London Greek Radio

Vegas

The Greek pop group Vegas performed their latest single “Apopse” last night in the semi-finals of the show ‘The voice’.

Two hours ago Vegas uploaded the new single onto their YouTube channel, making fans wonder when the music video will be available.

Melina, ZeRaw and DJ Airth, the three members of the group, have created multiple hits and dominated the Greek music industry since 2009.

The female singer of the group, who is known for her peculiar style, wore a long see-through white dress with red details, paired with long earrings and black peep-toe ankle-strap heels.

Vegas have been working very hard, reportedly rehearsing day and night as their official Facebook page reports they are now getting prepared for multiple live performances.

The creators and singers of the songs “Mi Stamatas” “Irthe I Stigmi” and “Tus Ponaei” have yet to release the official video for their new song but the fans are expecting it to be spectacular. The group has filmed high budget videos in the past; the video for the song “Akoma” was shot in the United States and included multiple scenes from the streets of New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Palm Beach and Miami.

Vegas’s modern aesthetic combined with their previous work is creating high expectations from the public but for the moment we can only enjoy the audio version of their latest song.

Here is a clip of their performance in last night’s episode of ‘The Voice’:

BBC Radio

If you are wondering what the ultimate Eurovision song of all time is, BBC radio 2 has the answer.

Helena Paparizou and her song ‘My Number One’ was voted as the all-time favourite in a BBC poll. The song competed against the other 60 winners of the competition and Paparizou succeed, taking first place once again.

10 years after its release ‘My Number One’, the song that took Europe by storm in 2005, proved to be the most popular of all the Eurovision songs ever.

Abba’s ‘Waterloo’ landed second despite Abba’s still very active fan base.

BBC Radio 2 noted: “This was Greece’s first ever victory in the competition back in 2005 and it actually led to mass celebrations on the streets of Athens. After the show, nationals descended on the streets to wave their flags and sing her song. The folk-dance love song then went on to gain top 40 chart positions in countries across the world, was later covered by a heavy metal band and was even featured as a soundtrack in a karaoke video game.”

Helena, singer and songwriter, was a member of the group Antique which became extremely popular after their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2001 with the half-Greek half-English song ‘Die for you’.

As of late, Paparizou has released her new song ‘Angel’ and once again her fans are responding enthusiastically, with more than 20 thousand views already, the song is promising to be another great hit.

Listen to Helena’s latest hit here:

The Cypriot community is effectively a bystander in British politics, when other ethnic communities are doubling numbers in Parliament and across British politics.  This general election saw a record number of (British Minority Ethnic) BME politicians elected to Parliament, with eight new BME MPs coming from Labour, seven from the Conservatives, and one SNP.  Ten new BME female MPs have been returned to the House of Commons.  None of them Cypriots.  The number BME MP’s is up to 41 from 25 in 2010.

According to John Kaponi  National (pictured above) Chairman of  ‘Future  Cyprus’, an organisation aiming to promote Cypriots in British public life,  “It’s now time the UK Cypriot community started to look at itself very closely and understand that without political muscle the “Cypriot community” will not be able to protect its interests and issues.  We therefore call on Cypriot associations and organisations to sign up to be members of British political parties and participate in local and national British politics.”

 The General election results saw the return to Parliament by some of the Cypriot community strongest friends; but at the same time failed to bring back people like Nick De Bois, a tireless supporter of the Cypriots in London.  Cyprus Future played an active role across London and the South East of England encouraging as many Cypriots to vote in the general election. Some of the efforts worked, but on the whole the community did not play the role it should have at these very important elections.

 The biggest problem that Cyprus Future has identified, and this applies to all political parties, is the lack of Cypriots affiliated to British political parties.  This has unfortunately meant that very few, if any Cypriots are active politically at local, national and European levels, which directly affects the influence the community has in British politics. It is a known fact that some of the older generation of British Cypriots  are members of political parties from Cyprus instead of British political parties.

 An example of the lack of involvement in “main-stream” politics was seen starkly at the canvassing, leafleting, phone calling, emailing, talking to residents on the doorstep and manning stalls sessions of all the main parties in London.  With a handful of Cypriots out knocking doors, our “friends” who looked during the campaign  to see who their friends are, were clearly disappointed by the same old faces turning up.  More must be done to encourage more Cypriots to be actively involved in British politics.

 John Kaponi said, “What is more worrying is that with elections now expected in 2016 for the London Mayoralty and London Assembly, the EU referendum in 2017, “the Cypriot community” must play its role and should be looking to be players, and not spectators which is what we will be, bystanders in the democratic process.  Does the community feel comfortable with the fact that the Cypriots do not have any representatives in the House of Commons, no representatives in the House of Lords, no representatives in the European Parliament or the London Assembly?  How long can this continue?”

Naya

The Greek independent record label The Spicy Effect has uploaded the song ‘Min Akous Kanenan’ from a new upcoming artist named Naya. The greek media has reported that Naya is already a well-known dancer and some claim that she might be one of the top dancers in Greece.

The song ‘Min Akous Kanenan’ is written by Gavriil Gavriilidis and a music video will be available very soon.

Yiannis Papadakos, who has directed videos for Sakis Rouvas , Kostas Martakis and Onirama, is going to be the director for this new artist’s video.

The label that signed Despina Vandi, Thanos Petrelis, Mater Tempo, Lena Papadopoulou and Eleni Hatzidou is now promoting this new star and the YouTube comment feedback is rather enthusiastic.

Efforts from the label to provide the best songwriter and director signifies that Naya is here to stay. The singer who has been an enigmatic figure since she was introduced to the public last May, when she appeared on the red Carpet of Madwalk 2015, has now excited fans with her first audio piece.

It is known that Phoebus, the owner of The Spicy Effect label, is always trying to find new talents and Naya just might be their next big star.

The girl with the white hair and tattoos has already attracted a lot of attention on social media and while we have to wait for her to release her first music video, the song is out and ready for public ears:

Ενας εντυπωσιακός Ατρόμητος νίκησε χθες 1-0 τον ΠΑΟΚ στην Τούμπα και διεκδικεί πλέον τη δεύτερη θέση των πλέι οφ που οδηγεί απευθείας στους ομίλους του Γιουρόπα Λιγκ.

Ο αγώνας ήταν στο πλαίσιο της 5ης και προτελευταίας αγωνιστικής των πλέι οφ και το μοναδικό γκολ σημείωσε ο Καραμάνος στο 45ο λεπτό.

Στον άλλο αγώνα Παναθηναϊκός και Αστέρας έμειναν στο 0-0 με τους Αρκάδες να παραμένουν στη δεύτερη θέση και να κρατούν την τύχη τους στα χέρια τους.

Στο μεταξύ, ο Ηρακλής επιστρέφει στα σαλόνια της Σούπερ Λιγκ μετά από τέσσερα χρόνια καθώς χθες με το 1-1 που απέσπασε από την Παναχαϊκή, εξασφάλισε και μαθηματικά την επιστροφή στην πρώτη κατηγορία για πρώτη φορά μετά το 2011.

Ο Λουκίνας στο 7` έδωσε το προβάδισμα στον Ηρακλή, ενώ ισοφάρισε ο Αναστασόπουλος στο 28`. Στο Αλκαζάρ η ΑΕΛ με εξαιρετική εμφάνιση νίκησε εύκολα 3-0 (37`,40` Πίντο, 81` Σαρακατσάνος) τον Ολυμπιακό Βόλου και εξακολουθεί να ελπίζει για την κατάκτηση της τρίτης θέσης, που ίσως αποδειχθεί πολύτιμη.

Ο Παναθηναϊκός αντιμετωπίζει στις 16:15 απόψε τον Αστέρα Τρίπολης για τα πλέι οφ της Σούπερ Λιγκ, σε ένα αγώνα που το ενδιαφέρον το έχει μόνο ο Αστέρας που διεκδικεί τη δεύτερη θέση.

Ο Παναθηναϊκός από την πλευρά του έχει εξασφαλίσει ήδη την πρωτιά και την συμμετοχή του στα προκριματικά του Τσάμπιονς Λιγκ και ο προγραμματισμός της νέας χρονιάς είναι η άμεση προτεραιότητα του αφού μια ενδεχόμενη πρόκριση στους ομίλους της κορυφαίας διασυλλογικής διοργάνωσης θα επαναφέρει τους πράσινους στο υψηλότερο επίπεδο αγωνιστικά. Παράλληλα, θα δώσει μεγάλη ανάσα στα οικονομικά της ομάδας, κάτι πολύ αναγκαίο μετά τις τελευταίες δύσκολες χρονιές.

Ήδη, η χθεσινή ολοκλήρωση της μεταγραφής του Εσιέν, δείχνουν τις προθέσεις της διοίκησης για το κάτι παραπάνω τη νέα σεζόν, τόσο εντός όσο και εκτός συνόρων.

Στον άλλο αγώνα, η μεγάλη απογοήτευση της φετινής χρονιάς ΠΑΟΚ, ο οποίος ξεκίνησε διεκδικώντας πρωτάθλημα και τώρα διεκδικεί απλώς την τρίτη θέση της βαθμολογίας, αντιμετωπίζει στην Τούμπα στις 18:30 τον Ατρόμητο.

Στη βαθμολογία των πλέι οφ, ο Παναθηναϊκός προηγείται με 14 βαθμούς, ακολουθεί ο Αστέρας με 6, ο ΠΑΟΚ με 4 και ο Ατρόμητος με 2.

This petition is initiated by the Hellenic Education Coordinating Committee in the UK – ΕΦΕΠΕ (ΚΕΣ, ΟΕΣΕΚΑ,  ΑΕΣΑ) and the Greek Schools of Manor Hill and Finchley and supported by the Cyprus Educational Mission in the UK and the Education Office at the Greek Embassy in the UK, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great  Britain, the Embassy of Greece in the UK, the Cyprus High Commission in the UK, the National Federation of Cypriots  in the UK and the Association of Greek Orthodox Communities in the UK.

We strongly oppose Edexcel’s initial decision to stop the GCE AS and A-level Modern Greek examinations from 2017.

The Greek language is one of the official languages of the European Union spoken in two member states, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus. The policy of the European Union on languages is to support language learning and linguistic diversity. Stopping the examination in Modern Greek is certainly not in compliance with the above policy.

The Greek language has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning34 centuries of written records and forms the basis for a number of modern languages. Moreover, the Greek language holds an important place in the history of Europe, the Western world and Christianity. Ancient Greek literature includes works of monumental importance and influence such as Homer’s epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts of Western philosophy were written, such as the Platonic dialogues and the works of Aristotle. The New Testament of the Christian Bible was also written in Greek.

The study of the Greek texts is a very important discipline of Classics in many world class universities. The terms that originate from Greek can be found in abundance in all scientific fields and the humanities. Therefore the importance of the Greek language is tremendous.

Keeping the GCE AS and A-level Modern Greek examinations will secure the general familiarity with the Greek language. Furthermore, it will help not only the local Greek population but also everyone who wants to study Greek develop a lifelong appreciation for the richness of the Greek culture. This will also help to establish strong links between the Greek and the British societies.

There is a significant number of people of Greek origin living in England and Wales. Being able to obtain a qualification in the Greek language is one of the biggest motivations of young people of Greek origin to learn their “mother tongue”. We believe we have every right to have our language skills recognised and accredited through the education system. Moreover, keeping the connection with the language and culture of our origin, as British residents and citizens, will ensure a more dynamic and functional role in the multicultural British society. Greek supplementary schools serve a very important role towards community cohesion, children’s self-development and resilience.

Lastly but of crucial importance is the impact of maintaining and supporting a multilingual environment in the UK for social cohesion and for economic recovery of the country, as it can increase the levels of trade. Languages can bring enormous benefits in these two areas. The importance of languages is emphasised, among others, by the British Academy, the UK’s national body which champions and supports the humanities and social sciences.

IF you want to sign this petition click on the link below:

KEEP THE MODERN GREEK LANGUAGE A-LEVEL EXAM

John Karayiannis secures Cyprus place in the final…

Well, it felt like a sense of nervy excitement at about 9:50pm on Thursday night and much relief too, that our Cypriot tune had in fact qualified, pleasing all of the fans…

Cyprus has made it through to the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest which is massively historic in the context of this year’s 60th mile-stone of the music event.

John Karayiannis with his heart on sleeve, showing a little of his fragile vulnerability sung his honesty, sweet melody track ‘One Thing I Should I Have Done‘, to take votes off both public and that of the professional jurors for the Top 10 qualifying spaces. It has a radio friendly feel which was only enhanced by that of John’s clear tone strong vocals to the point, you felt he believed every word or line he uttered in the three minutes of his song.

Our tune was penned by Mike Connaris, a London Cypriot song-writer, previously having brought his Top 5th in 2004’s Lisa Andreas entry ‘Stronger Every Minute’ which equals our best ever result this far.

John, a 20-year-old singer from Limassol, with his black thick framed spectacles, took to Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle Arena, minimalist staging, with a lovely black and white screen affect at the song’s intro, with explosions of colour in the back-drop, as the tune climaxes to the last note.

One Thing I Should Have Done… qualifier… ticked…

John speaking after he found out his result was clearly excited and in awe of achieving fine outcome. ”We are through to the final guys!!! Wowww!! So excited and thankful for all the support I have received lately by each and every of you!! Really appreciate it!! Xxx”.

It goes without saying it’s a great feeling of elation to have our Cypriot nation in the final after a long history of mixed results, you have to go back to 2012’s Ivi Adamou ‘La La Love’ for actually the last qualifier of theirs, and it’s a strong come-back after taking one-year’s hiatus from the event in Copenhagen.

At 1am this Friday morning, the official draw gave Cyprus 11th in the final, while Greece’s Cypriot female soloist Maria-Elena Kyriakou is performing 15th, with ballad ‘One Last Breath‘ who was through in the first of semi-finals on Tuesday night.

So the finalist line-up comprises the acts by Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Israel, Montenegro, and Lithuania including Estonia, Serbia, Georgia, Belgium, Hungary, Albania, Romania and special guest status’s Australia.

As one of the ‘Big Five’ countries, the UK entry with Electro Velvet has gained automatic qualification to the final alongside Spain, Germany, France, Italy and current title holders Austria.

Well done to the whole Cypriot delegation for giving us something to celebrate, with Evi Papamichael and Klitos Klitou and others, working the last months for this result.

The Grand Final takes place this Saturday at 8pm, you can watch it on BBC1, with tele-voting and jury deciding where exactly each nation finishes.

For those of you who missed it, this is John Karayiannis performing ‘One Thing I Should Have Done’ for the Cyprus entry live at the 2015 Eurovision Semi-Final 2:

John Karayiannis battles in the Eurovision Semi-Final with his lovely melody track…

Tonight Cyprus competes in the second Eurovision Semi-Final to win a place in Saturday’s live Grand Final of Eurovision’s massively historic 60th at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle Arena.

John Karayiannis, a 20 year-old singer from Limassol, will fly the Cypriot flag with his melodic ballad ‘One Thing I Should Have‘. Singing, 15th, he’s performing this to a minimalist staging, which feels like it captivates really solidly well. The song’s intro is pretty ace we think, there’s all black and white screen for the first verse and chorus, with mini-explosions of colour in the back-drop itself as the tune climaxes, which is very effective.

I am sure Team JK and all of the delegation with Evi Papamichael and Klitos Klitou and so forth, will try their best to create the right sort of emotive atmosphere for his song.

Our tune was penned by Mike Connaris, a London Cypriot song-writer he’s previously brought the island Top 5th, to equal our best ever, with 2004’s Lisa Andreas ballad ‘Stronger Every Minute’ and upping the ante this dynamic duo of Mike and John will be hoping to bank on a qualifier with this good modern effort.

If you look at the statistics, a lowly 33% of all Cypriot songs actually have qualified or broke out of the semis, in the last decade, which obviously is disappointing. As Cyprus’ last qualifier was of course, 2012’s Ivi Adamou with ‘La La Love’, knowing this useful trivia it will surely make us all feel a nervy sense of excitement at 9:45pm of who’s going to make it…

Having said that, this sweet track is both strong and solid with a radio friendly feel to it, John’s sincerity/honesty and sort of fragile vulnerability, adding to his clear tone and faultless vocals, giving it much useful good to the song’s theme of regret of the one thing he should have done.

Cyprus’s hopeful aims to please Eurovision fans…

John revealed to LGR the thinking behind the staging which cultivates precisely the right mood for his story-telling way he goes about this. ”It’s a very simple ballad, and the simplicity is something that is going to be emphasised, I want to create the atmosphere that’s appealing to the viewer’s attention”.

John’s signature look is the thick framed black spectacles and he owns exactly five pairs of glasses he said, and of course his ‘look’ brings that individual touch to his visual aspect to the song.

Mike elated at his second Eurovision explained how he’s feeling up-beat about his adventure as he puts it to lgr.co.uk. About John’s musical talent, he said, ”He is such a young talent with an incredible voice – so cool and calm on stage – nothing fazes him… and if we can get the staging right, there’s no reason why Cyprus can’t be hosting ESC in 2016! Now wouldn’t that be something!”

John was introduced to Mike by Christos Kyriakides, who runs a successful music school of the same name in Limassol. Mike was very impressed with John’s voice and invited him to London. After getting to know John, and working closely in the studio with him, Mike set about writing a song especially for John. The song is about regret, but with a twist because it’s not until the end of the song that the real truth comes out. It makes you realise that in a relationship you should look back with no regrets, and always be honest.

Well, Cyprus’ robust entry is our absolute favourite for tonight’s semi and there it will muscle it out with 17 countries and our tips for potential qualifiers are Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Israel then we have Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, San Marino, Malta, Iceland.

The second live Semi-Final, which you can watch on BBC 3 from 8pm until 10pm, has UK tele-voting plus jury deciding qualifiers, to complete the final line-up which already has Greece’s Cypriot Maria Elena Kyriakou with ‘One Last Breath’ making it in the first semi on Tuesday night.

Best of luck to John our Cypriot hopeful… Fingers crossed… qualifying, pretty please…

ΑΠΟΕΛ και ΑΕΛ διεκδικούν στις 17:00 σήμερα το Κύπελλο στον 73ο τελικό της διοργάνωσης, που θα φιλοξενηθεί στο Στάδιο ΓΣΖ.

Οπως αναφέρεται στην ιστοσελίδα της ΚΟΠ, δύο ιστορικές ομάδες, με κατακτήσεις τίτλων, διεκδικούν σήμερα άλλον έναν, σε μια αναμέτρηση που αναμένεται με πολύ μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον από όλους τους ποδοσφαιρόφιλους αλλά κυρίως από τους φιλάθλους των δύο ομάδων.

Το ΑΠΟΕΛ, ως κάτοχος του τροπαίου, θέλει να διατηρήσει τα κεκτημένα, ενώ η ΑΕΛ, μετά τις αποτυχημένες προσπάθειες της σε τελικούς τα τελευταία χρόνια, θέλει σήμερα να ολοκληρώσει με επιτυχία την αποστολή της.

Οι είσοδοι του Σταδίου θα ανοίξουν στις 17:00 και οι φίλαθλοι του ΑΠΟΕΛ θα καταλάβουν την ανατολική κερκίδα και οι φίλαθλοι της ΑΕΛ την κεντρική κερκίδα.