Helena Paparizou (Greek: Έλενα Παπαρίζου, born on January 31, 1982 in Borås, Västergötland, Sweden) is a Greek singer, born to Greek immigrant parents and was raised in Örgryte, Gothenburg.

Paparizou's artistic talents and eagerness to excel became apparent very early, and she was soon involved in singing, dancing and acting-training in combination with her academic studies at school. At age 7, she started learning piano, ballet, and traditional dances. At the age of 14, Elena started her first band called "Soul Funkomatic" along with 3 Latin American kids. The group only played hip-hop music, and saved up money to record songs. Two years later by age 16, the band broke up and Helena was offered various proposals, but her mother said she was too young to leave home.

In 1998, 13 of her close friends died in a fire at a hip-hop party at a nightclub in Gothenburg that she had begged her mother to go to but was denied. After losing her friends, she decided to abandon singing, and she started classes at the Art Performing School where she studied theater, acting, television, and directing. In 1999, some DJ friends of her brother asked her to make a demo of Opa Opa. Elena told them that the lyrics are for a man, so she asked to sing it with childhood friend Nikos Panagiotidis (Νίκος Παναγιωτίδης).

Paparizou, determined to succeed and fulfill her dreams of being an entertainer, joined childhood friend and fellow Greek-Swede Nikos Panagiotidis, at the age of 17, to form Antique.The duo quickly signed their first record deal, with new-found Swedish record label Bonnier. Their debut single, a cover of Notis Sfakianakis's Opa Opa entered the top ten across Scandinavia and Antique became the first act to enter into the Swedish top five with a song sung in Greek. The song achieved gold certification following its August 1999 Swedish release. The following single Dinata Dinata also charted, along with both Follow Me and Moro Mou.

By 2001, the duo had made a name for itself which led to them being selected as Greece's representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen. The duo reached third place with the song, "(I Would) Die For You".

Antique's success in the Eurovision Song Contest led to them recording four studio albums. Following her success with Antique, Elena decided to pursue a solo career.

Antique broke up in 2003 on good terms as the band had run its natural course, and Elena set about going solo. She signed a solo recording contract with Sony Music Greece and released her first solo single Αναπάντητες κλήσεις, a song written especially for her by singer/songwriter Christos Dantis (Χρήστος Δάντης). The three song CD single also featured Μπροστά στον καθρέφτη and Τρελή καρδιά. Sales were strong and it received gold certification in Greece. It was later re-recorded in English as I Don't Want You Here Anymore.

In spring 2004, Έλενα Παπαρίζου released her first solo record, Προτεραιότητα from which Αντιθέσεις Κάτσε καλά Στην καρδιά μου μόνο θλίψη became hit singles. The album achieved double platinum in Greece after the huge success in Eurovision Song Contest.

On 2 February 2011, Paparizou was one of eight acts of MAD TV's first charity fashion music show MADWalk, an equivalent to the international Fashion Rocks, where she represented fashion designer Apostolos Mitropoulos and performed her new single "Baby It's Over", which will be included on her triple greatest hits album Greatest Hits & More to be released in late March.

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