Helena Paparizou > New album October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Music Life Greek.comments closed
Greece’s Helena Paparizou, the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest winner, released her first international solo album recently.
“The game of love” will not only be published all over Europe but also in Australia, Japan, Canada and possibly world-wide. The CD contains 14 tracks, six of them are English versions of songs the singer has already published on her Greek album “Iparchi logos”.
Helena’s international album is confirmed as “The game of love” and not as previously reported elsewhere “Mambo”. The front cover image show’s Helena sitting in a beige room, leaning towards a wall. Some of the songs have already become hits. “Heroes” was the official song for the 2006 European Athletics Championships, held in Gothenburg, Sweden in August. “Mambo” is the song Helena Paparizou performed as interval act during this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. Song number 14, the bonus track, is sung in Greek. The original version of the song, recorded by Manos Hadjidakis, was a big hit in France back in 1962.
Helena Paparizou won the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with “My number one” for Greece. The single topped the charts both in Greece and Sweden and was overall a big hit. A remix version is currently achieving success in the United States dance charts, where it has reached the Top 10.
Tracklist:
Gigolo
Somebody’s burning (put the fire out)
The game of love
Mambo
Carpe diem (Seize the day)
Teardrops
Let me let go
Heroes
It’s gone tomorrow
Heart of mine
You set my heart on fire
Voulez vous?
Seven days
Bonus Track: Oti axizei i stigmes (Le bonheur)
Let it be Greek October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Greek Taste World.comments closed
A festival brings Hellenic happenings to Lecanto church grounds
Be Greek this weekend by immersing yourself in the culture at the annual festival at St. Michael’s church.
With Hellenic customs and hospitality being the focus, that means there will be lots of sumptuous food, topped off by dancing, vendors and just plain fun. The festival draws thousands each year, many lured by the smell from an outdoor grill where meats for gyros and souvlaki are cooked. You can also go inside the hall for a home-cooked platter of roast lamb or other traditional dishes. Now in its 14th year, the festival also serves a great menu of entrees, sandwiches and desserts.
A band, with a bouzouki playing traditional music, and dancers will entertain. During the dancing and music you’ll hear people shout out the traditional Greek cheer “Opa! Opa!” as they enjoy the events around them.
Dinner entrees include lamb shank, spinach pie, cheese pie, roast chicken, Greek salads and pastitsio, a lasagna-style dish. Many dancing and musical groups will perform over the course of the event.
Greek Orthodox community to get first church in the Gulf October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Religion & Faith.comments closed
Worshippers are hoping to start building a new Greek Orthodox Church soon after getting the go ahead from officials.
Members of the Greek Orthodox Christian community in the UAE say their new church will be the first of its kind in the Gulf.
John Theodory, an Arab Canadian who is chairman of the church committee, said he was delighted that work could now begin. “It is a very nice gesture from the government of Dubai,” he added.
The church is being built on a 1,800 square metre plot of land in Jebel Ali donated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Officials at Dubai Municipality have granted a licence for the project to go ahead, Theodory said.
There is currently a Greek Orthodox church in Iraq and a rented villa in Kuwait used by worshippers.
Niarchos Foundation’s initiatives in Greece October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Architecture Greece.comments closed
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday received the director of the Athens-based Niarchos Foundation, Epaminondas Farmakis, with the latter outlining the charitable organization’s intent to fund three major projects in the greater Athens area.
Specifically, Farmakis briefed the Greek Premier on the Niarchos Foundation’s aim to fund the construction of a new Opera House, National Library and cultural-educational park on 20 hectares of land in the so-called Faliro Delta, a tract of land in southern coastal Athens that for several decades before the Athens 2004 Olympic Games hosted Greece’s only horse race track. The latter was transferred to the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Complex ahead of the 2004 Games.
An initial study is pending, with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the state and the foundation being the next step.
The foundation is named after its creator, the late Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos.
Exporama Show in Athens > next December October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Shows & Conferences.comments closed
After a long preparatory process, Exporama Crossmedia is ready to launch Exporama Show, The Mediterranean Special Event for Exhibitions, Conferences and Below-the-Line Activities from 8 to 11 December 2006 at Helexpo Palace Exhibition Center in Athens, Greece (www.exporamashow.com).
Exporama Show is the first and only Business-to-Business exhibition in Southeastern Europe that focuses exclusively on the Events Industry and aims at becoming a communication platform for all event professionals. It brings together the suppliers who provide products and services in organizing, hosting, promoting and supporting exhibitions, congresses and corporate events with the end users who look for reliable and innovative solutions for their face-to-face marketing plans.
Exporama Show has already produced a favorable response among the industry professionals, with 150 leading companies having confirmed their participation two months prior to its opening, while approximately 5,000 trade visitors are expected to visit the event.
Exporama Show is supported by a number of important international and Greek organizations, including: IFES-International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services, IAEM-International Association for Exhibition Management, EFAPCO – the European Federation of the Associations of Professional Congress Organizers (its 2nd General Assembly and Annual Congress of EFAPCO will take place alongside Exporama Show, and it will be attended by over 250 European PCOs), TIF – Thessaloniki International Trade Fair SA, the historic exhibition institution in Greece, AGECO-The Association of Greek Exhibition and Conference Organizers, HAPCO – The Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers, Hellenic Institute of Marketing, the oldest institute incorporated in the Hellenic Management Association.
In addition, Meeting Professionals International – MPI, supports the seminar program of Exporama Show, which includes approximately 20 Exhibit and Event Marketing topics. Therefore, apart from EFAPCO that will hold its annual General Assembly and Congress alongside Exporama Show, IAEM – International Association for Exhibition Management is planning a round-table discussion about its presence in Europe that will be attended by both Greek and foreign organizers as well as industry professionals.
In this context, IFES – International Federation for Exhibition and Events Services and MPI – Meeting Professionals International will perform their own presentations, while it is worth mentioning that IFES has decided to hold its Board of Representatives Meeting in Athens. The seminar program incorporates 20 topics that will be elaborated on by top Greek and foreign professionals and academics, including among others: Bernhard Aggeler, Senior Partner European Event ROI Institute, Ray Bloom, Chairman IMEX- Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events, Simon Burton, Managing Director The Exhibiting Show, Rob Davidson, Senior Lecturer in Business Travel and Tourism, University of Westminster, Hakan Gershagen, Commercial Director Mack Brooks Exhibitions, UFI Marketing Committee, Steven Hacker, CAE, President of IAEM, Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, EHI Retail Institute GmbH, President of Euroshop, Bruno Meissner, FAMAB – President Select IFES and Birgit Roeterdink, Director Global Travel and Meetings Procurement, NV Organon. Messe Frankfurt, Nurnberg Messe, Redecoration, Vision, World Trade Fairs and Services and DOTO sponsor the event.
Dancing for Peace and Global Understanding October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Arts Events Cyprus, Arts Events Greece.comments closed
UN body adds lights and music to initiative for global understanding
Stavros Karayanni was a boy when his father was killed in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus 32 years ago. He found an unusual way of overcoming his anger: a devotion to Middle Eastern dancing.
“I couldn’t stay out of dance class,” said Karayanni, who wrote the 2004 book “Dancing Fear and Desire,” a the history of Middle Eastern dance.
On Friday, he joined more than 450 dance enthusiasts from 55 countries taking part in a United Nations-backed event aimed at using dance to promote greater familiarity and friendship among peoples. The annual World Congress on Dance Research includes performances from sacramental rituals to ancient Greek and Asian performances. Dancers in bright purple and gold flowing costumes swirled and gyrated to clanging bells and beating drums.
Carolina Varga Dinicu captivated a crowd of several hundred as she performed while ringing hand cymbals. Dinicu, who started her dance career in New York, joked that she has been dancing “since Noah got off the ark.”
Participants traveled from as far as South Africa, Chile and Canada to contribute dance techniques. “This is a wonderful idea and a great way to spread culture around the world,” said Meera Das, who teaches and performs the classical Indian dance “Odissi” at international festivals.
The event is backed by UNESCO, and organized by Greece’s traditional Dora Stratou Dance Theater along with the International Dance Council. The Congress aims to promote diversity by showcasing all types of dance.
“People have space here and it’s not hierarchical,” said Karayanni, who will be belly dancing in his performance. “It is a good place to share ideas.”
Using dance to overcome social and political problems will also be a theme. MOTUS, an Italian dance company, frequently travels to Eastern Europe, working to communicate the horrors of the regions’ history to children through dance. “Everyone wants … dance … as an instrument of communication,” said company director Rosanna Cieri.
While the event drew performers from several continents, organizers said the fundamentals of dance are the same across all cultures. “You can always see similarities,” said Jacqueline Delovich, a polarity therapist and former ballet dancer from New York. “It’s an inspiration.”
The four-day event ends Sunday.
Special Feature > Happy National Day > Parades October 28, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Special Features.comments closed
Student parades are held everywhere in Greece and Cyprus before the October 28 Ochi Day and March 25 Independence Day National holidays.
Ochi Day school parades will be held in Athens and other major cities Saturday.
On Saturday, Thessaloniki will host a military parade for Ochi Day which marks Greece’s joining World War II on the side of the allies in 1940, to be attended by President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
UPDATE > Annual ‘OXI Day’ parades honor Greece’s entry into WWII
Greece on Saturday commemorated the Nation’s refusal to allow Axis forces to pass through the country on October 28, 1940, essentially marking the country’s entry into WWII, with parades.
In Thessaloniki, the annual military parade was held in the presence of President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias. After the parade, Papoulias greeted handicapped veterans and National Resistance fighters.
“Our military is a pre-emptive force to be reckoned with by those that may think they can dispute our country’s sovereign rights,” Papoulias told reporters, while adding that the armed forces are also a creative force for peace in the region, “a force of peace that is based on a respect for international law, treaties and pacts…”
Papoulias had arrived in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Thursday to attend three-day celebrations marking the feast day of the city’s patron saint, Aghios Demetrius (St. Demetrius), the anniversary of the city’s liberation from Ottoman rule (1912) and the anniversary of Greece’s entry into WWII (1940).
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