Just little more than four years ago, a new star named Nikos Economopoulos burst onto the Greek music scene. Often such an unexpected rise ends pretty quickly, because show business lives by sensation and regularly wants some new names.
But this is not the case with Nikos. His growing success has surprised many and destroys the short-sighted forecasts of the pessimists. His fourth album {"Doro Gia Sena", Minos -EMI, 2010)went double-platinum within the first month of sales and his live performances are always sold out. That says a lot about Nikos Economopoulos the artist and Nikos Economopoulos the person.
Why has this happened? What makes Nikos the most loved and commercially successful laika singer of the new generation?
There are many reasons: the most important of them are related to the growing skills of Nikos as an artist. Without going into detail about what is the essence of artistic craftsmanship, we will look at some examples of his live performances to find out how these skills are manifested. But first let me say that the mere fact that this artist has continued to perform without a break over many seasons already speaks a lot.
I believe, though it might sound strange, that the amazing stamina displayed by Nikos is a benefit which derived from the early years of his life, which were not easy. During his interviews, when responding to questions about his past, Nikos quite often says that in his younger age he was working hard while being involved in the family fishing business. We also know that he was a promising football player. And here is the key – Nikos is a physically strong person. Let me remind us that Enrico Caruso, as a young boy, worked at the sea port helping his father and later the great tenor was to say that this physical job made him strong enough to endure the profession of singer.
The genre of laika music, to which Nikos is dedicated, demands from its artists the ability to perform live regularly. There is a rule in “laika” to not use the lip synching that is widespread in pop music. Sometimes Nikos sings live six or even seven gigs a week, as happened after Christmas 2010, when he managed to perform three concerts in Cyprus during the interval between his regular gigs at “Fix”. [He performed at “Fix” on 23rd, 24th and 25th December, had a one-day break, then on 27th, 28th and 29th he performed in Cyrpus. Then straight after Cyprus, without a break, he again performed at “Fix” on the 30th and 31st of December and 1st of January”].
And each time Nikos sang excellently, bringing the audience to a state of ecstatic rapture! This stability of the quality of his performances is the most critical indicator of a high level of professionalism.
Still, the question arises: why does the audience literally lose control during this singer’s performances? What makes people to fill up the halls where he performs and create an atmosphere of madness wherever he sings?
I would name several components: the voice, stage persona, artistic charm and taste in everything, including the repertoire choice. Just a few examples can help illustrate how all these qualities work in Nikos’ performances.
Let’s start with “Akousa” – the way it was performed in Monte Caputo, Limassol, Cyprus, on 1 October 2010 [link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8hPsaRVv78].
This zembekiko by Chrisovergis and Giatras has featured as the opening song in all Nikos’ performances for the past year. On entering the scene of Monte Caputo, Cyprus, the singer seems charged with energy derived from the music of this song. Nikos moves precisely and rapidly, radiating the joy he feels every time he meets the public. His voice, like a festive fanfare instills a sense of celebration in the hearts of the people who packed this huge hall. The quality of the sound never fades, in this particular song it shines as a trumpet. The top notes are slightly ornamented, creating in the listeners something like a feeling of headiness. The evenness of the voice, which is a result of a perfect natural support of the sound, gives the public a feeling of comfort, and, as a result, desire to listen to more and more ... this is the way the magic contact between the singer and listener starts working..
A song “Doro Gia Sena”, which became a top hit of the multi-platinum CD of the same name, already occupies the strongest position in Nikos’ concert repertoire and its interpretation is constantly developing. We can say that every time when performing this song Nikos brings some new details into it. The poetry of Eleni Giannatsoulia and the music of Vasilis Gavrilidis give him a chance to show how a lyrical ballad develops into a drama. Firstly, of course, Nikos uses here a few different colours in his voice, from very tender and warm at the beginning to powerful and bright in the choruses.
Furthermore, his exact pitch helps Nikos achieve a stunning effect - in the chorus his voice repeatedly soars to the top note and gets into it with incredible accuracy. It really sounds like a magic spell and makes the theme of the song simply unforgettable. From the very beginning, in early December 2010, the song has already become widely known and since then the audiences at the concerts sing the chorus. Nikos gives the second chorus to the public, sometimes singing along and in some cases improvising his own harmonies of an exquisite beauty. The last chorus (which is in fact a coda of the song) Nikos leaves for himself, improvising every time a unique climax by reaching the top note in a new way.
Let us turn to another song from the new album, which is also firmly established in Nikos’ concert repertoire – “Alla Mou Taxane "[music by Marita Rossi, words by Panos Falaras]. This dramatic ballad bears the features of Nikos’ biography, and to a certain extent it is the confession of the singer. Thrilling words and the growing wave of the melody is a dangerous field which could lead some artists to the excessive pathos and sentimentality. Yet for Nikos Economopoulos it is not so. There is one feature in this singer’s character that is evident even in his interviews. He likes to leave space for the imagination of the listener and never turns himself inside out. In our case, without a whisper or scream Nikos achieves a stunning expressive effect in the performance of this song. Everything in it is built on the skills to hold on surging emotions and at the same time to show the inner strength. Nikos creates this effect by restricting himself in the ornamentation of the top notes as well as by using his ability to keep long lasting sounds. Through these notes, requiring a large breath, the audience feels the physical power of the singer and instinctively the listener begins to believe in what the artist sings.
The songs such as “Simeiosate Diplo” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYZkB0lniZE] by Nikos Vaxavanelis and Panagiotis Brakoulias (from the new album) or the famous “Prigkipessa” by Sokratis Malamas [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiRT_YvFK8w] performed by Nikos intoxicate the public with rhythm, which is not only provided by the orchestra, but exists in his voice itself. I mean the quality of the sound – it reminds one of a percussive instrument with all those shiny cymbals and triangles that appear here and there on the top of the clear melodic figures. Easily moving around the stage and lighting the enthusiasm of people by rhythmical movements of hands, Nikos firmly seizes the public.
The ability to reflect the sounds of accompanying instruments in his voice is yet another unique quality of Nikos Economopoulos. Thanks to this, the singer always perfectly matches the style of the musical piece. That’s why his cover versions of songs attract even those who prefer original performers of them.
Let us see the way Nikos hits the style in his recent interpretation of the song “Lane Moje” by Zeljko Joksimovic (Serbia) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRULsb3i5Ro]. The main feature of the song, which came second on the Eurovision 2004, is the ethnic sound of the accompaniment. The solo flute – in the original it is a Turkish flute (Ney) - creates an image of a tender melancholy, which finds a perfect reflection in Nikos’ performance of the song. The colour of his voice in this number reflects a flute tone, but with the constant presence of the glowing effect, which we have repeatedly noted in earlier articles, and which exists in each sound sung by Nikos. With the gradual ascension of the melody to the high register, the singer's voice naturally gets some dramatic effect, perfectly fitting the climax.
All is there: the style and expressiveness, and the inexplicable beauty of the voice - from top to bottom. Nikos sings “Lane Moje” in Serbian, which is, of course, an imminent part of the ethnic style. And, by the way, the foreign language does not create a problem for the Greek listeners to appreciate the song: they greet it with tremendous enthusiasm. I believe that in the opposite case, if Nikos were to sing Greek “laika” songs for the foreign public, again language would not be a problem. Real musical talent can break the walls of incomprehension through enabling the singer’s performance, persona and on-stage emotion to “speak” the language of the listener.
The Greek language is an inherent part of the “laika” style and Nikos’ repertoire is excellent and ready for export, in exactly the same way as Neapolitan songs are welcomed world-wide and sung in the native language.
It is impossible within the narrow frame of one article to give a full analysis of the constant creative growth that Nikos is demonstrating in recent times. But the fact that the super popular young singer does not stop there, but is moving forward steadily improving his skills is highly unusual. In a recent interview Nikos said: "You'll laugh, but I do not feel that I have done anything out of what I have in my mind.”
Modest and demanding of himself, Nikos has gained the reputation of being a workaholic and perfectionist. But music has no limits to professional development. Many young and growing artists are loved by public around the world without being on the very top of professionalism. So, such a big gift as Nikos possesses is more than ready to be introduced to other countries. The Cyprus experience proved that his success overseas could be overwhelming.
Hopefully, in the foreseeable future, the voice and artistic personality of Nikos will bring joy to people living outside of Greece, because his special talent and persona are too great to shackle within artificial borders – he now belongs to the world.
Edited by Theo Simeonidis
