highbury.

LGR was not like other ‘illegal’ entities it was itself a pioneer for ethnic radio for listeners, serving the Greek speakers of London. LGR’s very being was definitely innovative and persisted despite the obvious drawbacks. LGR faced may problems and hard times but persisted and look at us today!

Ms Soulla Violaris is one of our longest serving Dj’s who started in the early days gave us her personal account. During one of her live shows she was interrupted by the authorities resulting in her arrest. She was taken to magistrate’s court and ordered to pay a fine. She felt it was right to continue at whatever cost or risk and her dedication and loyalty lead her to occasionally put in 9 hour shifts. The staff and Dj’s certainly braved much adversity and went to great lengths during the 1980’s to keep London Greek Radio being heard on air.

In a very interesting book ‘London’s Pirate Pioneers‘ this explains how a year before LGR was awarded its legal licence, authorities made their largest ever raid on them.

The biggest action ever taken by the authorities against LGR came in 1988 when the police raided LGR’s offices, yet again, only this time they confiscated all paperwork related to the station. In a case at Highgate Magistrates Court in July, companies and staff associated with London Greek Radio were fined £13,900 plus £10,550 in costs and expenses.

After losing several hundred transmitters over the years, LGR was awarded the North London Community License, returning to the air on 13th November 1989. For the first three years they had to share the frequency with an African speaking station WNK who unfortunately went out of business soon after.

The licence was granted with the essential help of tens of thousands of people who signed petitions demanding the legitimacy of LGR. The public’s voice made it clear that there was a void and vital space to fulfil for the Greek Cypriot’s long, robust community in the UK.

The station’s iconic status is truly still relevant and very popular today, and the LGR family continues to grow and expand with talented radio hosts and DJ’s entertaining our community with Greek songs for every genre, that the Greeks are known to have in absolute abundance.

Given the huge advances in technology, LGR is live on 103.3 FM and can be found on DAB in Birmingham and Manchester adding many thousands of extra listeners every month. It can be downloaded from the App store and the Play store. Our vast audience is not only Greek speaking listeners but also English, Jewish, Albanian, Arab, Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian and so many more who are constantly tuned in.

It’s very exhilarating to know, LGR has by far the biggest downloads to on Tune In with listener statistics via our LGR App outweighing the other Cypriot radio stations based in Cyprus on the basis of the numbers. According to the current statistics, LGR is officially No.1 downloads on #TuneIn when comparing to the equivalent Cypriot stations…

This fact about London Greek Radio is a fact to be proud of.

Happy Birthday LGR! May you live to be 100 and continue your hard-work; delivering informative and entertaining formats to your listeners.

Article written by Tony Neophytou

 

Join us on Friday 9th December 2016 for our Christmas Countdown Party @ Club Azure in Enfield.

♫ ♪

Our DJs Andreas Demetriou & DJ Sooty will be on the decks! They will be mixing non-stop Greek & English hits, all night long. Fusing all the best Modern Laika, Greek Club, Greek Classics, English club anthems, RnB & Garage.

♫ ♪

Doors open at 9pm and we’ll keep you dancing till 3am. For table reservations call Club Azure on 07789 488470.

♫ ♪

Book your tickets NOW!

[Strictly over 18s. NO ID, NO ENTRY, NO TRAINERS].

Sell tickets online: Skiddle Promotion Centre

Article written by London Greek Radio

Hear the songs of the LEGENDS Grigoris Bithikotsis, Yiannis Parios and Stratos Dionysiou sung by their own sons at this exclusive event produced by Prive Productions! Enjoy an evening with the songs and music that form the pillars of Greek music and entertainment today. Join us to sing, dance, drink and celebrate the epic all-time classics that have been sung by these three legends, brought to you by their own flesh and blood – its the next best thing to seeing the legends live – which alas can now never happen. DON’T MISS THIS!

FRIDAY 4th NOVEMBER

Article written by

London Greek Radio is celebrating 33 years since first taking to the air on October 8th 1983, transmitting to the very huge community of Greek and Cypriot listeners, and not only. The sometimes turbulent history is absolutely fascinating; during the 1980’s LGR survived a number of police raids in attempts to close the station down, forcing it to relocate premises regularly, from above a Greek delicatessen in Muswell Hill to the up-stairs of a Dj’s house in Highbury.

LGR was not like other ‘illegal’ entities it was itself a pioneer for ethnic radio for listeners, serving the Greek speakers of London. LGR’s very being was definitely innovative and persisted despite the obvious drawbacks. LGR faced may problems and hard times but persisted and look at us today!

Ms Soulla Violaris is one of our longest serving Dj’s who started in the early days gave us her personal account. During one of her live shows she was interrupted by the authorities resulting in her arrest. She was taken to magistrate’s court and ordered to pay a fine. She felt it was right to continue at whatever cost or risk and her dedication and loyalty lead her to occasionally put in 9 hour shifts. The staff and Dj’s certainly braved much adversity and went to great lengths during the 1980’s to keep London Greek Radio being heard on air.

In a very interesting book ‘London’s Pirate Pioneers‘ this explains how a year before LGR was awarded its legal licence, authorities made their largest ever raid on them.

The biggest action ever taken by the authorities against LGR came in 1988 when the police raided LGR’s offices, yet again, only this time they confiscated all paperwork related to the station. In a case at Highgate Magistrates Court in July, companies and staff associated with London Greek Radio were fined £13,900 plus £10,550 in costs and expenses.

After losing several hundred transmitters over the years, LGR was awarded the North London Community License, returning to the air on 13th November 1989. For the first three years they had to share the frequency with an African speaking station WNK who unfortunately went out of business soon after.

The licence was granted with the essential help of tens of thousands of people who signed petitions demanding the legitimacy of LGR. The public’s voice made it clear that there was a void and vital space to fulfil for the Greek Cypriot’s long, robust community in the UK.

The station’s iconic status is truly still relevant and very popular today, and the LGR family continues to grow and expand with talented radio hosts and DJ’s entertaining our community with Greek songs for every genre, that the Greeks are known to have in absolute abundance.

Given the huge advances in technology, LGR is live on 103.3 FM and can be found on DAB in Birmingham and Manchester adding many thousands of extra listeners every month. It can be downloaded from the App store and the Play store. Our vast audience is not only Greek speaking listeners but also  English, Jewish, Albanian, Arab, Bulgarian, Turkish and Russian and so many more who are constantly tuned in.

It’s very exhilarating to know, LGR has by far the biggest downloads to on TuneIn with listener statistics via our LGR App outweighing the other Cypriot radio stations based in Cyprus on the basis of the numbers. According to the current statistics, LGR is officially No.1 downloads on #TuneIn when comparing to the equivalent Cypriot stations…

This fact about London Greek Radio is a fact to be proud of.

Happy Birthday LGR! May you live to be 100 and continue your hard-work; delivering informative and entertaining formats to your listeners.

Article written by Tony Neophytou

Michael Georgiou leaves the ‘Great British Bake Off‘ but not before giving us a very Cypriot baking twist to this year’s popular television programme on BBC1 on Wednesday night.

The 20-year-old British Cypriot, who studies politics and economics at Durham University, was born to Cypriot parents in London. His grandparents from his father’s side come from Leonarisso, Koma tou Yiallou and from his mother’s side from Kellaki in Limassol.

The very likeable contestant has every reason to be proud since he had beaten off 12,000 applicants who applied to be in front of our shows on the weekly show.

The first show aired on August 24th was when we met Michael in this year’s line-up of 12 amateur bakers.

He baked and smiled throughout, clearly very pleased to be part of the very exciting, completely competitive, but extremely good spirited format.

He wrote on his twitter account moments after he left the show:

Thank you for the kind messages. Was an incredible experience and loved every moment of it #GBBO

Michael told viewers, ”The bake I went on meant a lot to me, it was quite sad I went on that… I’m going to be letting my mum know first, she’s been the one with me since the start, she’s still going to be proud of me, happy I got this far.”

Michael gave us a Cypriot treat by way of ‘Michael’s Cypriot Dove and Olive Branch Plaited Loaf with Houmous’ in the bread challenge, and we even got to see a Cypriot flag! Really making the point he is definitely Cypriot and is proud of his roots.

However it was Judge Paul Hollywood that was a little less keen on what he perceived as not enough use of coriander, in what is primarily an olive, coriander and onion based loaf.

Michael’s little alcohol enticement to get the judges on side gave us a stand-out moment in the series so far, very LOL!

Well, if you haven’t seen it yet, judge Hollywood literally spluttered after trying a shot of strong Cypriot liquor Zivania and he might not be trying it again any time… soon…

Hollywood gave the departing baker some strong words of encouragement.

”I would like to see Michael carry on doing what he’s doing, he’s a great baker actually, and he’s a nice lad as well.”

We wish Michael all the very best and definitely don’t stop baking…

Article written by Tony Neophytou

The new series of BBC One’s the Great British Bake Off aired on August 24th, with a young British Cypriot in this year’s line-up of 12 amateur bakers, he is Michael Georgiou.

The 20-year-old UK Cypriot, who studies politics and economics at Durham University, was born to Cypriot parents in London. His grandparents from his father’s side come from Leonarisso, Koma tou Yiallou and from his mother’s side from Kellaki in Limassol.

In the first show he rolled up his sleeves clearly aiming to rise to the top of his class, by impressing his slightly edgier culinary skills.

Straight after the first show was broadcast Michael had taken to twitter to write: ‘Wow that was amazing! Now to next week! Thanks for the support everyone.’

Michael was given the task to bake Jaffa cakes making an incredibly positive start by finishing 3rd place, in his first baking task in the series.

‘These have a nice shine, nice batch and very even’ judge Mary Berry had said.

Next was the first Show-stopper challenge, to come up with a mirror glaze cake, and we was presented by Michael’s Tea Chocolate glaze. Here Mary didn’t seem particularly hooked by the strong flavours (we think it was the ingredient of Mastichi… here…!!) we Cypriots on the other hand absolutely adore our flavours… but never mind that… it was clearly, a very solid start by Michael who clearly, seems to be embracing every single moment he is on…

Article written by Tony Neophytou

On Sunday 17th July, fighter Giannis Skordilis, also known as GREEKBOY, will be fighting Alex Bublea in an intense kickboxing match the 02 Arena.

When speaking about the event, Giannis was keen to discuss his Greek background: “I am very proud of the fact that I get to represent the great country that is Greece in every way shape and form possible with respect, honour and strength in and outside the ring.”

During his Amateur fight career Giannis competed in more than 25 fights at national Greek level in which (5 years in a row) he won 1st place.

Since then Giannis left Greece and now trains at Storm Gym in Luton, the home of multiple world champion Andrew King Cobra Tate.

With the help of Chief Instructor Master Amir Subasic, Giannis won his first amateur fight which he says changed his life for ever.

Giannis recalls these years: “Of course many believe Greekboy happened over night but that was not my first fight name lol… it was feta cheese!”

He continues to talk about the start of his career: “On the 16th May 2015 I had my first professional fight in the UK on the biggest show in the country in the last at least 10 years or so and that at the prestigious Wembley Arena and SuperFight Series Championships. I won against a very talented Polish fighter in an amazing display of new skills that I learned at Storm Gym”.

Giannis has since continued his impressive career and between October 2015 to June 2016 he won another British Greek National Title and two European Titles at two different weight divisions. Giannis next outing will be at the 02 Indigo Arena on Sunday 17th of July. For tickets click here.

Article written by London Greek Radio

Pantelis Pandelidis passed away on the morning of Thursday 18th February following a fatal car accident. The 32-year-old singer lost control of his vehicle while driving on Vouliagmenis avenue in the area of Elliniko, Southern Athens.

Pantelis was driving a Jeep at high speed and crashed against some car barriers. There were two other passengers in the car with him and it was reported by the police that Pantelidis and the 30-year-old sitting next to him were not wearing seat belts however the young woman, 21, at the back was wearing one. The singer was rushed to hospital but it was too late; the two women he was with are both in critical conditions. A traffic police officer said, “Even a seat belt would not have rescued him, he was fatally injured by a piece of the crash barriers that had penetrated the Jeep”.

The beloved, self-taught singer and songwriter was buried on Saturday 20th February where tens of thousands of mourners including family, friends, fans and other singers attended.

The funeral service took place at Agios Spyridonas church in Nea Ionia. There was a band present playing Pantelidis’ songs and hundreds of flowers were brought for the young singer; so many in fact that they had to be loaded into three trucks. The singer was buried in Athens’ cemetery of the Transfiguration.

The coffin was covered with a Greek flag as he served as an officer in the Greek Navy for 10 years before perusing his career in music which launched him into fame in 2012.

An estimated 20,000 people attended the funeral.

Article written by Chantel Georgiou