Helena Paparizou (Swedish: [hɛˈlêːna papaˈrɪ̌tːsʊ, -ˈrǐːsʊ]; Greek: Έλενα Παπαρίζου, romanized: Élena Paparízou, pronounced [ˈelena papaˈrizu], born 31 January 1982), is a Greek-Swedish singer, songwriter and television personality.

[8] They called themselves "Antique" because it gave the impression of being "classical" and "timeless",[3] and connoted Paparizou's association of Greek music with the idea of it being distant, old-fashioned, and something of an acquired taste.

[13] In late 2003, Paparizou signed a solo recording contract with Sony Music and released her debut single "Anapandites Kliseis",[14] as a double A-side with "Treli Kardia".

[15] From late 2003, Paparizou was the opening act for various artists across Greece, including Antonis Remos and Giannis Spanos,[16] Apostolia Zoi, Nino, Thanos Petrelis,[17] Sakis Rouvas and Giorgos Mazonakis.

[36][37][38] Paparizou's Eurovision victory transformed her from a relatively minor celebrity to a notable music act, cementing her solo career and giving her wide international exposure.

While ascending the stage to greet the royal family, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden stood to embrace Paparizou instead of offering a handshake, causing controversy for putting his hand lower on her back than is socially acceptable.

[47] In January 2006, 25 artists including Paparizou formed the group Simmeteho Energa, and recorded a charity single "Eho Ti Dinami" in support of the Greek Cancer Society.

The two-disc album contained previously released material and live recordings from her MAD Secret Concert held in December 2005, and formed the first edition of the series.

In June, Paparizou opened the MAD Video Music Awards 2008 with a remix of "Porta Gia Ton Ourano" with Madonna's song "4 Minutes", and was featured in a performance of hip hop group Stavento.

The finale concert of the tour, set for Herakleion, Crete three days later, was cancelled because of the weather conditions and instead, Paparizou performed two shows in October 2009 at a club called Anadromes.

[85] Paparizou was featured on the Bonnier soundtrack project Alla Himlens Änglar, released in August, where she contributed her first Swedish-language songs "Allt jag vill" (Everything I want) and "Genom krig och kärlek" (Through war and love).

[100] On 6 November 2010, Paparizou was awarded platinum certification, with shipments of at least 12,000 units of Giro Apo T' Oneiro by IFPI Greece at the grand opening of the new Metropolis music store at The Mall Athens.

At the 2012 MAD Video Music Awards, Paparizou performed a new version of the ballad "Poios" from Vrisko To Logo Na Zo, and was also featured in Playmen's "All the Time"—a remix of the Eddie Murphy song—along with Courtney and RiskyKidd.

During October she recorded a laiko duet titled Lathos Agapes with Natasa Theodoridou; this peaked at number eleven in the official Greek Airplay Chart by Mediainspector.

On 14 November up to 13 December 2014, Paparizou joint the Swedish Christmas Tour "Julgalan 2014" in Sweden along with Danny Saucedo, Alcazar, Mattias Andreasson, E-type, Erik Segerstedt, Linda Bengtzing and Albin.

After 3 years of absence at the annual MAD Video Music Awards, Paparizou returned on the VMA's stage, performing her brand new single "Fiesta", which was officially released on 4 July and You Are the Only One along with Sergey Lazarev.

Paparizou's new single called 'Kati Skoteino'is a ballad & is written by the creators of the song 'An me dis na kleo';ARCADE (consisting of Anastasios Rammos, Diveno, Pavlos Manoli, Gaby Russell).

[citation needed] "Kati skoteino" was released in October 2018 as the lead single of Paparizou's seventh album Apohrosis (2021), which was produced by the group Arcade, consisting of Anastasios Rammos, Pavlos Manoli, Diveno, Gaby Russell and Loukas Damianakos.

Her seventh single for the album was "Se Xeno Soma", an erotic ballad with social message videoclip about LGBT composed by Arcade, Padé (Loupasakis Pantelis) and Rene (famous Greek writer).

On 25 June, she performed for three songs at the MAD VMAs: "Gia Pia Agapi" feat Anastasios Rammos, "Mi" and a "Twist In My Sobriety" cover with fellow Greek singer Joanne.

Just before the end of 2022, in 9 December Paparizou started a new music chapter in her career releasing a new power ballad song titled Fevgo written by Giorgos Sabanis & Eleana Vrahali.

In his review of the Euro Edition of Protereotita, Pavlos Zervas of Music Corner was impressed with the album and said that its contemporary style could potentially be an international hit, supporting the singer more so in English-language recordings.

Zervas also reviewed this album, saying that it contained many different styles such as dance, hip hop, slow jams and Latin, following a typical recipe of American music.

Zervas' impression was that while he believed in the material's potential, he thought that if Paparizou continued her current trends and performance style at laiko nightclubs, her ambitions for an international career would come to a disappointment.

He also consistently selected her pure laïko songs, such as "Stin Kardia Mou Mono Thlipsi", "I Zoi Sou Zari", "M'angaliazei To Skotadi" and "O, ti Axizi Einai I Stigmes", as suiting her voice best; he said it may possess "the right dramatic nerve" for the style.

[186] Pavlos Zervas of Music Corner wrote favourably of her voice; he said that on the Euro Edition EP, it was "adaptable" and "pliable" to the necessities of each of the songs, from the ballads to the uptempo ones.

[4] To promote her album Vrisko To Logo Na Zo, Paparizou adopted a rock-inspired image, appearing aggressive in dark tones of clothing and make-up.

Makis Kalamaris of Avopolis also said Paparizou's new image was for mainstream success rather than artistic expression, and added that Paparizou—knowing her limitations—was slowly easing into it rather than suddenly presenting a rock persona.

[196] Paparizou became known for the way she approached the media; she has been known to apologize in her interviews, laugh throughout, and "embodies the good girl and not the femme fatale, she wants to be likeable" and projects an image of "child-woman", staying family-friendly.

[4] She has been referred to as an "anti-star";[183] A biography of Paparizou on Alpha TV's Kafes Me Tin Eleni stated that her appeal was not her voice, her songs or her body, but that she represents the qualities and limitations of the average person.