Artani Annet

Annet Artani (Αννέτ Αρτάνι in Greek) (born Annette Stamatelatos), is a Greek-American singer/song writer. She is best known for representing Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as well as co-writing world-wide hit "Everytime" with Britney Spears.

Annet was born Annette Stamatelatos to Greek immigrants Ioulia & Gregoris Stamatelatos in New York City, NY. Her family originates from the village of Karavados on the island of Kefalonia, Greece. She is named after her maternal grandmother, Anneta, and she chose to use her paternal grandmother’s first name in her stage name, Artani, as a dedication to both of them for guiding and inspiring her both during their lives and after their deaths.

Her older sister and only sibling also sings. She had the pleasure to sing with the Karabiotis brothers (Spiros & Makis), the most famous duet of traditional music on the island of Kefalonia. Annet and her sister formed a rock band named Nootropia, singing in Greek, and promoted on National Greek TV (NGTV) and Aktina FM, with a fast-growing New York following.

Annet expressed her interest and love for music at a young age, particularly in offerings of such greats as Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Nana Mouskouri. In 1994, she received a scholarship from BMG for writing and performing an original song, called "Summer Days". She has also won several talent titles in America’s Favorite Pageants, the New York Star Pageant, the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection, and has been featuring in both Pageantry and Billboard Magazine.

Over the years, Annet incorporated influences of singing in her college Gospel choir, as well as listening to R&B, pop and rock music. She started off her singing career as an opening act for Manto, a Greek pop star, and has been featured in her own summer concert in 1995.

She collaborated with several accomplished writers in New York such as Jeff Franzel, who’s written for NSYNC and played with Frank Sinatra, and Tom Lamendola, who has written for Jon Secada. She gained more experience by being a backup vocal for the Britney Spears's Dream Within a Dream tour. She also collaborated with Spears and helped co-write the single "Everytime", which became an international hit.

She also participated in the third edition of the Greek show Fame Story. She left after a month because it turned out she was only there to introduce herself to Greece, not for the competition. Although she didn't win, she did establish a big fan base and went on to release a single called "Goodbye Amor", which quickly became popular. Her work has her bouncing back and forth between New York and L.A..

True to her roots, Annette's songs fuse the oud and bouzouki laced instrumentations of her Greek culture with a modern, city-wise pop, rock, and blues sound.

In 2006, she was invited by CYBC to take part in the Cypriot selection show for Eurovision 2006. On 22 February, the public selected its entry from ten songs during a show entitled "A Song For Europe" where Annet won the majority of the votes with her ballad "Why Angels Cry", even though she was suffering from laryngitis. After the show, the song was tweaked a bit for Eurovision. She represented Cyprus in Athens during the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in the Semi-Final, but did not pass to the final. Many blame the poor result, because her spot was the first performance after a commercial break.

In that same year, she released her first studio album, Mia Foni, which featured songs in both Greek and English. The album reached the top 10 in the Greek charts.

In December 2007, she was approached by ERT to take part in the Greek National Final for Eurovision 2008. She recorded 3 songs, including the song "Alive" which is available on her myspace, but chose not to take part in the National Final because she would have to re-sign with a Greek label. On her Myspace blog, she wrote that the Greek labels wanted a piece of her future International Career, but were not willing to help her gain the exposure. She also wrote that she would also have to unsign with her American label because the deal stipulates that she cannot be obligated to a separate label abroad.

Artani signed with Ultra Records in the US, and is currently recording her first English language album. The first single "Alive" will be put into rotation on radio stations nationwide by the end of January or beginning of February 2009. She will also perform at club Duvet on December 19 for her management company SWAP's holiday party singing "Alive" and other songs.

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