London Greek Radio

London Greek Radio is pleased to announce that we will be joining thousands at this year’s Cypriot Wine Festival and Business Expo on Sunday 27th and Bank Holiday Monday 28th May.

The Cypriot extravaganza is estimated to have over 12,000 people attending over the two days. Parikiaki Newspaper hosts its second year at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, a modern spacious venue where companies, organisations, Cypriot produce and Cypriot wine will be exhibiting for the event’s 36th annual outing.

The excitement is steadily building, with hashtag #CyWineFest and #CyWineFest2018 trending as the event attracts all ages and backgrounds.

This year’s headlining act is sensational singer Konstantinos Argiros in his live London debut, hitting the stage in the evening. Supporting him is one of our own, British Cypriot singer Kyriacos Georgiou, recording artist and live performer in Greece and other countries.

Adding to the dynamic schedule are talented acts, Elizabeth Chapman, performing her latest offering, ‘Irthes Esi’, along with Tony Panayi and George Nicolaou.

LGR will be present on both days at our exhibition stand where you can find us, facing the stage, near the entrance.

Come and meet your favourite radio personalities, take part in our prize draws, and we’ll also have some giveaways! We are looking forward to seeing you there. Come and say hello!

Doors open at the slightly later time of midday and close at 11.00 pm on Sunday 27th and 11:30 am to 10.00 pm on Bank Holiday Monday 28th May 2018.

The address is at Lee Valley Leisure Complex, 61 Meridian Way, N9 0AR; you can purchase your tickets directly for the evening concert seating area, by visiting cypriotwinefestival.com

See you there!

Article written by London Greek Radio

London Greek Radio is pleased to announce that we will be joining thousands at this year’s Cypriot Wine Festival and Business Expo on Sunday 27th and Bank Holiday Monday 28th May.

The Cypriot extravaganza is estimated to have over 12,000 people attending over the two days. Parikiaki Newspaper hosts its second year at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, a modern spacious venue where companies, organisations, Cypriot produce and Cypriot wine will be exhibiting for the event’s 36th annual outing.

The excitement is steadily building, with hashtag #CyWineFest and #CyWineFest2018 trending as the event attracts all ages and backgrounds.

This year’s headlining act is sensational singer Konstantinos Argiros in his live London debut, hitting the stage in the evening. Supporting him is one of our own, British Cypriot singer Kyriacos Georgiou, recording artist and live performer in Greece and other countries.

Adding to the dynamic schedule are talented acts, Elizabeth Chapman, performing her latest offering, ‘Irthes Esi’, along with Tony Panayi and George Nicolaou.

LGR will be present on both days at our exhibition stand where you can find us, facing the stage, near the entrance.

Come and meet your favourite radio personalities, take part in our prize draws, and we’ll also have some giveaways! We are looking forward to seeing you there. Come and say hello!

Doors open at the slightly later time of midday and close at 11.00 pm on Sunday 27th and 11:30 am to 10.00 pm on Bank Holiday Monday 28th May 2018.

The address is at Lee Valley Leisure Complex, 61 Meridian Way, N9 0AR; you can purchase your tickets for the evening concert seating area, by visiting cypriotwinefestival.com

See you there!

 

Article written by lgr.co.uk

LGR presents popular singing sensation, Plastikes Karekles on Tuesday, 22nd May, at The Village Greek Restaurant in New Barnet from 7 pm.

Plastikes Karekles consist of Marina Deligianni (vocals), Spiros Bolovinos (vocals, bouzouki), Pavlos Carvalho (bouzouki), Maria Tsirodimitri (guitar), Lydian Dhami (double bass)

Join us to enjoy some amazing Greek music & for a night to remember!

Tickets only £12.

Plastikes Karekles at The Village Greek Restaurant, 24 Lytton Road, New Barnet, EN5 5BY.

For more information & for tickets, call LGR on 0208 349 6950.

This event has been kindly sponsored by Andrews Shipping & Forwarding, Evalena Beach Hotel Protaras, Hellenic Gourmet (Myddleton Road), World of Satellite, Drainman 24/7, This is IT Dental (Harley Street), & 90 On The Green (Aldermans Hill)

Article written by London Greek Radio

Tonight, Cyprus competes at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, starting at 8 pm BST, with its performance scheduled to be 25th out of the 26 countries, comprising of the Eurovision’s final line-up.

Eleni Foureira sings ‘Fuego‘; an up-tempo track with catchy beats and clarinet riffs adding a backbone to the stomping number, hoping to firmly put our small Mediterranean island on the Eurovision map.

Cyprus is currently the odds-on favourite to win the contest and crossing our fingers, toes… just about everything really, one of LGR’s presenters, Tony Neophytou, says, “Eurovision is our World Cup moment – it’s created so much buzz and excitement; it’s already a ‘winning song’ in that sense.”

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) Director, Michael Maratheftis said, “We would be delighted, willing and able to host Eurovision if it came to it”.

Eleni was overcome with emotion as Cyprus was announced as a qualifier in the first semi-final on Tuesday night.

The track, released in March, stormed into the LGR playlist, going straight to number one on the London Greek Radio Chart. Eleni’s back-catalogue of infectious pop hits have definitely made her one of the most prominent artists on the station’s track-listings.

Her team comprises Lovisa Bengtsson, Marlene Lindahl, and a backing-vocalist Teddy Sky (”off-stage”).

Eleni was born in Fier, Albania and is a Greek artist of Albanian origin. She has lived in Greece from a very young age when her family settled in Kallithea, Athens.

Eleni has always desired to be at Eurovision, revealing that it has always been a childhood dream of hers.  She’s previously come close to flying with the Greek colours at Eurovision – becoming runner-up in Greece’s 2010 ”Ethniko Teliko”, however, it did not diminish her Eurovision goal, which is lucky for Cyprus as she’s been handed a “killer track.”

Cyprus has never won Eurovision in its 35 years of participation; their best placing is 5th, with Anna Vissi (1982) Hara and Andros Constantinou (1997) and Lisa Andreas (2004). Other popular Cypriot singers have included Michalis Hatzigiannis, Constantinos Christoforou, Evridiki, Alexia, Ivi Adamou- all of whom have flown the nation’s flag.

Although Eleni is a Greek pop-star flying the Cypriot colours this year, conversely, it has worked the other way around with Cyprus’ Anna Vissi, Sarbel, Loukas Giorkas, Maria-Elena Kyriakou, all who have previously sung for Greece. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone since the majority of our current wave of Greek music is made there.

The CyBC officials selected Eleni earlier this year because of her ‘skill-set’ as a charismatic performance-singer; she’s very likeable, which helps sell this upbeat song. The singer acknowledges ”all of the positivity” about her entry admitting she will do her best to achieve a ”historic milestone” in Cyprus’ Eurovision history.

The three-minute performance is incredibly well-staged with very slick, brilliantly choreographed energy. The dancing, given a boost by the visual effects and ”fires” shooting-up on either side of Eleni, will surely impress the worldwide audience.

The points are made up of 50% of music experts in all 43 countries, with the other being 50% from public televoting.

Her Cypriot entry is penned by composer Alex Papaconstantinou, or Alex P, a Greek-Swedish producer, well-known in Eurovision circles. He collaborates on the tune with Geraldo Sandell, Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov and Didrick.

The Eurovision Song Contest Final takes place on Saturday 12th May, being broadcast by the BBC. London Greek Radio sincerely wishes Eleni Foureira the very best of luck in the competition.

Eleni Foureira To Represent Cyprus in Eurovision 2018 with Song ‘Fuego’

Article written by Tony Neophytou

It’s Eurovision week and Tuesday night sees both Cyprus and Greece compete in the first semi-final, with Greece performing 14th in the running order and Cyprus, 19th.

Greece’s Yianna Terzi, will be singing ‘Oniro Mou‘, (My Dream), and Cyprus’s Eleni Foureira, will perform ‘Fuego‘, (Fire), in Lisbon’s Altice Arena on Tuesday 8th May, live on BBC Four at 8 pm BST.

Yianna’s catchy atmospheric song, which she sings in Greek is an imagined dialogue between ‘motherland’ and its Greek people; a beautiful, haunting melody with an incredible Greek bridge, along with drums and clarinet riffs add to the song’s sound.

The music and lyrics were co-written by Yianna, along with Aris Kalimeris, Mixalis Papathanasiou, and Dimitris Stamatiou. It’s an intensely passionate, patriotic song that plays on ideas of self-belonging and loyalty.

The minimalist staging will focus on Yianna who we will see in a white outfit. It’s the look of a ‘Greek goddess’, alone on stage emphasising the song’s somewhat slightly introspective ‘soulful’, spiritual feel.

The act also comprises of four backing-vocalists (‘off-stage’); Giannis Lafis, Eugenia (Nia) Balafa, Irini Psihrami and Viktoria Halkiti. Yianna was born in Thessaloniki and is the daughter of legendary Greek singer Paschalis Terzis.

Five songs later, and we’ll see Cyprus’s entry by Eleni Foureia – last in the running order, considered by many as one of the preferred positions in the competition. ‘Fuego’ is an up-tempo number with very useful clarinet riffs adding a feel of ethnicity to this catchy Cypriot tune.

Cyprus (as of this morning, 8th May), are odds-on favourites to win the Eurovision Final on Saturday 12th May, which would make it the nation’s first ever victory.

In our opinion, the track is a brilliant, slick performance which compliments Eleni’s assets as a charismatic singer. It was penned by composer Alex Papaconstantinou, or Alex P, a Greek-Swedish producer, well-known in Eurovision circles. He collaborates on the tune with Geraldo Sandell, Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov and Didrick.

The First Eurovision Semi-Final airs on Tuesday 8th May, at 8pm on BBC 4. The UK will be tele-voting in the semi-heat.

The points will be determined with 50% already sown-up by the jury dress-rehearsal on Monday night; the other 50% by tele-voting during the live Tuesday evening contest.

The Eurovision Final takes place on Saturday 12th May, on BBC One.

London Greek Radio wishes Yianna Terzi and Eleni Foureira the very best of luck in the competition.

Article written by Tony Neophytou

Popular British-born Cypriot, Panayiotis (Pani) Argyrou sadly died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 24th April 2018 at the age of 29 after fighting an illness with so much dignity.

Whilst his family and many of his close friends knew that Pani was ill, the news of his passing has sent shockwaves through the Cypriot community across the UK, with many taking to social media to express their sadness and condolences.

Panayiotis was born on 6th March 1989 in London and was the second eldest of three siblings.

His mother and father are also British-born, with his paternal grandparents being from Eftakomi and Avgorou and his maternal grandparents from Morphou.

Panayiotis grew up in north-west London, predominantly in Kingsbury, and attended Our Lady of Grace Primary School in Neasden, followed by St Gregory’s Catholic Secondary School in Kenton. Business Studies was his chosen subject at Middlesex University.

Many Cypriots in the UK knew Panayiotis, (known as ‘Pani’). He was an active member of St Panteleimon Greek Orthodox Church in Harrow and enthusiastically organised several trips across the UK and abroad for the Church community. He was also Chair of the Graduates Organisation of the Church.

Along with that, Pani was a founder member, treasurer and sponsor of St Panteleimon FC who play in the Middlesex County Football League.

As proprietor of the well-known and popular restaurant, “Panorama” in Whetstone, and was also a partner in the Orama Restaurant in Hatch End, enjoying a very active business life.

A good friend and listener of London Greek Radio, he would often use the medium of radio to promote his events and business to the community. LGR management and staff were shocked and saddened on hearing of Pani’s passing, with some reflecting on the last time they saw him at the Basile event held in February at the Millfield Theatre.

Pani also assisted to bring renowned Greek singers to perform in the UK and he was instrumental in bringing the famous Greek-American comedian Basile to our shores.

He is survived by his mother, Georgina; his father, Argyros; brother, Antonaki; and sister, Maria.

The Funeral Service takes place on Wednesday 9th May 2018 at 11.00 am at the church of St Panteleimon, Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 9QN.

Everyone at London Greek Radio shares in the community’s sadness and we extend our condolences to Pani’s family.

Article written by London Greek Radio

London Greek Radio are proud to co-sponsor Dionisis Sxoinas with the Hilton Park Lane for a one-night-only concert on Saturday 19th May 2018 brought to you by Hellenic Nights London.

The Greek singer’s debut London performance will be with his backing group from Athens and the party won’t stop until 5 am!

Hellenic Nights have collaborated with Show Time Productions to bring a line-up comprising of Kostas Lianas, Dimitris Tiktopoulos and Eirini Zei.

A special guest set by DJ Valentino is expected to fire-up the atmosphere for what is said to be one of the biggest live clubbing events in London this year.

Following the huge success of Hellenic Night’s last event with Vasilis Karras and Christos Menidiatis, LGR is excited to join them at the Grand Ball Room of the Hilton Park Lane in Mayfair for this night.

Dionisis started his music career in the 1990s and two decades later, remains as popular as ever. He attracts big crowds in Greece and with a back-catalogue of greatest hits, he’s sure to impress our London crowd.

Date: Saturday 19th May 2018
Time: 10:00pm till 5:00am
Venue: London Hilton, Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE

For table reservations and information, please call: 07453 303493, 07771 871066, 07399 602018 or email: [email protected]

The event is sponsored by London Greek Radio (LGR) and Hilton Park Lane Hotel.

Article written by London Greek Radio

A new radio station has been introduced in Glasgow which has big plans to shake up Scotland’s airwaves.

London Greek Radio, (LGR), has been added to the DAB+ multiplex in Glasgow, extending their radio coverage to Glasgow’s population of almost 600,000.

Scotland has an estimated Greek and Cypriot population of more than 50,000 and the new station’s hopes are to garner many more listeners across the Glaswegian City with a fusion of talk and Greek music when it launched on Wednesday 11th April.

LGR is believed to be the first ethnic London radio station to cross the border into Scotland now playing European music in Glasgow on DAB+ Digital Radio.

Antonaki Jay, LGR’s Station Manager said, “We’re really big on serving Scotland and will now include more features for the communities we serve outside of London to include local people, local issues and local news.”

He added, “We’ll be covering a wide range of news, gossip and Greek music with different presenters tailored to the various diverse communities we broadcast to.”

LGR has already attracted some top presenters after more than thirty-five years on the air. It will be led by veteran host Vasilis Panayi and will feature DJs including Andreas Michaelides, Kat Neocleous, DJ Sooty, Soulla Violaris and Tony Neophytou.

Inevitably, Antonaki says that Greek music will be their “mainstay.” Describing their brand as “the Heartbeat of the Greek community”, he reveals hopes to begin a regular phone-in during the evenings to connect Greeks in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London, (where the station is already broadcasting on DAB+).

LGR’s Chairman, John Kyriakides, said, “We are broadening our scope to reach out to the wider Greek and Mediterranean audiences. With digital radio, we can go further and will be looking at doing things differently at LGR.

“We’ll be talking about everyone in the Greek communities in Glasgow, including small businesses and local people and aim to reach out to more than just Greek people in Scotland too. We feel the whole Greek culture may have been somewhat overlooked to some extent.”

Antonaki Jay, who was at the helm of joining Glasgow’s DAB+ platform – hopes LGR’s edgier playlist of more of today’s biggest Greek and Cypriot tunes with some home-grown talent thrown in the mix will attract listeners who are fed up of chart-topping earworms on mainstream stations.

He said: “We’ll play a wide range of music from Natasa Theodoridou and Konstantinos Argyros, through to Giannis Ploutarhos and Melina Aslanidou – an eclectic mix. Not too heavy, though.

“We’ll also host unsigned Greek singers, bands and performers either via telephone or in the studio. We want to give these acts a chance to be heard and celebrate Scottish-Hellenic talent.

“We love our Greek music and we really hope to build our audience through that.”

LGR will be spinning Greek music and covering a wide range of cultural programmes with more depth, which will no doubt appeal to hundreds across Glasgow.

Vasili Panayi, lifelong programmer at LGR said, “We know we’re not Heart or Clyde. We don’t have any sort of competition. For us, this is a first being in Glasgow!”

He added: “This will be a multi-platform digital outlet that interacts with its audience through social media and telephone, as well as email, text and messenger platforms. We’ll be connected to our listeners and giving Greek people in Scotland a voice.

“LGR will be more than just a radio station.”

London Greek Radio (LGR) is a 24-hour station, with live broadcasting between 7 am until Midnight. It launched in Glasgow on Wednesday 11th April.

LGR joins several stations on DAB+ as more radio stations are preparing to broadcast on Glasgow’s airwaves, as the city becomes Scotland’s digital radio hotspot.

Listeners will need a newer DAB+ compatible radio, recognisable through the Digital Radio Tick Mark on packaging, to receive the full set of stations via DAB and DAB+ digital radio.

54% of Glasgow homes own a DAB radio, according to latest statistics. The number of DAB stations that can be received in Glasgow has increased by thirty in the past year and is growing rapidly.

LGR is now broadcasting via 103.3 FM in London, across the world online and already on DAB+ in Birmingham, London and Manchester. Glasgow is now available in stereo using DAB+.

Article written by London Greek Radio

‘Oneiro Mou’ is the song which Greece have confirmed will be their entry in this year’s Eurovision and the video was released this week.

Greek broadcaster ERT confirmed earlier this year that Yianna Terzi would fly the Greek flag at the Altice Arena for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

The mid-tempo modern Laiko ballad, which is sung in Greek, with strong ethnic elements and a polyphonic chorus successfully combines both a traditional orchestral sound with modern production and this makes it a catchy atmospheric song.

The melody adds a mysterious feel and an incredible Greek bridge with drums and clarinet riffs add to the song’s atmosphere.

Yianna co-wrote the lyrics and music with Aris Kalimeris, Mixalis Papathanasiou, and Dimitris Stamatiou.

The verses and chorus intriguingly are said to be an intimate conversation between ‘Greece and its people’. It’s a touching song which, through its deep lyrics, pronounces steadfast loyalty to the ‘nation’ with fervent patriotic overtones.

The video’s opening scene shows Yianna in what is a ‘fetal position’, which she says herself represents ‘the Greek territory’ or ‘motherland’.

A male, aka Dimitris Vlahos, is seen running across the mountainous terrain where he stops at a plot of soil and pushes his hand underneath and tightly grips Yianna’s arm. The Greek man does this as a way of demonstrating his strong ‘umbilical cord’ to his ethnic roots and as such, underlying the song’s patriotic credentials.

The video is directed by Sherif Francis, who captures the song’s mystical intensity and atmospheric feeling quite dramatically.

The song’s verses compliment this innate feeling, with emotive lyrics; ”Why would you want to change me and dull my blue (colour)?” and, ”No matter how much I ache, I wouldn’t strike you off the map”. This, presumably, is its subtle wink to the nation’s flag colours and territory.

Chali Jennings was asked to direct the song’s creativity and staging and we have learnt that the colours ‘blue and white’ feature heavily in the song’s live stage performance.

The Greek act comprises four backing-vocalists accompanying Yianna on stage; Giannis Lafis, Eugenia (Nia) Balafa, Irini Psihrami and Viktoria Halkiti.

Yianna was born in Thessaloniki and is the daughter of acclaimed Greek singer Paschalis Terzis.

Yianna, who will be 38 by the time of the contest in May, began her music career in 2005 and has released two albums ‘Gyrna To Klidi’ in 2006 and ‘Ase Ne Na Taxidepso’ in 2008.

She is best known for her singles ‘Tetoia Gynaika’, ‘Pou Kai Pou’, ‘O Aggelos Mou’, Gianna ft. Nevma with ‘Exw Ponesei Gi’auti’.

Yianna relocated from Greece to the United States five years ago in order to further her music career.

She released her first English-language single ‘Love Is Your Name’ under the name Yianna in 2012, which started bubbling in the underground clubs of New York City.

The first Eurovision semi-final airs on Tuesday 8th May, on BBC Four at 8 pm with Yianna performing fourteenth out of the 19 countries in the running order.

Greece’s chances of qualifying for the final were given a boost as the UK were confirmed as voters in the first semi-final phase.

The televoting/jury has a history of giving Greeks generous marks. The Eurovision Grand Final takes place on Saturday 10th May on BBC One.

London Greek Radio wish Yianna Terzi the very best of luck in the competition.

Watch the official music video to ‘Oneiro Mou’ here:

Article written by Tony Neophytou

An Evening of Greek Music & Dance, on Friday 27th April, is hosting a spectacular evening full of live music and dancing!

Supporting Radiomarathon, the charity based in Enfield supports young people with a range of learning difficulties.

Entertaining us on the night are the talented; Savvakis Skouridis, Kostas Eleftheriou and a special guest appearance from Nicole Vasiliou.

Events like this offer the chance for our station to come together with the community and enjoy a fabulous evening. Moreover, through these events, we are able to renew and build a good relationship with both our listeners and the companies which work alongside us.

Join us at the Cypriot Community Centre, Earlham Grove, Wood Green, N22 5HJ.

There will be drinks and snacks available at the bar.

Tickets at only £7, for more information please call LGR on 0208 349 6950.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

The event is sponsored by Exesio Hair Care Services exesio.co.uk, ellinas BROTHERS food wholesalers and distributors, Taste of Cyprus in Palmers Green for a wide range of breads, sweets & pastries.

Article written by London Greek Radio