Eleni Foureira

**Eleni Foureira** (Greek: Ελένη Φουρέιρα, born on 7 March 1987) is an Greek singer,model, businesswoman and actress, born in Fier. Her parents were living there as Greeks living in Albania. When Eleni got older, she moved with her siblings to Greece, where she started her model & singing career. In 2018, she was chosen to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Fuego". She became second place in the final, making her the best entry for Cyprus so far.

## Biography

### Early career

Eleni Foureira was born as Entela Fureraj on 7 March 1987 in Fier, Albania to Marjeta and Kristaq Fureraj. She has three siblings (Ioanna, Margarita & Giorgos). Before her singing career, Foureira was interested in fashion design, as she was heavily influenced by her mother working in the profession. She was raised in the Kallithea region of Athens, Greece. From a young age, however, she had begun to play the guitar and worked for three years for a theater. She was previously part of the girl group "Mystique" before launching her solo career.

### 2010–2012: *Ti Poniro Mou Zitas*

Foureira participated in the Greek national final in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 along with Manos Pyrovolakis singing the song "Kivotos tou Noe". She placed second behind "OPA!", by Giorgos Alkaios & Friends. In May 2010, Eleni Foureira sang the Greek version of the song "Chica Bomb" in collaboration with Dan Balan at Mad Video Music Awards. In November, she participated in the charity television show *Just the Two of Us* together with Panagiotis Petrakis and won 1st place. In May 2011 the singer appeared on Mad Video Music Awards where she performed the Greek version of “Play with Me”. In addition, she won two awards as the Best New Artist and the Sexy Video Clip of the Year.

In February 2012 she appeared in the second "MadWalk: The Fashion Music Project" where she performed the songs "Get the Party Started" and "All I Need" in collaboration with Claydee. In June 2012 Eleni Foureira participated on Mad Video Music Awards where she performed the song "Fotia" with NEVMA. She was nominated for four awards and eventually she won two awards for Best Video Clip Pop and Sexy Video Clip of the Year. On 22 June 2012, her debut album *Ti Poniro Mou Zitas* was released.

### 2013–2014: *Anemos Agapis*

Foureira performed "Wild Dances" with Ruslana in the Greek final for Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Greece. In April 2013 Eleni Foureira appeared in MadWalk where she performed the songs “Toxic” by Britney Spears and “To Deserve You” by Bette Midler. She also performed with the "Arouri" team. In June of the same year she appeared on Mad Video Music Awards 2013 where she performed her new track “Rantevou stin paralia”. Moreover, she collaborated with Pantelis Pantelides and Stan. During the same awards she was nominated in four categories, and finally she won the Fashion Icon Award in Video Clip. On 22 December 2014, her second album *Anemos Agapis* was released.

### 2015–present: New label and *Barbarella: The 80's Musical*

In April 2015, Foureira with Pantelis Pantelidis and Melisses, began live appearances in *Fantasia*. On April 30, she performed her new song "Ladies" at the Mad Video Music Awards. On May 16, she signed with Panik Records. In June 2015, she performed her new track "Pio Dynata", the Greek version of "Ladies".

On June 29, 2015, she performed a Greek version of Israel's song in Eurovision 2015, "Golden Boy", called "Στο Θεό Με Πάει" (trn: To God He Takes Me), which became a big hit in Greece. It has been viewed almost 15 million times on YouTube, and it stands as one of the most viewed Greek videos. Also, she performed with Claydee, Faydee and BO, the song "Why / Habibi".

In summer 2015, she went on tour throughout Greece. Since October 2015, Foureira has starred in the musical *Barbarella: the 80's Musical* with Ivi Adamou, Katy Garbi, Ioanna Pilichou and Giannis Chatzigeorgiou in Theater Peiraios 131. She also performed at Teatro Music Hall with Paola & Konstantinos Argyros.

## Discography

### Albums

* Eleni Foureira (2010)
* *Ti Poniro Mou Zitas* (2012)
* *Anemos Agapis* (2014)