Kalomira

Kalomira

Kalomoira (Καλομοίρα in Greek characters; born Marie Carol Sarantis, January 31, 1985, West Hempstead, New York, United States), also known simply as Kalomira or K-Moira, is a Greek-American singer, famous in Greece and Cyprus.

Early life

Kalomoira, known as Carol in America, hails from Nassau County, New York. She was born to Greek-American restaurant owners Nikos (Nick) and Eleni (Helen) Sarantis on January 31, 1985 and has one sister.

Since childhood, Kalomoira's dream was to become a pop star. She took part in many extracurricular activities at school including drama productions and musicals which showcased her singing and dancing skills. Her favorite instrument was the viola, which she studied for 9 years and played in the school orchestra. She was also Miss West Hempstead (Homecoming Queen) at her high school in 2003.

On a tip from her cousin, she entered and won second place at a music contest organized by WBLI Radio. Following her appearance, she participated as a supporting actress in several live shows with famous American artists, such as Jessica Simpson, LL Cool J and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Kalomoira entered the New York City auditions for Antenna's Fame Story 2 (licensed from Star Academy, a reality talent show similar to American Idol in the United States and Fame Academy in the United Kingdom) and was one of the two singers chosen from a group of 200 performers. Despite speaking primarily English, Kalomoira went to Greece after having completed one semester of college at Adelphi University where she was a music major, and competed on the three month long show. Kalomoira placed first and her professional singing career began.

Fame Story

After the New York City auditions Kalomoira went to Greece for the start of Fame Story 2. Kalomoira's first song was Katy Garbi’s “Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό” in which she swapped the lyrics “είμαι η Καίτη που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kaiti who you used to love”) with “είμαι η Καλομοίρα που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kalomoira who you used to love”). Her difficulties with Greek songs were not significant enough to hold her back.

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Kalomoira singing on Fame Story

Following the success of her first performance, she performed the popular song "Stand by Me". The following week, the challenge became bigger as she was made to perform the Greek song “H Γκαρσόνα” ("The Waitress"), which seemed totally out of Kalomoira's vocal and style capability. She was also told to perform Aliki’s song “Γατούλα” ("Pussycat"), written by Manos Hatzidakis, which gave the chance to Kalomoira to show her talent once again. The songs became more challenging for the young singer as her teachers in the academy pushed her to sing Greek songs. Her next songs were “Ανάβεις φωτιές” ("You are lighting fires") and "Dancing Queen".

The judges assigned Kalomoira with Barbara Streisand’s "Woman in Love", a song with special vocal requirements. Kalomoira fared well, but in the week that followed, Kalomoira's rendition of Stavros Ksarhakos’ “Ένα πρωινό” ("A breakfast") left the judges unimpressed. Next, Kalomoira chose to perform a song by Madonna titled "La Isla Bonita" and managed to stay in the game. This was followed by a duet with another participant (Nikos Mihas) in "Gucci των Μασάι" ("Masai's Gucci"), which gave her a chance to remain in the show for another week.

Marinella’s "Γιατί Φοβάσαι" (Why are you afraid) was a bit difficult for her, but Kalomoira made it through to the next week’s "Περιττός" which proved to be quite easy for her. She continued to stay in the game with a performance of Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again". After many weeks of the competition, Kalomoira was one of the final six participants of the game with only two performances left. Her rendition of "Εϊ Καζανόβα" ("Hey Cazanova") equalled her success with Madonna’s "Express Yourself" in the final show. Kalomoira won the contest, earned 200,000 Euros and a recording contract with Heaven Music.

List of Fame Story Songs

• Intro - "Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό" (Once up on a time)
• Week 1 - "Stand by Me" duet with Giorgos Hristou
• Week 2 - "H Γκαρσόνα" (The Waitress)
• Week 3 - "Γατούλα" (Pussycat)
• Week 4 - "Ανάβεις φωτιές" (You are lighting fires) duet with Maro Lytra
• Week 5 - "Dancing Queen"
• Week 6 - "Ένα πρωινό" (One morning)
• Week 7 - "La Isla Bonita"
• Week 8 - "Gucci των Μασάι" (Masai's Gucci) duet with Nikos Mihas
• Week 9 - "Γιατί Φοβάσαι" (Why Are You Afraid)
• Week 10 - "Περιττός" (Unnecessary)
• Week 11 - "Oops!... I Did It Again"
• Week 12 - "Εϊ Καζανόβα" ("Hey Cazanova")
• Finale - "Express Yourself"

Professional Career

2004–2006: The First Albums

Kalomoira performed in Thessaloniki’s FOCUS from July 8th to August 14th. While entertaining audiences by night, she was recording her first album by day. Outside of Greece, Kalomoira has appeared on NBC’s "Today Show" and "Access Hollywood," along with a number of other shows and websites. On September 1 2004, Kalomoira released her 15 track first album Kalomoira which went gold. She then toured Greece accompanied by the rest of the "Fame Story" participants with appearances in Athens’s "Thalassa". In the same year, she closed her season at the REX studio with Despina Vandi and Thanos Petrelis. Kalomoira received good reviews from critics and was awarded "Woman of the Year - Best Newcomer" by Life and Style magazine.

In 2005, Kalomira released her second album titled Paizeis? (You Playing?) with 12 songs, of which two were written and composed by her. She also agreed to appear with Elli Kokkinou, Andreas Stamos and Constantinos Christoforou at the Piraeus 130 music club. In her program, she included covers of songs such as "Scandalous," "Don't Cha" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart," in addition to songs from her first and second albums. On April 11 2005 she was a special guest on the first live concert of the first season of Star Academy Bulgaria.

In the fall of 2006, Kalomoira became the female co-hostess on the hit Sunday night show Pio Poli Tin Kiriaki alongside with Grigoris Arnaoutoglou on Mega Channel. In December, she released her third CD I Kalomoira Paei Cinema (Kalomira Goes to the Cinema). It features songs from classic Greek movies which Kalomoira re-vamped.

2007–present: Eurovision & New Album

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Kalomoira singing at the Greek National final

At the end of 2007, Heaven Music chose Kalomoira to be their contestant in the 2008 National Final to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Kalomoira picked an R&B style upbeat song with a Greek feel composed by Konstantinos Pantzis with lyrics by Poseidonas Giannopoulou titled "Secret Combination". The song has an "American production" feel to it. On February 3 2008, Kalomoira and Kostas Martakis' songs for Greece's national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 were leaked on the web. ERT had previously stated that they would not release the songs before a press conference on February 6, 2008. On February 27 2008, Kalomoira won the National Final with "Secret Combination" and will represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. To promote the song, Kalomoira kicked off a pre-Eurovision tour by visiting several Eurovision countries throughout March and April.

Kalomoira announced on her online diary that she recorded her new album during September and October of 2007 in Greece. It is named Secret Combination, is planned to be released sometime in May 2008 and will contain songs in both Greek and English, including "Secret Combination". There will also be a bonus rap remix of "Secret Combination" by Master Tempo. The writers are Konstantinos Pantzis, Tasos Vougiatzis and Sunny X.

As a pop icon

Many young people surveyed are considerably tempted to join the ranks of Fame Story, having Kalomoira in mind. Also in 2004, she had a minor credited role in the Greek TV drama series I Lampsi, playing the part of Jennifer, where veteran director Nikos Foskolos compared her to Aliki Vougiouklaki. As of early 2006 she co-hosted the Good Morning show Proinos Kafes in ANT1 TV.

Kalomoira has been profiled as belonging to the very light-hearted side of pop music. Although she is famed for her high charisma, natural charm and overall innocent image, she usually sings about cliché boy-girl relationships and falling-in-love songs. Her audience is mostly amongst the young teenagers and early twenty-somethings. Her image makers have been trying to establish an 'innocent' ingenue look for her, which has resulted in often caricaturization.

Discography

All the albums listed underneath were released and charted in Greece and Cyprus.

Studio albums

Year	Title	Certification
2004	Kalomoira	Gold
2005	Paizeis?	-
2006	I Kalomoira Paei Cinema (Kalomoira Goes to the Cinema)	-
2008	Secret Combination	-

Singles

Year	Title	Album/CD Single	Notes
2006	"Gine Mazi Mou Paidi"	"Gine Mazi Mou Paidi"	Fundraiser for the poor and disabled of Greece
2008	"Secret Combination"	"Secret Combination"	The Greek entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

DVDs & Video Albums

Year	Title	Certification
2005	Kalomoira Special Karaoke Edition Released: September, 2005 1st DVD	-

Music Videos

• "Nomizeis"
• "Petheno Gia Sena"
• "Proti mou Fora"
• "Paizeis"
• "Ki Olo Perimeno"
• "Medley ("Crazy Girl", "Mambo", "Riko Riko Rikoko" (T'Agori Mou), "Thelo Ta Opa Mou")
• "Secret Combination"

Guest Appearances

• "Do What You Wanna Do" - ("59's Finest - The Five Nine Ep") (2004)
• "Teleftea Efkairia" - (Single by "Filoi Gia Panta") (2007)

Tour History

Fame Story

• Greece Part 1
• North America
  • Montreal (Palace Reception Halls)
  • Atlantic City (Trump Taj Mahal)
  • New York
  • Boston
  • Chicago
• Greece Part 2

External links

• Kalomoira.com - official website in English and Greek.
• Kalomoira.net - Kalomira's Official Fan Club in English and Greek.
• KalomiraSarantis.com - fan website, only in Greek.
• Kalomira Sarantis at IMDb
• Access Hollywood
• Kalomoira's Myspace -- A MySpace fan club for Kalomoira