GREECE 🇬🇷 The team of http://www.oikotimes.com in conjunction with www.mikrofwno.gr attended the first summer concert of Mihalis Hatzigiannis, the man who represented Cyprus in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest and became one of the top names in the Greek and Cypriot music industry. More Ethan 4,000 auditors attended the sold out concert on June 21st at Papagou Garden Theatre.
Hatzigiannis was born in Nicosia, Cyprus on 5 November 1978. He is a graduate of the Cyprus Music Academy (Royal College of London) with a degree in piano, guitar and music theory.
When he was 18, he participated in a song contest in Cyprus, “Afetiries” where he won the first prize. He later participated in the “Laiki Bank Song Contest” with the song ‘I Diki Mou Istoria’ written by Andreas Gerolemou and won the first prize.
In 1995, he participated in the Cypriot National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with two songs, “Filise Me” (written by Andreas Gerolemou) and “To Gramma” (written by Leonidas Malenis). The first song came in 3rd place and the latter in second place. That year Alex Panagi won the preselection with the song “Sti Fotia”.
Michalis started his career in Cyprus with three records that all went platinum: “Senario”, “O Mihalis Hatzigiannis Tragouda Doro Georgiadi” and “Epafi”. He also participated in a musical production in Cyprus called “Pygmalion” in addition to also performing a number of concerts in major city tour in Cyprus titled “Mixalis Xatzigiannis, Andreas Gerolemou”.
In May 1998, he represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed the song “Γένεσις” (Genesis), a composition of his own and finished 11th.
Upon arriving in Athens, Greece he collaborated with the composer Giorgos Hatzinasios and with poet and lyricist Michalis Bourboulis to create the CD single “Aggigma Psychis” (Touch of soul) which was released in December 1998 by BMG Greece. The album contained songs to the ANT1 TV series bearing the same title, including the hit singles “Aggigma Psychis” and “To Soma pou Zitas” (The body you seek). The album was certified platinum.
