Marlen Angelidou
Encyclopedia
Marlain Angelidou sometimes spelt Marlen Angelidou (Greek: Μαρλέν Αγγελίδου, born Marlen Angelidi Μαρλέν Αγγελίδη, in Athens
, Greece
), is a Greek singer and actress. She is best known for being former member of Greece's first ever manufactered girl band, Hi-5
, as well as representing Cyprus
in 1999's Eurovision Song Contest
with Tha 'Ne Erotas
. Life experience, rejection and passion fuel Marlain's new rebranded material, starting with the CD single ‘Being Blonde Today’ which was released in January 2011. It brings a ballsy approach to contemporary rock, driven by an extreme hunger to perform. 'Bedroom Rock' (live) is the new engine for a well seasoned performer to re-introduce herself to existing and win over new fans.
Angelidou, her mother, and siblings all have triple nationality
(Greek
, Cypriot
, and British
).
, Greece
, to a Cypriot-born
father of mainland Greek origin
and a mother of half Scottish
and half Greek Cypriot descent. Due to her father's job position in a multinational company, Marlain Angelidou spent most of her childhood around the world: she emigrated to Venezuela
aged 5, learning fluent Spanish
(which she has since forgotten), then to Belgium
, and back to Cyprus
, where she lived during her teenage years, on her father's request to return home. Angelidou is currently based in Athens, although her mother and brothers remain in Cyprus.
Marlain Angelidou completed a BSc in Biochemistry with Management at the prestigious Imperial College in London
before choosing to study at Boston Conservatory
in the USA. She also obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Musical Theatre from London's prestigious Royal Academy of Music
.
. She was chosen amongst 5000 teenagers for the National Youth Music Theatre
production of Annie
(Miss Hannigan) at the Edinburgh Drama Festival
.
Her professional career started in 1999-2000 with the production of Aznavour’s Lautrec in London’s West End
. During 2000-2002 she starred in lead roles in musicals such as Hair (Dionne), Elegies (Judith), toured the UK with Living La Vida Loca (Fantasia), Legends of Swing (singing Ella Fitzgerald
songs) and toured Europe with Flower Power Musical Story (Lainer) and Broadway Musical Gala (Principal Soloist) where she had the opportunity to sing solo in front of 11,000 at La Scala in Milan
. At the same time she appeared in performances at the Berklee Performance Centre, Boston, USA, Festival Rose D’Or in Juin Les Pins, France, some charity events in Basel
, Switzerland
, and Dublin, Ireland
and in concerts with the Cyprus State Orchestra as a soloist.
At the end of 2002 at the BBC Radio 2
Voice of Musical Theatre International Competition in Cardiff
, Wales
she was the semi-final winner and one of only six finalists.
In 1998
she came third duetting Fterougisma with Alex Panayi during the Cypriot pre-Eurovision
selections show in which the winner would go on to represent Cyprus
in the Eurovision Song Contest
. She did, however, manage to get into the Eurovision
event the following year
with her song Tha 'Ne Erotas.
In 2003 she took part in the Greek television contest Pop Stars, winning one of the five spots in a teen girls group that was to be formed on the basis of the show's outcome. The group was named Hi-5
and released a self-titled album in 2003 that went gold in Greece. The band has had hit songs such as Xero Ti Zitao, To Tyhero Asteri, and Yennithika Xana. The group decided to part quietly off-screen in 2005 on good terms after two years together to pursue solo careers.
From 2005-2008 Marlain then continued with her true love singing rock with various bands in clubs and festivals around Greece, namely Volume (Christophoros Chrokides, Stephanos Demetriou, Dimitris Frosinis) and Dickens’ Zoo. With N.U.R.V she played the popular European Music Day at Syntagma Square in Athens and the River Party in Kastoria.
She also played the leading role in the West End Athens version of the musical Saturday Night Fever (Stephanie Mangano).
She has collaborated with major artists in Greece, namely legendary greek rock star Vassilis Papakonstantinou in his concert tours of Greece and is currently touring Greece, Cyprus, USA, Europe and Africa with sell-out pop artist Michalis Hadzigiannis, now at the height of his career.
Being a fan of cartoons, Marlain also lends her voice regularly to cartoon voice-over translations for Disney and Dreamworks playing a variety of characters from Mulan in Mulan 2, to Lady Bug in James and the Giant Peach, the Soul Singer in Emperor’s New Groove 2, Rita the Dog in Oliver and Company, the country-western singer Dixie dubbing the voice of Reba McIntyre, in Fox and the Hound 2 plus many more.
Her song Rejection (Set Me Free), placed 1st with the jury in the Cyprus Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest ’08 but failed to qualify. The song then moved on to win prizes for BEST PERFORMANCE and BEST SONG at the Pan Music Festival, Serbia, later on in the year. Her hard rock ’09 entry Mr. (Do Right) One Night Stand also made a great impression, in various ways! Her various antics gave her a nomination for Woman of the Year, Madame Figaro Awards 2009.
Rejection (Set Me Free) again made waves as the most talked about song entry in Eurovoice 2010, coming in at 2nd place. This generated so much interest she created BEDROOM ROCK, a collection of songs which give her the total outlet for self expression. Her first highly driven passionate personal performance as a solo act live in various clubs at the moment in Athens.
Her own material is currently being released over the internet. ‘Being Blonde Today’ is now available on itunes.
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
), is a Greek singer and actress. She is best known for being former member of Greece's first ever manufactered girl band, Hi-5
Hi-5 (Greek band)
Hi-5 was a Greek - Cypriot pop girl band consisting of female vocalists Marlen Angelidou, Irini Psichrami, Frosso Papacharalambous, Shaya and Nancy Stergiopoulou, who were the winners of the Greek version of the popular talent show Popstars. The band had a large fanbase in Greece and Cyprus. They...
, as well as representing Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in 1999's Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1999
The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 May 1999 in Jerusalem, Israel after Dana International won the contest the previous year in the United Kingdom. The venue for the contest was the International Convention Center...
with Tha 'Ne Erotas
Tha 'Ne Erotas
"Tha 'Ne Erotas" was the Cypriot entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, performed in Greek by Marlain....
. Life experience, rejection and passion fuel Marlain's new rebranded material, starting with the CD single ‘Being Blonde Today’ which was released in January 2011. It brings a ballsy approach to contemporary rock, driven by an extreme hunger to perform. 'Bedroom Rock' (live) is the new engine for a well seasoned performer to re-introduce herself to existing and win over new fans.
Angelidou, her mother, and siblings all have triple nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
(Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
).
Early and Later Life
Marlain Angelidou was born in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, to a Cypriot-born
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
father of mainland Greek origin
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...
and a mother of half Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and half Greek Cypriot descent. Due to her father's job position in a multinational company, Marlain Angelidou spent most of her childhood around the world: she emigrated to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
aged 5, learning fluent Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(which she has since forgotten), then to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and back to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, where she lived during her teenage years, on her father's request to return home. Angelidou is currently based in Athens, although her mother and brothers remain in Cyprus.
Marlain Angelidou completed a BSc in Biochemistry with Management at the prestigious Imperial College in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
before choosing to study at Boston Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...
in the USA. She also obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Musical Theatre from London's prestigious Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
.
Career
While she was studying she made her professional debut as the lead in the Stavros ’Sideras’ musical Pygmalion, The True Story (Aphrodite/Galatea) opposite Peter PolycarpouPeter Polycarpou
Peter Polycarpou is a British stage and TV and film actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopoudos in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather.-Career:...
. She was chosen amongst 5000 teenagers for the National Youth Music Theatre
National Youth Music Theatre
The National Youth Music Theatre or NYMT is a UK organisation for young people in the field of musical theatre, based in London. It runs acting auditions, workshops, and musical theatre productions...
production of Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
(Miss Hannigan) at the Edinburgh Drama Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
.
Her professional career started in 1999-2000 with the production of Aznavour’s Lautrec in London’s West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. During 2000-2002 she starred in lead roles in musicals such as Hair (Dionne), Elegies (Judith), toured the UK with Living La Vida Loca (Fantasia), Legends of Swing (singing Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
songs) and toured Europe with Flower Power Musical Story (Lainer) and Broadway Musical Gala (Principal Soloist) where she had the opportunity to sing solo in front of 11,000 at La Scala in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. At the same time she appeared in performances at the Berklee Performance Centre, Boston, USA, Festival Rose D’Or in Juin Les Pins, France, some charity events in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and in concerts with the Cyprus State Orchestra as a soloist.
At the end of 2002 at the BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
Voice of Musical Theatre International Competition in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
she was the semi-final winner and one of only six finalists.
In 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The presenters were Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson...
she came third duetting Fterougisma with Alex Panayi during the Cypriot pre-Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
selections show in which the winner would go on to represent Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. She did, however, manage to get into the Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
event the following year
Eurovision Song Contest 1999
The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 May 1999 in Jerusalem, Israel after Dana International won the contest the previous year in the United Kingdom. The venue for the contest was the International Convention Center...
with her song Tha 'Ne Erotas.
In 2003 she took part in the Greek television contest Pop Stars, winning one of the five spots in a teen girls group that was to be formed on the basis of the show's outcome. The group was named Hi-5
Hi-5 (Greek band)
Hi-5 was a Greek - Cypriot pop girl band consisting of female vocalists Marlen Angelidou, Irini Psichrami, Frosso Papacharalambous, Shaya and Nancy Stergiopoulou, who were the winners of the Greek version of the popular talent show Popstars. The band had a large fanbase in Greece and Cyprus. They...
and released a self-titled album in 2003 that went gold in Greece. The band has had hit songs such as Xero Ti Zitao, To Tyhero Asteri, and Yennithika Xana. The group decided to part quietly off-screen in 2005 on good terms after two years together to pursue solo careers.
From 2005-2008 Marlain then continued with her true love singing rock with various bands in clubs and festivals around Greece, namely Volume (Christophoros Chrokides, Stephanos Demetriou, Dimitris Frosinis) and Dickens’ Zoo. With N.U.R.V she played the popular European Music Day at Syntagma Square in Athens and the River Party in Kastoria.
She also played the leading role in the West End Athens version of the musical Saturday Night Fever (Stephanie Mangano).
She has collaborated with major artists in Greece, namely legendary greek rock star Vassilis Papakonstantinou in his concert tours of Greece and is currently touring Greece, Cyprus, USA, Europe and Africa with sell-out pop artist Michalis Hadzigiannis, now at the height of his career.
Being a fan of cartoons, Marlain also lends her voice regularly to cartoon voice-over translations for Disney and Dreamworks playing a variety of characters from Mulan in Mulan 2, to Lady Bug in James and the Giant Peach, the Soul Singer in Emperor’s New Groove 2, Rita the Dog in Oliver and Company, the country-western singer Dixie dubbing the voice of Reba McIntyre, in Fox and the Hound 2 plus many more.
Her song Rejection (Set Me Free), placed 1st with the jury in the Cyprus Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest ’08 but failed to qualify. The song then moved on to win prizes for BEST PERFORMANCE and BEST SONG at the Pan Music Festival, Serbia, later on in the year. Her hard rock ’09 entry Mr. (Do Right) One Night Stand also made a great impression, in various ways! Her various antics gave her a nomination for Woman of the Year, Madame Figaro Awards 2009.
Rejection (Set Me Free) again made waves as the most talked about song entry in Eurovoice 2010, coming in at 2nd place. This generated so much interest she created BEDROOM ROCK, a collection of songs which give her the total outlet for self expression. Her first highly driven passionate personal performance as a solo act live in various clubs at the moment in Athens.
Her own material is currently being released over the internet. ‘Being Blonde Today’ is now available on itunes.