Eleftheria Eleftheriou (, ; born 12 May 1989) is a Greek-Cypriot singer, musician, and actress. She came to prominence through her participation in the second season of the Greek version of The X Factor. Shortly after her elimination, Sony Music Greece signed her and submitted her as a candidate to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. She was later disqualified from the national final, following the leak of her song onto the internet by an unknown party.
Eleftheriou had previously participated in the Cypriot national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Play That Melody To Me" featuring Maria Zorli, finishing seventh in the final. Eleftheriou represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, with the song "Aphrodisiac", where she placed 17th (9th on the televoting).
Early life
Eleftheriou was born and raised in Frenaros. She enjoyed singing, drawing, dancing, and sports as a child. At the age of nine, she started courses at a conservatory. From a young age, she started learning piano, theory, harmony, and history of music. At the age of 15, she started voice lessons, and at age 16, she started participating as a soloist in the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation's national folk orchestra.
That same year, Eleftheriou was a candidate to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Play That Melody to Me" featuring Maria Zorli. Although she qualified to the final from the first semi-final, she finished seventh overall in the national final. Despite not winning the national final, Eleftheriou decided to continue studying music and performance, enrolling at the University of Surrey. She started singing solo in the Cypriot music scenes at the age of 18, and performed in the musical Rent in Nicosia for one season.
Career
2008–2009: The X Factor
In 2008, Eleftheriou auditioned for the first season of new talent show The X Factor Greece. Although she received three out of four yeses from the judges and was granted a spot in boot-camp, she decided not to participate in the show. A year later in 2009, Eleftheriou once again tried out for the show, and received four out of four yeses. Despite being a favourite to win, Eleftheriou was voted off the show during the fifth live episode. The host and singer Sakis Rouvas offered her a spot to sing with him at the Club he was appearing for the winter season live on the show, which she accepted.
Performances
Live 1 – "Den Milo Gia Mia Nihta Ego" (Original Singer: Eleftheria Arvanitaki) Live 2 – "Kopse Kai Mirase Sta Dio" (Original Singer: Eleonora Zouganeli) Live 3 – "Kathe Fora Pou Me Kitazeis (Original Singer: Alkistis Protopsalti) Live 4 – Opening: "Girls Just wanna have fun"; Competition: "Stin Diskotek" (Original Singer: Elpida) Live 5 – "No One" (Original Singer: Alicia Keys) Live 9 – "Methismeni Politeia" (Original Singer: Anna Vissi) (Special guest singer on Christmas live special)
2010–2011: Professional debut and Eurovision 2010
Shortly after her elimination, Sony Music Greece signed Eleftheria and submitted her as a candidate to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. A week before the formal presentation of the songs by Greek broadcast ERT, Eleftheriou's song "Tables are Turning" was leaked onto the web by an unknown party. As a result, the song was disqualified from the national final, while the leak also forced the broadcaster to release the rest of the national final songs prematurely the next day, in fear of further leaks.
Despite the disqualification, she released the song in Greek as "Kentro Tou Kosmou" as the first single off her debut album. A music video was shot and released shortly after. Both Greek and English versions of the song were released as digital downloads on 5 March 2010.
Eleftheriou started appearing with Sakis Rouvas and Tamta at S-Club on 11 December 2009. On 19 August 2010, she started appearing with Nikos Vertis at club Orama in Thessaloniki. Initially scheduled to end by the beginning of October, the shows proved to be a success and have been extended throughout October.
On 6 October 2010, Eleftheriou released her new single titled "Otan Hamilonoume To Fos" (When we dim the lights) with music by Giannis Iermias and lyrics by Faidon Samsidis. In March 2011, Eleftheria was featured on DJ duo HouseTwins' track "Never", credited under the name Elle. An accompanying music video featuring her was also released.