News - Greece: Kalomira puts career on ice | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2009 Moscow, Russia 

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Written by

Stella Floras

Published

31/Jul at 04:21

Source(s)

esctoday.com, Ciao magazine

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Kalomira, Greece 2008 - © Kalomira
© Kalomira

Bitter and angry

Greece: Kalomira puts career on ice

Just a few days after she was warmly welcomed in her home country as a winner, having achieved a third place at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Kalomira Sarantis left for the United States to be present at her sister's childbirth. Or so everyone thought at first. The truth is that due to a conflict between the artist and her label, the former has decided to leave the country indefinitely, putting her singing career on hold for the time being.

Kalomira Sarantis expresses great bitterness and although she still refuses to reveal the exact reasons that forced her to halt her successful singing career in Greece, she makes it clear this had nothing to do with her participation in the contest. On the contrary Eurovision was something that made her happy and proud she claims: " It was an honour for me to represent Greece in this contest." she says " I say this from the bottom of my heart as I felt the love of the people through all the nice things they said about me. I thanked them because they supported me from the first moment I said I'd do it."

Kalomira claims it was a number of things, all of major importance, that accumulated until she could not endure the situation any longer. According to her father, the main problem lay with Heaven Music, Kalomira's record label and the way they treated the artist. He feels that his daughter was purposefully mistreated by the label and by some people in particular "who treated her like dirt".

Mr Makis Pounentis, the newly appointed CEO of Heaven Music, when asked by Ciao magazine, claimed he was surprised to hear about the singer's complaints and as he has been at his post for a few months he could not offer an explanation. Heaven Music ,he says, will honour the contract with Kalomira.

Currently, the young artist is in Long Island where she helps out at her family's taverna. At the beginning of the month, she was secretly engaged to her long time boyfriend Yiorgos. As for the plans for her return, nothing has been decided yet: "I miss Greece and all the people I really love, but I need to calm down and think" she says.


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Candyman 12 points [14078]
Tue 5 Aug 2008 22:16:50

kALOMIRA was amazing in ESC08! My favourite entry! Such sweet person, not a diva character and so talented! God bless ya K-Moira!! You rule!!


Secret Combination!! #1


DAN WILSON [30786]
Mon 4 Aug 2008 21:58:13

Please Kalomira, COME BACK.....!!!!

GREECE 2009 :L :L


JOHN today [10570]
Mon 4 Aug 2008 20:15:02

I'm really sorry for her. She's a talented girl, but I must admit I didn't like her Eurovision song at all. Even though her performance was flawless, I was astonished to see this song do so well, especially compared to some really good songs in the contest. It's all a matter of taste, I'm sure, but I would have preferred to see a Greek entry do well simply because the song is good. :)


shukru dinįkaya [45173]
Mon 4 Aug 2008 17:38:23

just i would like to say i love kalomoira and voted for her from turkey


Holly Golightly [32518]
Sat 2 Aug 2008 20:49:18

at sotiris avlonitis,

it's weird, but i never joined a delegation for the contest. i always watch the event with friends or alone home.

so, i know nothing of what is going on with delegations etc...-)


Vladimir P [31751]
Sat 2 Aug 2008 11:54:26

It's a pity. Hope she continues her carreer without her family's interference.


Yannis Too Too Much [20131]
Sat 2 Aug 2008 01:42:24

I tottaly understand her. Artists of Heaven have really difficulty to pass to their opinions to the bosses of the label. They don't even allowed their artists to go to shows of any other TV channel apart from Antenna TV (where is in the same group of companies with Heaven)
Poutentis is a good dj but nothing more. To work as an director of a label you need defintelly ore than this. Record music in Greece is dying.


Vincent Barbarino [38148]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 22:33:28

@Alexis Mozzart,
i do nt think that she was not made for the stage, i think she is destined for the stage becuase i agree with you: she has not a good voice, "secret combination" was not a very good song, but it was she and her perofrmance on stage which made her almost win the contest and finish at last 3rd. This is a great talent for every succesful pop star: to amke out of a mediocre song and with a mediocre voice a good performance. This is what Madonna does, Kylie Minogue and some other few pop stars. I think with the right moves and the right people around her, Kalomoira would become a big pop star, because she has also another asset which only big pop stars have: she can make devoted fans..I think what she lacs are the right people around her ans obviously the right people who could pusy her career. And she doesn't seem that motivated anymore..It is a pitty


Christos L [11029]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 21:29:17

Νο one from heaven wants to meet with pounentis. he's a big m@l@k@s


Sanna ~ [45911]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 20:47:23

I´m sorry for Kalomira that she has problems like this. Hope that she will and can solve them and go on with her career. She´s a great singer and gives all the best 100 %. Time and thinking will help.. always.


Alexis Mozzart! [44465]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 16:18:36

Ooh Kalomira has abandoned the music industry!! Yeah, I had heard some of this on TV but if it's out to the ESCfans then I guess it's true!! Well, it's a shame as she was a very nice girl; sweet and cute. But, honestly, nobody will miss her. She had almost no singing career, as she had no voice at all! I don't understand how she got to the third place with her horrible song. Really kitch, bad choreography and horrible clothes, as for the song, it wasn't even melodic! But we have seen worse entries reach the top in the Eurovision... at least she was better than others. I heard on tv something that her mother said: she said that "My daughter cannot live her life like a normal person or have a family if she is forced to perform every night in night clubs." For any people in here that are not familiar with it, each singer sings in a particular night club along with 2-3 other artists, several evening per week. I guess doing this did not really fit with the life that Kalomira and her family were planning for her. And this is what is probably meant by what her father said, that "some people were treating her like dirt." Anyway, too much fuss for nothing...I wish her good luck in whatever she does- it is a wise decision, I think. The stage was not for her.


Mina Carnation [51405]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 14:54:16

Maybe she was just a bit too young and too much under protection of the parents.

She gave an interview to a magazine and apparently the problem is she isn't happy with her company..I don't know what she will do next...she has a contract for 2 more years (I think).


Candyman 12 points [14078]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 14:35:42

All the artists work hard for Eurovision, they all worked their butt off with rehearsals, promo tours and so on



What about tatu?


Mina Carnation [51405]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 13:21:57

Oh, ok marc..well, not ok but I mean I understand what you meant now..lol


marc x [47152]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 13:18:27

Off course for you Greeks it's different. It's sad really because she got everything going for her, all she had to do was being there. As I believe during summer, she could have earned so much money performing in Greece. Maybe she was just a bit too young and too much under protection of the parents.


marc x [47152]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 13:11:18

sorry I meant she won't be missed as a singer...


sotiris avlonitis [44199]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 12:35:10

@ Holly Golightly... exo paei kai ego se arketes eurovision me tin Kypriaki apostoli ... den xero omos an sinantithikame pote...!!!!


Mina Carnation [51405]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 11:32:42

she won't be lost as a big singer anyway

What do you mean? That she may have a career in America or that she won't be missed? I'm confused.


marc x [47152]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 08:02:07

If the girls prefers to be in US, let her be.... she won't be lost as a big singer anyway.


Almila . [22245]
Fri 1 Aug 2008 00:25:08

guess she wants to live in US.n this is a lil escape imo (6)lol


Mina Carnation [51405]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 22:58:36

It was my opinion and i don't care what you think. As you can see, we can't agree on everything. I will give you 1 example only: t.A.T.U but i know there are plenty of others too

What about tatu?


Candyman 12 points [14078]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 22:40:19

That wasn't a very nice thing to say. All the artists work hard for Eurovision

It was my opinion and i don't care what you think. As you can see, we can't agree on everything.

I will give you 1 example only: t.A.T.U but i know there are plenty of others too


Vincent Barbarino [38148]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 21:39:51

Mina,
we finally fully agree. That is what i was trying to say all the time, but i guess you put it mre straight and plain. I agree 100% with every word of your last comment :-)


Mina Carnation [51405]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 20:57:49

But if the diaspora voting was so strong, i think we would have the same winner and the same top10 year after year

And the same goes for neighbour voting. I don't think anyone disagrees that Russia has the most neighbours and yet they only won this once...same as Ukraine, they also only won once. And ofcourse Greece and Turkey would also be in the top 3 as well since we have both a good amount of diaspora.

Diaspora and neighbour voting can help a country if the song is good. The problem is that other countries with a similarly good song don't have that help. And with an average song, one of the countries with diaspora/neighbours will be somewhere in the middle of the scoreboard while another country will be at the bottom.

BUT I firmly believe that if a song is REALLY appealing to many viewers, it can get very high or even win.
Ofcourse that's not comforting to a country who ends up being 15th for example and knows that if they had 4-5 neighbours or a big diaspora they could be in the top 10...or to a country that doesn't make it to the final for 20-30 pts, exactly what they would get by 2-3 neighbours.


Mina Carnation [51405]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 20:39:17

Mina - did you see the Czech performance this year

My God yes and I'm still trying to forget about it..LOL


Holly Golightly [32518]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 20:35:56

richard m,

ur a stupid sissy.

shut ur mouth or find a proper bed partner.

thank you


Vincent Barbarino [38148]
Thu 31 Jul 2008 20:17:22

cbpija,
yu have a point there and maybe you are right, but i think the voting patterns and habits of the viewers and the final outcome of the scoreboard is a very complicated process, and since it is impossible to know how many diaspora people and how many native people vote, all the discussions here seem to me pure guessing. But if the diaspora voting was so strong, i think we would have the same winner and the same top10 year after year. And this is not the case. I guess also that the voting habits of the diaspora people do not manage much than giving a benefit of some 30-50 pts more to some entries in the final and helps 3-4 countries to qualify. I do not think it is so significant in the long turn. Otherwise we would have Turkey, Greece, Bosnia Serbia and most of all Albania winning each year or finjishing top5 and that is definetely not the case. And there are still some 38 countries voting without a significant homogeneous diaspora..this topic bores me to death


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