Despina Vandi

Despina Malea (Δέσποινα Μαλέα; born 22 July 1969), known as Despina Vandi (Δέσποινα Βανδή), is a Greek singer.

Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old.

After moving to Athens in the early 1990s, Vandi signed with Minos EMI and released two albums Gela Mou (1994) and Esena Perimeno (1996).

Vandi's first album was released in 1994 under the Minos EMI label, titled Gela Mou (Smile at Me).

The album was distinguished by the self-titled song "Gela Mou", as long as by the song "Den iparhi tipota" and her duet To Adieksodo (No Way Out) with the popular and acclaimed singer Giannis Parios.

Both songs were written by Vassilis Karras.

In 1996, Vandi released her next album, Esena Perimeno (You're The One I'm Waiting For).

Singles on the album include Esena Perimeno, Den Pethainei I Agapi, and Efiges.

Most of the songs were written by her friend and now musical director Tony Kontaxakis.

Although a few of her first songs received some airplay, the first two albums themselves had mild success.

Together the albums have sold under 30 thousand copies.

A statement made by Vandi implied the combined album sales to be in the range of 10–27 thousand copies.

She then began an exclusive collaboration with songwriter/producer Phoebus and achieved commercial success with her third album, Deka Endoles (1997), followed by the multi-platinum Profities (1999), as she established a more "pop" stage performance style and image, becoming one of the most prominent artists of the laïko/pop genre.

1997 would be the year Vandi would make her breakthrough in mainstream Greek music as she teamed up with popular songwriter Phoebus.

Phoebus wrote the songs of Vandi's next album, Deka Entoles (Ten Commandments), which was certified double platinum and sold 100,000 copies in Greece.

Vandi's partnership with Phoebus would turn out to be one of the most notable in the Greek recording industry and they would continue to have commercial success for a decade and more (they celebrated their 10-year partnership with the release of 10 Hronia Mazi (10 Years Together)).

With the success of Deka Entoles Vandi quickly became popular in the Greek music industry with a string of hits and popular appearances.

In 1998 Vandi released the platinum cd-single "Spania", while later that year, she experimented with acting.

She was asked to play a guest star role in the hit television show "Dio Xeni" (Two Strangers).

Vandi accepted the role and made her first appearance on television.

She played a singer of a local small city, who was able to change the sexuality of the main gay character.

She managed to gain good reviews for her acting talent.

Vandi's next album Profities (Prophecies) was released in 1999 and was certified gold the day of its release and platinum in 2 days.

It eventually became triple platinum, selling 150 thousand copies.

Big hits from the album were the songs: "Apapa", "To Giatriko", "To Koritsaki sou" and "Sta Dosa Ola".

Later that year Vandi gave her first sold-out solo concert at the concert hall of Lycabettus with 7,000 people in attendance.

Her single "Ipofero" (2000) became the best-selling single of all-time in Greece.

In 2000, Despina Vandi released the single Ipofero (I Suffer).

The single was certified six times platinum and was awarded as being the most successful single of all time in Greece, based on sales at the Virgin Megastores, which reached 150 thousand copies.

Following Phoebus' departure from Minos EMI, Vandi followed him to the newly formed independent label Heaven Music and released Gia (2001), which became and remains her biggest commercial success, as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time in Greece and Cyprus.

Vandi also released the album abroad and the self-titled single "Gia", topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay and making her the first Greek artist to top a Billboard chart.

She returned with Stin Avli Tou Paradeisou (2004), which was certified multi-platinum and became her fourth album to achieve six-figure sales.

In 2007 10 Hronia Mazi, a ten-year celebration of her collaboration with Phoebus was released, followed by her eighth studio album C'est La Vie.

According to Heaven Music, as of 2007, Vandi has sold one million records in Greece.

In the aftermath of her success, Vandi gained the title of the "queen" of Greek music.

On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Vandi the fourth top-certified Greek female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960), with 11 records having been certified platinum or multi-platinum and three gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry of Greece.

In 2012 she released the album Allaxa, which was certified 2× platinum sales and has been her first double platinum record since 2005.

Vandi has won three Arion Music Awards, ten MAD Video Music Awards, seven Pop Corn Music Awards, and a World Music Award, becoming the first Greek artist recording in Greece to ever win the award.

From 2013 to 2015, she was one of the four artists/coaches participating in the Greek version of The Voice called The Voice of Greece.

And she was one of the four artists/coaches in Rising Star in 2016.