You know, I never thought of it like that but, yeah, Anna is the Madonna of Europe!
(I just checked, and Madonna is less than a year younger than Anna, who is less than a year younger than my Mum!)
Just to explain for those who are confused. Anna Vissi is Cypriot, but has represented Greece at Eurovision twice (a quarter of a century apart!)
When it comes to Eurovision, things are very fluid between Greece and Cyprus. Over the years, there have been lots of Greeks representing Cyprus, and lots of Cypriots representing Greece. There have even been years when both of those scenarios have happened at the same contest.
With Anna, she has represented Greece twice (in 1980 in a group, and in 2006 as a solo artist), and Cyprus once (in 1982 as a solo artist).
Some interesting background info for that are not familiar with her. Anna is from the village of Pyla / Pile, which is the only village left in Cyprus which is still bi-communal. After the events of 1974, all the Greek Cypriots in the northern part of the island had to move to the southern part; and all the Turkish Cypriots in the southern part of the island had to move to the northern part. The exception was Pyla / Pile, which was able to remain bi-communal because it is located within the UN Buffer Zone separating the two parts of the island.
Although I haven't spent time in the village, I have gone through Pyla / Pile a few times on the way to the crossing point located at the next village to the north (Pergamos / Beyarmudu). And it does seem a surreal place.
That is why it always feels right when Anna sings "Misirlou". Because it is a song about a mixed-religion relationship. And she is from a mixed-religion village.
Thank you,
@VickB!
I have actually heard "Ise" before, but this was the first time I had seen those live performances of it.
It's such a pity the picture quality of the Olympics performance was so bad, but I suppose that is a reflection of the technology that was used to record from the TV at the time. We were kinda fortunate that the video I linked to of her singing "Misirlou" at the Closing Ceremony was not a copy of the TV coverage but instead appears to have been taken from the original IOC recording.
I didn't actually realise that she did more than one song during the Closing Ceremony. I wonder if there is a copy out there of her entire set. And if there is, if it has a half decent picture quality.
Oh, boys! What a performance!
I just wish the director had not been so trigger happy with the button that changes camera shots. It was ridiculous the way that the camera shot was changing on average every 2 seconds. It made it very difficult to watch.
Although I was impressed that the song still works in English, I think I prefer the Greek version. It was the same when German rock band LaFee released an album of "English versions" of some of their songs. The "English versions" worked, but I still preferred the original German versions. (Incidentally, the lead singer of that band, Christina Klein, is half Greek).
I absolutely loved the second song, "Kanenas", which I hadn't heard before. Generally speaking, I tend to like traditional music. And this song does have a traditional Greek feel to it.
And I loved the way she was intermingling with the audience during the performance. (Something that is common on this type of TV show in Greece, but not here in the British Isles).
You know, a thing that came through in all those videos is that Anna really loves performing live. Of course, all those performances happened around 20 years ago. So, I hope she is still able to get the same enjoyment whenever she makes live appearances nowadays.
Thank you again for all your posts in this thread. They have been extremely interesting.
CaroLiza_fan
youtu.be
The music features gamelan - which I believe some people have mentioned they really want to see in figure skating.
Legend
