Nikki Ponte is a Canadian-Greek Cypriot

Greek Cypriots

Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...

 singer who rose to fame in Greece and Cyprus through her participation in the third season

The X Factor (Greece series 3)

The X Factor Greece is an Greek television reality music competition, based on the original series in the UK, to find new singing talent. The winner of which receives a recording contract with Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music Greece is Haris Antoniou. The third series began airing on ANT1 on 1...

 of Greece's version of the singing competition The X Factor

The X Factor (Greece)

The X Factor is the Greek version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom. It is a television music talent show contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions....

, in which she placed third. While still participating in the show, she signed with Sony Music Entertainment Greece

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

 and was one of six candidates which were selected to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th annual Eurovision Song Contest and was won by Eldar & Nigar performing "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan. The event took place in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, following Germany's win in the previous year...

. Ponte competed in a national final

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

 held in March 2011 with the song "I Don't Wanna Dance", but did not manage to win.

Early life

Nikki Ponte was born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 to immigrant parents; her father is Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 and her mother is originally from 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...

. Ponte is fluent in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and proficient in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

. She attended St. Monica Catholic School for elementary school, and later Saint Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering

Pickering, Ontario

Pickering is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, the largest metropolitan area in Canada.- Early Period :...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. She took opera lessons for ten years and attended Sheridan College

Sheridan College

Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...

's renowned Music Theatre Performance program.

The X Factor

In 2010 at age 19, Ponte auditioned for Greece's talent show The X Factor

The X Factor (Greece)

The X Factor is the Greek version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom. It is a television music talent show contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions....

at auditions held in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Ponte received approval from the judges and was invited to bootcamp in Athens, Greece, eventually making it through to the live shows. Throughout the competition, she was one of the favorites to win and would spend her free time in her hotel room alone practicing her songs. She ended up placing third.

Performances

Lives	Date	Song	Singer
Live 1	29/10/10	Teenage Dream Teenage Dream (Katy Perry song) "Teenage Dream" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry. It was released as the second single from her third studio album of the same name on July 23, 2010 through digital distribution. Perry and Bonnie McKee wrote many songs with a youthful theme in mind, but they were rejected by...	Katy Perry Katy Perry Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
Live 2	05/11/10	Mamma Mia Mamma Mia (song) "Mamma Mia" is a song from ABBA's 3rd album, ABBA, written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The song "Mamma Mia" is a common song used in bands or orchestras...	ABBA ABBA ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
Live 3	12/11/10	You Lost Me You Lost Me "You Lost Me" is a song by American recording artist Christina Aguilera, taken from her sixth studio album, Bionic . Described by Aguilera as the "heart of the album", the song was written by Aguilera and Sia Furler, with the song's producer Samuel Dixon. The song lyrically talks about a cheating...	Christina Aguilera Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
Live 4	19/11/10	Take It Off Take It Off (song) "Take It Off" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her debut album, Animal. The song was written by Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald and Claude Kelly and it was produced by Dr. Luke with vocal editing done by Emily Wright. It was released as the fourth and final single...	Kesha Kesha Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
Live 5	26/11/10	I Who Have Nothing	Tom Jones Tom Jones (singer) Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
Live 6	03/12/10	Ta Paidia Tou Peiraia	Melina Mercouri Melina Mercouri Melina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
Live 7	10/12/10	Like A Prayer Like a Prayer Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the...	Madonna Madonna (entertainer) Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
Live 8	24/12/10	Monday Morning Monday Morning (Melanie Fiona song) "Monday Morning" is a song by Canadian R&B singer Melanie Fiona from her debut album, The Bridge . The song was Produced by Peter Wade Keusch and Sidh Solanki, written by Peter Wade Keusch, Sidh Solanki, and Charlene Gilliam, and recorded at LaBronze Johnson Studios, NYC...	Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Hallim is a Canadian R&B and Grammy-nominated recording artist from Toronto, Ontario. She was born to Guyanese immigrant parents of African, Indian, and Portuguese descent and grew up in the inner city of Toronto. Living in a music filled household, Fiona says she always knew music...
Live 9	31/12/10	Song 1: I Like It I Like It (Enrique Iglesias song) "I Like It" is a song performed by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias taken from his first bilingual studio album, Euphoria. It was produced by RedOne and interpolates Lionel Richie's 1983 "All Night Long " as well as featuring American rapper Pitbull and was released on May 3, 2010. The song was also... /Firework Firework (song) "Firework" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry. The song was written by Katy Perry, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean, and produced by Stargate and Sandy Vee for Perry's third studio album, Teenage Dream...  (Opening)	Enrique Inglesias ft Pitbull Pitbull (rapper) Armando Christian Pérez , better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, after which he released his debut album in 2004 titled M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records... /Katy Perry Katy Perry Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
		Song 2: Respect Respect (song) "Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told...	Aretha Franklin Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
		Song 3: You Are The One I Want	John Travolta John Travolta John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...  ft. Olivia Newton
Live 10	07/01/11	Song 1: Only Girl	Rihanna Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
		Song 2: Empire State of Mind Empire State of Mind "Empire State of Mind" is a song by American rapper and hip hop artist Jay-Z, featuring vocals and a chorus from R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys. It was released as the third single from Jay-Z's 11th studio album The Blueprint 3 by his Roc Nation label in October 2009...	Alicia Keys Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
Live 11	14/01/11	Song 1: All That Jazz All That Jazz All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Bob Fosse's manic effort to edit his...	Musical Chicago
		Song 2: Telephone Telephone The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...	Lady Gaga Lady GaGa Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...  ft. Beyonce
Live 12	21/01/11	Song 1: All That She Wants All That She Wants "All That She Wants" is a hit single of Swedish pop group Ace of Base. The song was produced by Denniz Pop. In early 1993, the song reached the top of the charts in many countries, including Denmark, the United Kingdom and Australia. The single was certified Platinum in the United States, where it...  (Opening)	Ace Of Base Ace of Base Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
		Song 2: When You Tell Me That You Love Me When You Tell Me That You Love Me "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" is a 1991 song released as a single by American soul singer Diana Ross. The song was subsequently covered by various artists....	Diana Ross Diana Ross Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
		Song 3: Baby One More Time	Britney Spears Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
Live 13	28/01/11	Song 1: Crazy Girl	Zoe Laskari Zoe Laskari Zoe Laskari , is a Greek film and theatre actress, one of the most popular in Greece.-Life:Zoe Laskari was born Zoe Kouroukli in Thessaloniki, from a middle class family which had a long tradition of service to the Hellenic Army. At an early age she lost both her parents and was raised by her...
		Song 2: Woman In Love Woman in Love "Woman in Love" is a popular song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album, Guilty. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees....	Barbara Streisand
		Song 3: Kommati Ap' Tin Kardia Sou Kommati Ap' Tin Kardia Sou "Kommati Ap' Tin Kardia Sou" is the second single from Greek singer Despina Vandi's eighth studio album C'est La Vie. Written by Phoebus as a radio single on June 7, 2010...	Despina Vandi Despina Vandi Despina Malea , known by her stage name Despina Vandi , is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, West Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old and she later enrolled at the University of Thessaloniki, but eventually dropped out to begin a career in...
Live 14	04/02/11	Song 1: Bad	Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
		Song 2: Hurt Hurt (Christina Aguilera song) "Hurt" is a power ballad written by Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry and Mark Ronson for Aguilera's third studio album, Back to Basics . The song's lyrical content describes how one deals with the loss of a loved one, and it has received praise from pop music critics...	Christina Aguilera Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
		Song 3: Ipirhes Panta	Sakis Rouvas Sakis Rouvas Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas II , often referred to mononymously as Sakis, is a Greek musician, television and film artist, businessman, and former pole vaulter who is one of the most successful and influential entertainers of all time in Greece and Cyprus...
		Song 4: S'agapo	Antonis Remos Antonis Remos Antonis Remos , is a Greek laïko singer.-Early life:Antonis Remos was born in Düsseldorf, West Germany. He was raised there by his Greek parents, and later his family moved back to their native Thessaloniki, Greece, where he finished school. During his childhood he got involved with music and...  ft. Alkistis Protopsalti Alkistis Protopsalti Alkistis Protopsalti , born as Alkistis Sevasti Attikuzel ) is a Greek singer.- Early life :Alkistis Protopsalti was born in 18 October 1954 in Alexandria, Egypt by Egyptiot parents....

2011–present: Professional debut

After a few months of living in Greece, she was granted Greek-Cypriot citizenship due to her Cypriot descent. While still in the competition, she caught the attention of Greece's Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and was sequentially approached and signed by Sony Music Entertainment Greece

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

. On 11 January 2011, ERT announced that Ponte was one of six participants in a national final

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

 to select Greece's entry

Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Greece took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, held between 10 and 14 May 2011, placing seventh. On 2 March 2011, as part of the selection process organized by the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation , six competing acts—Antigoni Psihrami, Kokkina Halia, Loukas...

 in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th annual Eurovision Song Contest and was won by Eldar & Nigar performing "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan. The event took place in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, following Germany's win in the previous year...

. She competed with the song "I Don't Wanna Dance" in the national final held on 2 March 2011, but did not manage to win. The song was released as a digital single

Music download

A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 in February 2011.

In mid-2011, she was featured on Dimension-X's single "Hey You". She was also featured on the soundtrack of Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure

Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure

Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure is a CGI animated film released in Italian October 29, 2010, sequel Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom . In 2009, the movie was announced under its working title, "The Magic is Back".-Plot:...

with the song "Mesa Ston Thavmaton Ton Kosmo", performing the theme song to the film. In November 2011, Ponte released the single "Remembering The Summer Nights".

Digital singles

• 2011: "I Don't Wanna Dance"
• 2011: "Hey You" (Dimension-X feat. Nikki Ponte)
• 2011: "Mesa Ston Thavmaton Ton Kosmo" (Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure
  Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure
  Winx Club 3D: Magical Adventure is a CGI animated film released in Italian October 29, 2010, sequel Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom . In 2009, the movie was announced under its working title, "The Magic is Back".-Plot:...
  
  OST)
• 2011: "Remembering The Summer Nights

External links