name	Dosa /Dosai
alternate name	Dosa, Dosay, Dose, Dosai, Dhosha, Thosai, Tosai,Chakuli
country	India
region	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
main ingredient	rice batter and urad bean
variations	masala dosa, rava dosa, onion dosa, neer dosa
other	}}

Dosa (, , , , ) is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. It is indigenous to and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as being popular in Sri Lanka. Dosa is also popular in Malaysia and Singapore, where the name ''Thosai'' is more common, and in Myanmar as ''Toshay''.

Origin

The origins of Dosa have been widely discussed in literature and books. A few of them are listed below: A reference to Dosa occurs in the Tamil Sangam Literature from around 6th century AD. Edward Farnworth mentions the first reference to Dosa in Tamil Sangam literature in the sixth century A.D. The Sanskrit classic ''Manasollasa'' written in 1051 AD by Western Chalukya king Somesvara III describes Dosai. Modern writers have conflicting views on the origin of Dosa. The English food writer Pat Chapman and Lisa Rayner as well as Indian writer Thangappan Nair state in their works that Dosa originated in Udupi, Karnataka.

Orthography and transliteration

There are various ways of transliterating ''dosa'': dose, dhosha, dosay, dosai, dhosai, tosai, thosai, or dvashi.

Nutrition

It is a common breakfast dish, and street food. The dosa is rich in carbohydrates, contains no salt, sugar or saturated fats and its constituent ingredients of rice and lentils mean that it is gluten-free and contains protein. The fermentation process increases the vitamin B and vitamin C content. There are also instant mix products for making dosa, with somewhat lower nutritional benefits.

The street food variants may contain contaminants or otherwise undesirable additions, such as relatively high levels of copper.

Basic preparation

Rice is ground finely to form a batter. Rice can be uncooked or parboiled. The mixture of ''urad dal'' (black lentils) and rice can be replaced with highly refined wheat flour to make a maida dosa or semolina for a rava dosa.

A thin layer of the batter is then ladled onto a hot tava (griddle) greased with oil or ghee (clarified butter). It is spread out evenly with the base of a ladle or bowl to form a pancake. It is flipped to heat both crusts and removed from the griddle when the crust becomes dry. Dosa are served hot, either folded in half or rolled like a wrap.

Serving methods

Dosa can be stuffed with fillings of vegetables, meats and sauces to make a quick meal. They are typically served with a side dish which varies according to regional and personal preferences. Common side items are:

Sambar.

Wet chutney: examples include coconut chutney (a semi-solid paste made up of coconut, dal (lentils), green chilli and mint or coriander)

Dry chutney: a powder of spices and desiccated coconut.

Indian pickles.

Milagai powder: fried dry chillies, dal, asafoetida i.e., hing, salt. All the ingredients are put together and ground coarsely.

Chicken curry

Goat curry

Curd: (meaning Yogurt in Indian English) with chilli powder topping.

Sugar: children are often given dosa with sugar instead of curries, which may be too spicy for them.

Muddha pappu: with large amount of ghee. This is the traditional way of eating dosa in many parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Fish curry

Variations

Though dosa typically refers to the version made with rice and lentils, many other versions exist, often specific to an Indian region. Some variations include Egg dosa, which is spread with an omelette, and cheese dosa, which is stuffed with cheese.

''Chilli dosa'': spread with chilli powder.

''Open dosa'': chutney powder is spread on it while cooking. Before serving spiced & mashed potato is placed on top.

''Onion dosa'': spread with chopped and sautéed onions.

''Ghee (thuppa/neyyi) dosa'': ghee is used instead of oil while frying.

''Butter dosa'': butter is used instead of oil when frying and a small amount is placed on top of it when serving.

''Roast'': the dosa is spread thinly and fried until crisp.

''Kerala dosa'': a different kind of traditional dosa, that is small, thick, soft and spongy. It is more like a pancake and somewhat similar to appam, but dal is used in the batter for appams and appams are not flat.

''Family roast'': a long dosa which can be spread over 2 or 3 feet.

''Paper dosa'': a long and very thin delicate dosa which can be spread over 2 feet.

''Green dosa'': stuffed with fresh vegetables and mint chutney.

''Chow-chow dosa'': stuffed with (Indian flavored) Chinese noodles.

''Masala dosa'': stuffed with spiced potatoes.

''Methi dosa'': flavoured with fenugreek.

''Cone dosa'': shaped like a cone.

''Rava dosa'': made with rava (semolina), which doesn't need fermentation and is usually considered a snack or fast food.

''Wheat dosa'': made with wheat flour, and served with coconut chutney

''Vella dosa'': made of jaggery with ghee or neyyi.

'Ragi dosa'': made of ''ragi'' or millet flour, usually considered "a poor man's fare".

''Muttai dosa'': eggs are added to the regular batter; the word ''muttai'' in Tamil means "egg".

''Uttapam'': thick round dosa in Tamilnadu.

''Set dose'': a popular type of dosa in Karnataka, which is cooked only on one side and is served in a set of two to three, hence the name.

''Benne Dose'': similar to masala or set dosa but smaller in size. Served with liberal helpings of butter sprinkled on it. It is said to have originated in the Davanagere district of the state of Karnataka.

''Cabbage dosa'': made out of cabbage. Paste is prepared with rice, red chillies, Asfotedia and Turmeric. Once the batter is ready, cabbage cut into small pieces is added to the paste and left for about 30 mins. Once this is done, the batter is poured and the dosa is made crisp.

''Neer dosa'': prepared from rice, unique to Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts.

''70 MM dosa'': similar to Masala dosa, but it is bigger in size, about 60 cm in diameter.

''American chop suey dosa'': served with a filling of fried noodles and tomato ketchup.

''Uppu puli dosa'': made by adding uppu (salt) and Puli (tamarind) to the batter. It is a part of Udupi cuisine.

Masala dosa

A masala dosa is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices. It wraps the dosa around an onion and potato curry or sabji.

Before it was invented, plain dosa was served with potato curry (''batata bhaji'') without onions in a separate cup. During a shortage of potatoes, a method was created in which potato was mashed and sautéed with onions together with other spices. This was then placed inside the dosa instead of in a separate cup in order to hide the onions, which are not eaten by orthodox Hindus and Jains. This came to be known as "''Masala dosa''", from the sautéeing of spices (masala) during the preparation of the ''bhaji''.

Some variants are:

''Mysore masala dosa'': masala dosa with coconut and onion chutneys spread inside along with bhaji.

''Vegetable masala dosa'': instead of potatoes, peas and other vegetables are mashed to make bhaji.

''Rava masala dosa'': rava (semolina), especially the Bombay Rava, is used instead of rice.

''Chinese Masala dosa'': noodles and other Chinese ingredients like schezwan sauce are added.

''Paneer Chilli dosa'': stuffed with sautéed cottage cheese (paneer) and capsicum.

''Palak Masala dosa'': coated with a thin layer of puréed spinach, and filled with the traditional potato/onion mixture.

''Masala dosa'': with one or two fried eggs served on top of it.

''Davanagere benne masala dosa'': named after Davanagere in Karnataka, this is prepared by adding liberal doses of butter and also a potato filling (palya).

In Bangalore, the masala dosa is usually served with a red chutney applied to its inside surface. The red chutney usually has generous amounts of garlic,

Similar foods

''Pesarattu'': a dosa-like preparation prepared from moong dal, which is typically served with a ginger and tamarind chutney in Andhra Pradesh. The variations include:

*using soaked whole moong seeds (along with green cover), which gives a greenish tint to the pesarattu; and

*using yellow coloured moong dal (green cover removed and dal is refined), which gives a golden yellow tint to it when roasted.

''Adai'': a dosa-like dish prepared from a combination of dals namely Urad, Channa & Moong dal.

''Appam'' or ''Aappam'' or ''Uttapam'' — a pancake prepared from a combination of patted rice (Avalakki), rice & yoghurt. The primary differences between an appam and a dosa are that an appam is thicker (up to 5 times as thick as a dosa), can optionally contain curd, dough differs in ratio of rice and urud dhal and is more finely ground than dosa batter, the centre is thicker and the outer rim is very thin (whereas a dosa is more or less uniformly thick).

''Injera'': a pancake-like bread made out of teff flour that is traditionally eaten in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia (where it is also called ''canjeero'' or ''laxoox'') and Yemen (where it is known as ''lahoh'').

''Chakuli Pitha'': similar to utthappam but it has more black gram and less rice flour. It is found in Oriya cuisine.

Media

See also

Idli

Vada

Uttapam

References

Category:Andhra cuisine Category:Fermented foods Category:Indian breads Category:Indian fast food Category:Karnataka cuisine Category:Malaysian cuisine Category:Mangalorean cuisine Category:Pancakes Category:Singaporean cuisine Category:Tamil cuisine

da:Dosa de:Dosa es:Dosa fr:Dosa gu:ઢોસા hi:दोसा (व्यंजन) kn:ದೋಸೆ ml:ദോശ nl:Dosa ja:ドーサ no:Dosa pl:Dosa ru:Доса ta:தோசை te:దోసె uk:Доса

name	Despina Vandi
background	solo_singer
birth name	Despina Malea
born	July 22, 1969Stuttgart–Tübingen, West Germany
origin	Greece
instrument	Vocals
genre	Laïko, pop, dance
occupation	Singer, actress
years active	1992–present
label	Minos EMI, Heaven Music, Escondida Music, The Spicy Effect
website	www.DespinaVandi.gr
notable instruments	}}

Despina Malea (; born 22 July 1969), known by her stage name Despina Vandi (, ), is a Greek singer. Born in Stuttgart–Tübingen, 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 music. After moving to Athens in the early 1990s and performing in nightclubs for several years, Vandi signed a record deal with Minos EMI and released two commercially albums ''Gela Mou'' (1994) and ''Esena Perimeno'' (1996). She then began an exclusive collaboration with songwriter/producer Phoebus that would become one of the most successful partnerships in Greek music history and struck commercial success with her third album, ''Deka Endoles'' (1997), followed by the multi-platinum ''Profities'' (1999), where she incorporated pop elements into her music in addition to laïko as well as a more pop stage performance style and image, becoming one of the most prominent portrayers of the laiko/pop genre that was thriving into the mid-2000s. Her single "Ipofero" (2000) became the best selling single of all-time in Greece. Following Phoebus' departure from Minos EMI, Vandi followed him to the newly-formed independent label Heaven Music and released ''Gia'' (2001), which became and remains both Vandi and the label's biggest commercial success as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time in Greece and Cyprus. This string of commercial successes established Vandi as one of the most successful acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. With some of the singles from ''Gia'' having broken into neighbouring markets, Vandi released the album abroad with the addition of some English-language singles in a brief attempt at breaking into the international market. While "Gia" witnessed some success, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Airplay and making her the first Greek artist to top a ''Billboard'' chart, the two later singles were less successful and the artist made no further attempts. She released her first live album in 2003 and after a hiatus following giving birth to her first child from her marriage with football player Demis Nikolaidis, she returned with ''Stin Avli Tou Paradeisou'' (2004). Although its sales were significantly lower than that of ''Gia'', it was commercially successful, having been certified multi-platinum and becoming her third album to achieve six-figure sales. Vandi gave birth to her second child, leading to a three-year hiatus that ended with ''10 Hronia Mazi'' (2007), a ten year celebration of her collaboration with Pheobus. Vandi once again followed Phoebus' departure in favour of his new label The Spicy Effect. Her eighth studio album ''C'est La Vie'' was the label's first release.

Vandi has won three Arion Music Awards, ten MAD Video Music Awards, seven Pop Corn Music Awards, and a World Music Award, becoming the first Greek artist recording in Greece to ever win the award. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Vandi the fourth top-certified Greek female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960), with 11 records having been certified platinum or multi-platinum and three gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry of Greece. According to Heaven Music, as of 2007, Vandi has sold one million records in Greece.

Life and career

Personal life

Although born in Germany, Vandi's family was from Kavala, Greece, where she and her family moved when she was six years old. As a result, she did not learn German, unlike the rest of her family. She has one older brother and an older sister. Living in a lower middle-class family her dream was to become either an actress or a singer but she always knew that she should have something more solid as a background so she went on to study psychology, philosophy, and education at the University of Thessaloniki. When she first began singing, she used the stage name of "Elli Mara" before adopting the "Vandi" moniker, to hide that she was singing from her parents.

Despina Vandi is married to Demis Nikolaidis, ex-international soccer player and former president of AEK soccer club. She has a five-year old daughter named Melina and a son named Giorgos, born in August 2007.

A Discovery Channel documentary entitled ''Europe's Richest People'' estimated Vandi and Demis Nikolaidis's combined fortune to be in excess of 30 million euros in 2009.

On August 18, 2008, Vandi was in a car accident on Kifissias Avenue in Kifissia, Greece. The car she was in, driven by her chauffeur, slipped on an oil slick that leaked from a tanker truck causing the car to crash into the truck ahead of her. After drivers helped pull her out of the vehicle, she was transported by ambulance to the general hospital in Athens. Vandi only suffered a cut to her head and got stitches.

Early years (1994–96)

Vandi's first album was released in 1994 under the Minos EMI label, titled ''Gela Mou'' (Smile at Me). This album was distinguished by her duet ''To Adieksodo'' (No Way Out) written by Vassilis Karras, with Giannis Parios, a very popular singer at the time.

In 1996, Vandi released her next album, ''Esena Perimeno'' (You're The One I'm Waiting For). Singles on this album include ''Esena Perimeno'', ''Den Pethainei I Agapi'', and ''Efiges'' songs written by her friend and now musical director Tony Kontaxakis. Although a couple of songs from the albums received some airplay, the first two albums themselves had low sales and did not manage to establish her career, Vandi herself admitted. Together the albums have sold under 30 thousand copies. A statement made by Vandi implied the combined album sales to be in the range of 10–27 thousand copies.

Beginning of Phoebus era and breakthrough (1997–99)

1997 would be the year Vandi would make her breakthrough in mainstream Greek music as she teamed up with popular songwriter Phoebus. Phoebus wrote the songs of Vandi's next album, ''Deka Entoles'' (Ten Commandments), which was certified double platinum and sold 100,000 thousand copies in Greece. Vandi's partnership with Phoebus would turn out to be one of the most notable in the Greek recording industry and they would continue to have commercial success for a decade and more; celebrated their 10-year partnership with the release of 10 Hronia Mazi (10 Years Together). With the success of ''Deka Entoles'' Vandi quickly became popular in the Greek music industry with a string of hits and popular appearances.

Later that year, Vandi experimented with acting. She was asked to play a guest star role in the hit television show "Dio Xeni" (Two Strangers). Vandi accepted the role and made her first appearance on television. She played a singer of a local small city, who was able to change the sexuality of the main gay character. She managed to gain good reviews for her acting talent.

Vandi's next album ''Profities'' (Prophecies) was released in 1999 and was certified gold the day of its release and platinum in 2 days. It eventually became triple platinum, selling 150 thousand copies. Later that year Vandi gave her first sold-out solo concert at the concert hall of Lycabettus with 7,000 people in attendance.

Move to Heaven and commercial peak (2000–01)

In 2000, Despina Vandi released the single ''Ipofero'' (I Suffer). The single was certified six times platinum and was awarded as being the most successful single of all time in Greece, based on sales at the Virgin Megastores, which reached 150 thousand copies. An honourary award was given to her by Richard Branson of Virgin in London, England.

Despina Vandi and Phoebus decided to sign with Heaven Music, a new break-out record label in 2001 owned by the Athena Group. Despina's next album ''Gia'' (2001), meaning "Hi" was a double album including 21 new songs. The album went 4x platinum in only 11 days. It becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time in Greece. . Many of the songs on the album became hits not only Greece, but also in neighboring countries such as Cyprus, Turkey and Lebanon. Shortly after, Vandi gave a free concert in Thessaloniki drawing in a reported 62,000 people.

At the 2002 ''World Music Awards'', Vandi was awarded as the World's "Best Selling Greek Artist". It was the first time that this award was given to a Greek artist who actually lived and worked in Greece. For her acceptance speech, Vandi said ''"Above all though, I would like to thank my Greek fans around the world. I dedicate this award to all the Greeks who have supported me with their love all these years and it is because of them that I find myself here at this moment."''

Following the success of ''Gia'', Despina released a CD single titled "Ante Gia" (Goodbye) in 2002, with the title track being a remix of "Gia". The single also included three new tracks and another remix, and achieved double platinum status. ''Gia'' and "Ante Gia" were then compiled and re-released as ''"Gia & Ante Gia: Collector's Edition"'', along with four previously unreleased remixes.

International exposure and motherhood (2003–04)

With ''Gia'' having gone multi platinum in the Greek market, some of the songs broke out into the international market in neighboring countries. Seeing potential in an international career, she embarked on one in 2003.

Her first three international singles, "Gia" (2003), "Opa Opa" (2004) and "Come Along Now" (2005) entered the charts around the world. Her first internationally distributed albums are named after the songs "Gia" and "Come Along Now". "Gia" and "Opa Opa" have both charted on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts, with ''Gia'' reaching number 1 for 2 weeks on the latter and "Opa Opa" reaching number 3 on the Hot Dance Radio Airplay of ''Billboard''. Except from the Billboard Charts, ''Gia'' reaching number 1 at the biggest radio stations of USA, as WKTU, KKDL and WPYM. Also, ''Gia'' reached number 1 at the Club Charts of Music Week in Great Britain and became the number 1 dance song of the year in USA, Germany, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Cyprus and Sweden. All three singles reached #1 on the Australian charts. The song ''Gia'' gave to her the award for the best dance artist for the year 2004 in Portugal and she makes a big concert for her European public. Except from "Gia", and the song "Opa Opa" reaching number 1 in Russia, Turkey and Australia. In the first days of October 2004 Despina Vandi makes four big concerts in New York, Atlantic City, Chicago and Toronto. All these concerts was sold out

The song "Come Along Now" became the second best selling single in Russia and the biggest to audience radio station of Russia, Hit FM, awarded to her an honorary award in a special concert for her.

She made an appearance on the hit international show ''Top of the Pops'' where she performed her song "Gia" as she was included in some of that week's best-selling popular music artists.

Her work has been remixed by celebrated global DJs and producers, such as Armand Van Helden, Milk & Sugar, Nick Skitz, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez, Pete Tong, Bass Bumpers, DJ Gregory, Level K, XTM, Minimal Chic and Highpass amongst others.

Her albums ''Gia'' and ''Opa Opa'' have been ''Records of The Week'' on BBC Radio 1's dance shows. Despina Vandi has also won many international awards.

At the end of August (2004) Despina performed live at the Beatstock Festival in New York.

Return to Greece (2004–06)

Despina's next studio album was released at the end of 2004, titled ''Stin Avli Tou Paradisou'' (In The Garden of Paradise). Although it sold significantly less than ''Gia'', it reached double platinum status in 2005, becoming her third album to reach six figure sales The album was repackaged as a special edition and included 5 new songs, including a duet with Giorgos Mazonakis. Katiana Balanika guest starts in one of the music videos for the album. The special edition was released in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. In Turkey the album reached to the Turkish charts until number 2 and the biggest Turkish newspaper, ''Hurriyet Daily News'' named Despina Vandi as the Queen of Greek Pop. For the winter season 2005–06 Vandi performed at Rex with Giorgos Mazonakis.

In July 2006, Despina gave a concert in the theater of Lycabettus in Athens singing many of her popular songs.

Despina Vandi released the CD single "Kalanta" (Carols) in Greece on November 22, 2006, which reached double platinum status after two weeks from the release of the CD single. The videoclip of "Kalanta" was released on December 19, soon followed by the video of her next hit single, "Mehri Mai Mina" (Till The Month Of May).

Vandi and Mazonakis once again collaborated for the winter season 2006–07. She performed her last show at the Rex Music Theater on February 18, 2007 and it marked an end to her singing there for the past seven years. Due to her pregnancy, Vandi did not plan any summer concerts for 2007, and on 21 August 2007, she gave birth to a healthy boy, her second child after Melina.

''10 Hronia Mazi'' and ''Iparhi Zoi'' (2007–09)

On October 10, 2007 (10/10) Vandi released her new single "Thelo" (I Want) simultaneously on all radio stations and TV stations across Greece at 10 AM. It marked her 10-year anniversary of collaborating with Phoebus. The song reached the top of the Nielsen's Radio Airplay chart for Greece for six consecutive weeks. The second radio single from the album and the title track "10 Hronia Mazi" (10 Years Together) was released on November 16, 2007. The song is a rock ballad about the 10-year collaboration with Phoebus and charted on the airplay charts.

The album ''10 Hronia Mazi'' was released December 6, 2007 on three discs featuring fifteen new songs. The first disc features eight new pop and rock songs and two remixes, while the second disc features seven new laika songs and three remixes. The third disc is a "bonus" and features some of the best songs from Vandi and Phoebus with new mixes as a thank you to their fans. The album achieved platinum certification on the first week, but it should be noted that this included preorders. It sold 30 thousand copies, becoming Vandi's lowest selling album since her collaboration with Phoebus up until then. For the winter season 2007–08 she performed with Vasilis Karras at Diogenis Studio.

On March 6, 2008, Vandi released the third single from ''10 Hronia Mazi'', titled "Agapi" (Love), along with a video to promote it. The single was on the MAD TV Charts for six weeks with one week at number one. On April 24, 2008, Vandi released the fourth single from ''10 Hronia Mazi'' titled "Fantasou Apla" (Simply imagine). The video was filmed at the same time as "Agapi".

Vandi was featured on the gold-certified album ''Sehnsucht'' by German electronica act Schiller, which was released in early 2008, providing vocals for the song "Destiny", composed by Phoebus. She performed the track with Schiller on June 17, 2008 at the MAD Video Music Awards 2008, where she won the category of "Best Female Artist" and also performed "I Gi Ki I Selini" (Earth and Moon). Her live appearance in the MAD Video Music Awards 2008 was included in the live edition of ''Sehnsucht'' (Desire).

On June 24, 2008, following the MAD Video Music Awards, the album was repackaged with the title ''10 Hronia Mazi: It's Destiny'' as one disc. The repackaged version includes the song "Destiny" by Schiller featuring Despina Vandi. The one-disc repackaged version features all the songs from the original first and second discs, excluding all the remixes (with the exception of "Ta Lefta (Remix)"). Two more songs were released as singles, "I Gi Ki I Selini" and "Tha Thela"; the music video for "I Gi Ki Selini" was her performance at the MAD Awards, while the video for "Tha Thela" was the live performance of the song at the ''Love Radio'' party which took place on May 12, 2008.

Vandi has become involved in the Global One music project. She attended a recording session in Beijing with Chinese pop start Wei-Wei and Brazilian samba singer Daniela Mercury, while also attending the project's first official press conference. However, Vandi's name is currently not listed as a confirmed performer on the project's website. The project's ambitious goal, driven by successful international record producer Rob Hoffman, is to have one artist representing their country record common ''Global One'' songs in their native language, as well as in the English language, in efforts to pool together as many languages and cultures as possible to promote their artistry on a global level.

Near the end of 2008, Vandi began touring out of Greece for the album. On October 10, 11 and 12 she performed three sold-out concerts in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide and then from May 15–24, 2009, she sang a five venue tour of the United States and Canada.

In 2009, Despina Vandi did not appear in any nightclub in Athens or Thessaloniki, but preferred to rest after a long appearance in nightclubs. But consider a good opportunity to perform charity concerts in Cyprus. The concerts gave Vandi the platinum award of the album 10 Hronia Mazi in Cyprus after the platinum award of the album in Greece. Following these concerts in Cyprus, Vandi is ready to make big concerts in the U.S.A. and Canada. Following the announcement for the tour of Despina in America comes the announcement from her official site for the collaboration of Despina with Goin' Through for a lengthy tour throughout Greece. Despina also has close agreement with the city council of Kalamaria to conduct a concert in the stadium of Apollon Kalamaria. Revenues intended for the obligations of the football team. On June 16, Vandi makes comeback, after a year of abstinence, with the song Iparhi Zoi a pop-rock song with a charity character. Music and lyrics of the song is from her partner for years Phoebus. On June 24 in the Mad Video Music Awards 2009 Despina presented her new song entitled Iparhi Zoi (There's still life). On June 29, Despina gave the opening concert for the Long Hot Summer Tour with a concert in Thessaloniki, which was sold-out. After 32 sold-out concerts the tour sold 150,000 tickets. With this tour Vandi broke the record for pre-sale tickets to the concert in the Olympia pre-selling 3,000 tickets. The tour was, also, the most successful tour of 2009.

Following the departure of songwriter and collaborator Phoebus from Heaven Music, Vandi officially announced on November 2, 2009, that she, too, has chosen to leave Heaven Music. She is now signed to the record label founded by Phoebus, called ''The Spicy Effect''.

On December 11, Vandi returned to nightlife, singing at club Politia in Thessaloniki alongside Goin' Through. On December 12, Heaven Music, released the compilation "Despina Vandi - Greatest Hits 2001-2009", which includes major hits of hers. The album was released in two versions: the standard version (1 CD) with 16 tracks and a deluxe edition (2 CDs and 1 DVD) with 32 tracks and 27 music videos.

Move to The Spicy Effect and ''C'est La Vie'' (2010–present)

After her successful appearances in Thessaloniki, Vandi planned to appear at ''Thalassa People's Stage'' with 48 Ores the group that participated in the Greece's ''The X Factor''. The show began on April 15 and lasted until July. Many popular celebrities had visited Vandi at ''Thalassa People's Stage'', as Michalis Hatzigiannis, Elena Paparizou, Sakis Rouvas, Elli Kokkinou, Tamta, Thanos Petrelis, Kalomoira and many others. Vandi appeared on March 14 on ''Chart Show'', a show broadcast by Alpha TV where her certifications and sales figures were chronicled.

Vandi sang live her new song only for the listeners who wοn VIP invitations from the Dromos 89.8 FM radio. Also the listeners who had the chance to listen the new song participated at the video clip of the song.

"Koritsi Prama, Part 1", was released to radios on March 22 and is the lead single from her new studio album. The pop rock song was written by Phoebus and is the first released coordinated by Phoebus' new label The Spicy Effect. The music video of the song was created filmed on March 22 at "Diogenis Studio" and during filming, Vandi revealed that the song is the first part of a two part work and that a second song will follow soon after. Such a thing is a first for Greece as no other artist has ever released a song in more than one part before. Also at the video shoot, a release date for the album was said to be scheduled for June 2010. In addition to the new single, the German band Schiller, which worked with Vandi in the past, released a new song featuring her as vocals. The song's name is ''Sunday'' and included on the Schiller's album ''Breathless'', the international version of Schiller's album ''Atemlos'' The song included in the new album of Vandi.

Vandi released "Koritsi Prama, Part 2", a continuation of Part 1, on May 14, 2010. During the spring of 2010, Greek medias and press named Vandi ''The Queen'' due to the success of her comeback and her 16-year successful career. Also, The Time, a magazine which publishes in partnership with the channel CNN, called Vandi, Queen of Greek Pop.

Also, Vandi was the first artist who took part in the first MTV Unplugged concert of the music channel MTV Greece. Vandi sang all her big hits and some hits from other artists. The concert take placed in the theater ''Hora'' in Kypseli on 9 of June.

The new album of Despina Vandi released on June 13 and the photoshooting for her new album was completed on May 25. Her new album which released in 13 June with Real News newspaper is called "C'est La Vie". Furthermore, Vandi performed live on June 14, at the MAD Video Music Awards.

In order to promote her new album Despina Vandi had done some concerts in some cities of Greece with the singer Elli Kokkinou.

After the successul concerts all over the Greece, Despina Vandi, performed live on 31 October at HMV Forum of London. This performance was the first of Vandi in London and was sold out. After the concert she appeared at the music scene VOX and after five months, the show finished on 6 March.

In March 2011, Vandi expressed her wish to star in a movie. She decided to take a break from her live appearances in music scenes for a while in order to appear in a play, a musical by Alexandros Rigas, which initially was to premiere on October or December in the theater Pallas. Ultimately, the musical was postponed for October 2012. In June 14, 2011 Despina Vandi appeared on Mad Video Music Awards 2011 and performed the song "Gi' Alli Mia Fora" (For one more time) combined with the "Slow Version remix" of the same song, receiving good reviews. Α new proposal by the director, Hari Borka, revealed by many Greek sites, which talk about the "transportation" of the famous novel of Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, on the theater in the form of a musical and the willingness of the director about playing a leading role the singer, adding, also, that she "make gell" to many directors and writers. However, she reject the role.

Discography

''Gela Mou'' (1994)

''Esena Perimeno'' (1996)

''Deka Endoles'' (1997)

''Profities'' (1999)

''Gia'' (2001)

''Despina Vandi Live'' (2003)

''Stin Avli Tou Paradeisou'' (2004)

''10 Hronia Mazi'' (2007)

''C'est La Vie'' (2010)

Tours

Concert series

Kypriaki Gonia (1992–93)

Avantage (1993) (with Vasilis Karras and Eleni Peta)

Posidonio (1993–94) (with Vasilis Karras, Katy Garbi, Dionisis Schinas, Lambis Livieratos, Kaka Koritsia)

Palais Royale (1994–95)

Club In (1995) (with Thanos Kalliris, Zafeiropoulos)

Athens Show Center (1995–96) (with Nikolopoulos, Dionisiou, Litsa Giagousi, Evridiki)

Bio Bio (1996) (with Giorgos Mazonakis, Farmaki, Kraousakis, Panagiotou)

On the Rocks (1996) (with Paschalis, Dakis, Sofia Vossou, Konstantopoulou)

Posidonio (1996–97) (with Lefteris Pantazis, Stefanos Korkolis, Tzavara)

Diogenis Pallas (1997) (with Giannis Parios)

Teatro (1997) (with Notis Sfakianakis)

Rex (1997–98) (with Notis Sfakianakis)

Pili Axiou (1998) (with Notis Sfakianakis)

Ribas (1998) (with Giannis Parios)

Gazi (1998–99) (with Vasilis Karras)

Teatro (1999) (with Vasilis Karras, Giorgos Lembesis)

Gazi (1999–2000) (with Giorgos Mazonakis, Lambis Livieratos, Giorgos Lembesis)

Pili Axiou (2000) (with Lambis Livieratos and Giorgos Lembesis)

Rex (2000–01) (with Nikos Kourkoulis and Lambis Livieratos)

Pili Axiou (2001) (with Lambis Livieratos and Kostas Doxas)

Rex (2001–02) (with Sakis Rouvas and Kostas Doxas)

Rex (2002–03) (with Tolis Voskopoulos)

Rex (2004–05) (with Thanos Petrelis, Kalomoira, and Giorgos Christou)

Palai de sports (2005) (with Kalomoira and Giorgos Christou)

Pili Axiou (2005) (with Thanos Petrelis, Kalomoira, and Giorgos Christou)

Rex (2005–06) (with Giorgos Mazonakis and Giorgos Christou)

Boom (2006) (with Stamatis Gonidis)

Rex (2006–07) (with Giorgos Mazonakis)

Boom (2007) (with Sakis Rouvas)

Diogenis Studio (2007–08) (with Vasilis Karras and Nino)

Odeon (2008) (with Vasilis Karras)

Politia Live Clubbing (2009–2010) (with Goin' Through and Giannis Apostolidis)

Thalassa: People's Stage (2010) (with 48 Ores)

VOX (2010–2011) (with Panos Kalidis and Elisavet Spanou )

Concert tours

1999 Summer Tour

2001 Summer Tour

2002 Summer Tour

2003 Summer Tour

North American Tour (2004)

2005 Summer Tour

2006 Summer Tour

2008 Summer Tour

World Tour (2008–09)

Together Through Summer: Long Hot Summer Tour (2009) (with Goin' Through and Stelios Maximos)

2010 Summer Tour (with Elli Kokkinou)

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1999	''Dio Kseni''	Charoula	Guest star on some episodes

See also

Number-one dance airplay hits of 2004 (U.S.)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance airplay chart

Hot Dance Airplay

List of artists featured on MTV Unplugged

References

External links

Official website

Official Despina–Phoebus collaboration website

Category:1969 births Category:Arion Music Awards winners * Category:Greek laïko singers Category:Greek dance musicians Category:Greek female singers Category:Greek pop singers Category:Greek television actors Category:Greek voice actors Category:Footballers' wives and girlfriends Category:Living people Category:MAD Video Music Awards winners Category:Minos EMI artists Category:Modern Greek-language singers Category:Heaven Music artists Category:The Spicy Effect artists Category:Ultra Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

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