The CD by Nikos Economopoulos "Doro Gia Sena" has entered its second round of sales. The three-time platinum album is currently presented with a colorful and informative booklet. This deluxe and beautifully-packaged edition can be found modestly priced at stores throughout Greece. This album, allied with a well-organized advertising campaign, has been a huge success - topping triple platinum within five months of its initial release.
Let us look inside the booklet and see what is hidden behind its cover with Nikos' radiant smile.
The first thing that impresses is the beautiful photos by Iakovos Kalaitzakis, Joanna Tzetzoumi and Papadakis Press, although the eclectic selection may surprise. We can see here some alternate images of Nikos the Prince, the Philosopher and the musician Vagabond, but things become clearer as we read the brochure.
Page one is devoted to Nikos Economopoulos who has written an open letter to his fans. In it he reveals: "being only 6 years old, I decided that what I want to serve forever is the song". Despite referring to his earliest ambition in life as "an oxymoron", Nikos’ childhood dream ultimately came to fruition through a long, yet determined journey. However, he does not rest on his laurels and continues to persevere with great fervor, strengthened by the love and support of his beloved fans and has vowed to give them even more of himself in the future.
After this introduction we are taken through Nikos’ biography, described by Mary Augerinopoulou.
Written in the epic style interspersed with quotes from Nikos, the gripping storyline captivates the reader. We glimpse at pictures of the singer’s childhood, which he spent in his home town Kato Achaia as Nikos reminisces: "I remember my grandfather waiting for me under the lemon tree, I am coming to the terrace and he gives me a sign, asking me to go down to their house. There, beside him, I grew up. And he was the one who first heard me singing my own improvised songs.”
We read about his youthful years, about how he had to work hard helping his family with their fishing business, thus fortifying him with life’s realities and ensuring he did not become a “spoilt child.” We are then given an account of the various lucky “accidents” and events that punctuated and charted Niko’s future career.
We follow him on his journey as a singer, which started at the age of 17 and which involved considerable travel for performances in Peloponnesus, as well as in the North of Greece and Thrace, where he cemented the best friendships of his life: "My friends had been telling me to take try other approaches, to send a demo to a label, but I didn’t do that. I wanted things to come by themselves, in their own time, and this is how it happened.”
We learn about his victory at the talent contest Dream Show- 2 and about the subsequent fortunate connection with Thanasis Papageorgeou, who in turn became Nikos’ producer and investor- and who funded the enclosed booklet for this CD.
We are impressed by the names of several prominent artists of the Greek laiko song with whom the young singer collaborated and became close to: "Giannis Parios is for me the greatest living singer and it was a big joy and honour for me to work with him and to be his friend. Also I am happy with my collaboration with Stamatis Gonidis, as well as with other artists I have found on stage. From all of them I’ve gained something."
We understand from this epic, that Nikos attributes his success to his work ethic and his determination: "Honestly, I don’t believe in luck. I've always walked and I walked towards the goals in my life. I believe in a strong will and hard work.
“When you want something that much and you love it, it will happen, no matter how long it takes. You will work hard, but if you're determined, you will win the bet."
And above all - this is always seems the most interesting – we discover something about Nikos’ personal life: "Solitude is of my own choice. I want my time so I can reinvent myself. Every evening I review the day as I don’t want my day to be wasted. It's a shame to squander your time. And if I spend some days without doing anything it is because I really need to rest. Besides I have great need of my conversation with God. It may sound strange, but I talk with Him when I really want something and, in His own way, He always gives me an answer.”
Nikos Economopoulos’ story has elements that remind us of a classic fairy tale: the archetypal story is one of a hardworking “Cinderella” who fortuitously finds good fortune and attains a new, happy life. With each new novice artist that emerges this “fairy tale” is often re-hashed to fit the events. It appears that what we read in this CD booklet is connected to this familiar tale, but in a slightly different way.
I propose to try to interpret what role Nikos’ commitment to his destiny has driven his success to date, or whether luck has played a greater role.
Nikos himself claims that even at the tender age of 6, his dream to become a singer was not simply a pure “child’s whim” but rather a deeply held conviction. One should not be surprised by this: when it comes to great talent, it is much more surprising if this gift is woken up later and begins emerging sometime in the teens. In most cases, all the great musicians are already aware of the burden they will carry from childhood. This divine spark begins to burn from inside, almost from birth, and a gifted man is haunted by it. This spark requires lighting the fire, so, this paradox is yet another proof of the exceptional musical talent of Nikos Economopoulos.
Now, a few words about football. It is no secret that many great singers were seriously engaged in this sport. The famous Three Tenors, not only sang in stadiums, but they themselves were excellent football players. Luciano Pavarotti was, like Nikos, a big, but dashed hope for his hometown football team. But nothing passes without trace. Football cultivated in all of these singers some priceless qualities like courage, endurance and fortitude, and, as we will see later, each of these qualities was a crucial one for the future Nikos Economopoulos career.
Nikos learned discipline from his teens onwards when he had to work from sunrise to sundown and this regimen was to serve him well. Indeed, as a result of such habits to work, Nikos is able to withstand hours of load: because of this ability to be permanently in top form he, like a magnet, constantly attracted large crowds of people to the venue “FIX” in Athens where he worked during 5 months of the winter 2010-11 season, during the hardest time of the economic crisis in Greece.
Economopoulos' appearance on the 2006 Dream Show-2 proved to be both an artistic breakthrough but also something of a personal challenge. Nikos' gentle and soft-spoken manner, coupled with his modest and reserved nature, proved at odds with the reality TV aspects of the Dream Show. However, while intrusions proved to be personally distasteful to Nikos, he nevertheless pressed on with his customary grit for the reason why he was there in the first place - to make his mark and provide his own highly individualistic stamp on the Greek laiko song.
Regarding the victory in this singing competition we also can find some details, omitted in many topics about this significant event in Nikos’ biography. Amazing voice and attractive, unusual looks were, of course, the most obvious factors there.
But no less important is another quality: it is his ability to perform in front of people and jury without losses. I don’t want to repeat myself by mentioning again Nikos’ bravery and his strong character. One does not need to be an expert to conclude, after watching and listening to his live performances on the Dream Show-2, that this is the work of an experienced professional. The night dream that Nikos had, before applying to perform on the show, came to him not by accident. At that moment, subconsciously, Nikos Economopoulos felt that, due to many years of performing on stage, he had reached the level that would guarantee him victory. One’s voice and even character are not enough alone to provide this guarantee, but there also needs to be a high level of professionalism. People from the venues where Nikos was singing before the competition, can confirm – he was already an excellent performer and was adored by the audiences. He strategically used the right time and entered at the right place. He came from the provinces to Athens and he conquered Athens!
The victory in this competition brought to Nikos Economopoulos well deserved recognition, a decent amount of money, a record label contract and the patronage of Thanasis Papageorgeou. Not bad, you might say, but let us look at what Nikos has brought to the Greek music scene.
Nikos' entry onto the Greek musical horizon arrived at just the right juncture in his native land's history by bringing in new blood to a time-honored genre in addition to helping the troubled populace to forget its problems for a while and to give them some optimism during most uncertain times. Economopoulos opted to mix the old with the new -- the tradition of the Greek laiko song would be respected at all times but infused with a vitality stemming from Nikos' unique personality and charismatic performance style. To this end, he coined an upbeat and up-tempo axiom, "The song is the best antidote in the time of crisis".
Nikos does not believe in pandering to fickle trends by imitating other singers or by introducing the English language into his songs as he feels that the Hellenistic qualities of song are best preserved in their natural state. Though it's a well known fact that the Internet has cut deeply into the recording industry worldwide, Nikos has been successful in bucking those negative ramifications and taking centre stage in marketability.
A hard-working, yet highly imaginative and satisfying artist, Nikos Economopoulos serves as positive beacon in the life of the Greek laiko song. In addition to his ever-widening popularity, he is becoming a major influence in the artistic legacy of Greece.
And now let's go back to the original question: who is Nikos Economopoulos in this fairy tale-like story? Is he a "fortunate newcomer"” overjoyed by his luck or the Golden Prince of Greek Song, who is actually the carrier of that very same luck?
In my opinion we should no longer have any doubt: what Nikos is doing and continues to do for Greek music, the scale of his talent and personal qualities that serve as an excellent role model for younger generation - all these together suggest that the emergence of this singer on the Greek music scene has been extremely good fortune both for the culture of his native country and for the art of singing in general.
By Lucy Vaganova ( Auckland, New Zealand)
Editor: William Koonan Mentsas (New York, USA)
Chief editor: Theo Simeonidis ( Auckland, New Zealand)
Special thanks to Eirini Eusebi and George Vaxavanelis (Athens, Greece)
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