Greek-Swedish duo Antique were Έλενα Παπαρίζου (Helena Paparizou) and Νίκος Παναγιωτίδης (Nikos Panagiotidis). They were born in Göteborg, Sweden but they follow their greek roots. The music of the duo is a blend of europop, club and Greek folk music. Their career started in 1999, when Antique released their first album “Opa - Opa” in Sweden. With that album Antique was established on the Swedish music scene with hits like “Opa - Opa” (platinum) and “Dinata - Dinata” (gold). During the year of 2000 Antique travelled all over Europe and promoted their first album. In the same year the album “Opa - Opa” was released in Greece with the name “Μέρα με τη μέρα” (Mera me ti mera) and met brief success.
In 2001 Antique competed in the Greek Eurovision song contest with “(I Would) Die For You” and won, which took them to the final in Copenhagen where they got the third place. This was an historical day in Greece, since this was the best position ever in their Eurovision history. The single went triple platinum in Greece, a rare achievement for a cd-single, and Antique were rewarded for that success. The award was presented with a grand party at the home of the Swedish ambassador in Greece on the Swedish national holiday. In Sweden “(I Would) Die For You” was a top-3 hit and one of the most played songs on the radio during 2001. The second album “Die For You” was released in June 2001.
In December 2001 Antique released their first all-Greek album entitled “Με λόγια Ελληνικά”. It contained the single “Follow Me (Ό,τι θέλεις)” which was a big radio hit. Antique, during the year on 2002, were mainly in Greece doing club shows in Athens and Thessaloniki.|In 2003 they release their third and last studio album called “Άλλη μια φορά” (Alli mia fora) The first single from the new album was “Μωρό μου” (Moro mou) which was an instant radio hit. The second single was “Άλλη μια φορά” (Alli mia fora) which was one of the most played songs in the radios and in the clubs. This album was produced by C&N Project for C&N Productions and sounded similar to all the other released of the duo. It was also C&N who from the beginning brought the Greek folk music sound to Sweden and combined it with the Nordic sound that now characterize Antique.|In April 2003 Antique released in the Nordic countries “Blue Love” known in Greece as “the Swedish album”. It was a compilation of Antique’s previous hits sang in English. That album was a few months later released also in Greece and topped the Greek album charts.
In 2003 they also decided to split up. Έλενα Παπαρίζου has been having a very successful solo career since they split up, in contrast with Νίκος Παναγιωτίδης, who met very limited success.| |
