Greece 2018: Get to know Yianna Terzi
Yianna Terzi is a Greek singer and songwritter and will represent Greece at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Oniro mou“, totaly in Greek language.
She was born in Thessaloniki and at age of 20, she moved to Athens to pursue a music career as her life were always full of music and she could never imagine doing something different, since she was born.Emerging from a musical family of professional singers (her father, Paschalis Terzis is a very famous Greek singer), Yianna relocated from Greece to the United States nine years ago, before making her way into the studio to work with Grammy-winning and nominated writers and producers – determined to develop her skills as a songwriter and a vocalist.
She released her first official English single, entitled “Love Is Your Name”, on iTunes and it soon started to become a staple track in the DJ sets of many underground clubs in New York. This prompted Yianna to begin performing in the city to start establishing herself in the US. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she ended up working as a talent scout for the Vice President of A&R of Epic Records and then Interscope Records, with the aim of broadening her knowledge of the industry, as well as expanding her circle of musical contacts and collaborators (Red One, R City and Dr. Luke to name just a few).
She has performed in front of thousands of people in many a venue for a number of years now. At a young age, she was inspired by groundbreaking and immensely successful artists such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Michael Jackson. She obtained a degree in Theory of Music and then pursued her dream of becoming a professional singer, quickly being signed to Universal Music Greece. Audiences connected with Yianna instantly and were moved by the unique tone and timbre of her voice.
She has been nominated for several awards, including ‘Best New Artist’ at both the Cyprus Music Awards and the Arion Awards. Her debut album Gyrna to kleidi (Turn the Key) (2006) and its first single Pou kai pou (Every Now and Then) attracted significant radio airplay and stayed on the charts in her homeland for months. The same,as well, happened with her second Greek album. Äse me na taxidepso”(Let me travel) (2008), .Yianna’s sophomore album was then released on EMI Records and two singles and videos followed.
Being away from her country of birth for many years, Yianna felt the need to write a tribute song to Greece to express her gratitude and admiration for her country. The song is an imaginary dialogue between Greece and its people. In the verses, Greece expresses bittersweet feelings which are tinged with nostalgia, while in the chorus, Greeks reassure their country of their undying love. Oniro Mou marks Yianna’s first foray into songwriting at the Eurovision Song Contest.
The song was co-written by Aris Kalimeris, Dimitris Stamatiou and Michalis Papathanasiou.
“Oniro mou” lyrics:
Αν θα ψάξεις το βυθό μου
