Look up toi in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Toi or TOI may refer to:

• Toi (Bible), the Biblical king of Hamath
• Toi (name), a masculine name in Māori and other Polynesian languages
• Toi, Shizuoka, Japan
• Toi, a village in Niue
• TOI (band), a group of electronic folk rock musicians in the Philippines
• Times of India, an English daily newspaper in India
• Third-order intercept point, a specification of electronic amplifiers
• Toi, a contestant in Akademi Fantasia, Season 6
• Toi, a group of barbarian pirates responsible for the Toi invasion
• Time on ice, an ice hockey statistic
• Transfer of information, an abbreviation used in business for transfer of knowledge from one company/business unit to another

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Joseph Ira Dassin (November 5, 1938 – August 20, 1980), more commonly known as Joe Dassin, was an American singer-songwriter best known for his French songs of the 1960s and 1970s.

Biography[link]

Joe Dassin was born in New York City to American film director Jules Dassin (1911 - 2008) and Béatrice Launer (1913–2005), a New-York-born violinist, who after graduating from a Hebrew High School in the Bronx studied with the British violinist Harold Berkely at the Juilliard School of Music.^[1] Both parents were Jewish. His father was of Russian and Polish Jewish extraction, his maternal grandfather was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, who arrived in New York with his family at age 11.^[2]

He began his childhood first in New York City and Los Angeles. However, after his father fell victim to the Hollywood blacklist in 1950, he and his family moved from place to place across Europe.

Dassin studied at the International School of Geneva and the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, and graduated in Grenoble. Dassin moved back to the United States where he earned a doctorate in ethnology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He moved back to France where he worked as a technician for his father and appeared as an actor in supporting roles in a number of movies directed by his father, including Topkapi where he played the role of "Josef".

On December 26, 1964, Dassin signed up with CBS Records, making him the first French singer to sign up with an American record label.

By the early 1970s, Dassin's songs were on the top of the charts in France and he had become very well known in that country. He was also a talented polyglot, recording songs in German, Spanish, Italian and Greek, as well as French and English.

Dassin married Maryse (whose real first name is Yvette) Massiéra on January 18, 1966, in Paris. Their son, Joshua, was born two and a half months before term, September 12, 1973, and died 5 days after. Devastated, Joe and Maryse split, but did not divorce until 1977.

On January 14, 1978, Joe married Christine Delvaux Pavlopoulou. Joe and Christine moved to Athens, Greece on March 15, 1978. They had two sons, Jonathan (born September 14, 1978) and Julien (March 22, 1980). Christine died in December 1995.

Joe Dassin died of a heart attack during a vacation to Tahiti on August 20, 1980. He is survived by his two sons, both living in France, as well as his two younger sisters, Richelle (b.1940) and Julie (b.1945). His body is interred in the Beth Olam Mausoleum section of Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Discography[link]

References[link]

1. ^ The Juilliard School of Music, "The Baton", p. 12
2. ^ Interview with Beatrice Launer

External links[link]

• [1], Another French entry
• Joe Dassin at the Internet Movie Database

Armin van Buuren
Van Buuren performing on Queensday in Amsterdam, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Armin van Buuren
Also known as	Gaia, AVB
Born	(1976-12-25) 25 December 1976 (age 35) Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands[1]
Origin	Koudekerk aan den Rijn, South Holland, Netherlands
Genres	Trance Progressive Trance Uplifting Trance Neo-trance
Occupations	Remixer, Producer, DJ, Composer, Musician, Pianist, Songwriter
Instruments	Synthesizer, drum machine, equalizer, personal computer
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Armada Music (2003–present), Vandit (Co-Joined), Ministry of Sound Australia
Associated acts	Alibi, Dark Matter, Electrix, Lilmotion, Major League, Monsieur Basculant, Red & White, Technology, Triple A, Wodka Wasters, Nadia Ali,[2] Christian Burns,[2] Ferry Corsten,[2] Adam Young,[2] BT,[2] Sophie Ellis-Bextor,[2] Guy Chambers[2]
Website	arminvanbuuren.com

Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑr.mɪn vɑn ˈby.rə(n)]), OON (born 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands)^[1] is a Dutch trance producer and DJ. Between 2007 and 2010, he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs.^[1] In the 2011 list, he ranked in second place. Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which claims to have around 15 million weekly listeners in 26 countries,^[3] which would make it one of the most listened-to radio shows in the world. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at #1, a first for a dance music artist in Dutch music history.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976,^[1] but grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. Van Buuren started making music when he was 14.^{[citation needed]} He was inspired by French electronic music composer, Jean Michel Jarre, and wished to become a great electronic music composer like Jarre.^{[citation needed]}

He finished high school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and left for college to study law at Leiden University. While studying law, Van Buuren's interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, although he did return to finish law school in 2003.

On 18 September 2009, Van Buuren married Erika van Thiel in Wassenaar, Netherlands. They met during a vacation on Crete, and had been together for nine years prior to the marriage.^[5][6]

On 12 January 2011, Van Buuren announced the pregnancy of his wife Erika on Twitter.^[7] He hoped the baby, due that summer, would be his "best production ever."^[7] Their daughter, Fenna, was born on 24 July 2011.^[8]

Career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

1995–1999: Early career and success[link]

In 1995, Van Buuren had his first major success with a track called "Blue Fear", which was released under the Cyber Records label; he was 19 years old at the time. This track, which was produced in the "Euro Trance" mold, made it onto the UK Chart. Another successful track, "Communication" was released under the same label, and became popular in Ibiza, Spain in the summer of 1999. After being signed to AM PM Records, this track entered the UK Chart at No. 18 in 2000.

Armin van Buuren at Lizard Lounge, Dallas, Texas, 9 August 2008

Van Buuren began his DJ career at club Nexus in Leiden, where he learned to play long DJ sets, which were regularly six to seven hours per set.^[9] During school holidays he played more than four times a week. In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States.^[9] His career accelerated, entering the DJ magazine Top-100 in November 2001 at Number 27.^[9] He has played in more than 25 different countries and can often be found on the main stage at big summer festivals. Van Buuren played a record-breaking twelve and a half hour set for Dancetheater in The Hague (the Netherlands).^[10][11] In the United Kingdom he performs regularly at Passion (resident 2002), Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, Slinky, Ministry of Sound, Peach and Golden.

In the beginning of 1999, Van Buuren started his label Armind together with United Recordings. The first release, Gig – "One," was well received. The second release "Touch Me," under the name Rising Star was signed to Ministry of Sound in the UK, before the record was released.

By the time of his third release, Gimmick – "Free" was signed to R&S Records, Van Buuren had managed to make his label popular very quickly. Under the surname Gaia he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers. Teaming up with Tiësto, two new projects were born: Major League – "Wonder Where You Are?" was released on Black Hole Recordings and Alibi – "Eternity" was released on Armind. "Eternity" received club and chart success and was signed to Paul van Dyk's imprint Vandit Records. Another major collaboration followed this. Together with Ferry Corsten, Van Buuren recorded a riff-classic titled "Exhale" for the System F. album. Released as a single, this track reached gold status in less than a month.

[edit] 2000–2004: A State of Trance and 76

In 2000, Van Buuren started his own Armin van Buuren compilation series. He managed to find a balance between progressive house,and vocal trance music styles. His first compilation album, A State of Trance (not to be confused with his weekly A State of Trance radio shows), sold more than 10,000 copies and contains Van Buuren's well known remix of Moogwai, "Viola." His second album, Basic Instinct featured a new track: "Perpetuous Dreamer" – "The Sound of Goodbye." This track entered the Dutch charts in June 2001 at number 26. Later in the year, the track hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The third album, In Motion was released 6 August 2001. This album contained the real trance sound and was very popular in the United States. A fourth album, Transparence, followed in 2002. In 2003, he worked with such artists such as DJ Seth Alan Fannin throughout a global tour on Dance Revolution in Europe, selling out to crowds of 20,000 people in Armin's home country of the Netherlands.

In March 2001, Van Buuren started his own radio show on ID&T Radio (traditionally broadcast in Dutch and later English since ASOT 183). In this weekly two-hour show, entitled A State of Trance, he plays the latest popular trance music tracks. His show and the artists he features are popularized by publishing the artists and track titles on his website. This radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally. When ID&T Radio changed genres in 2004, Van Buuren left and took A State of Trance with him. The show then moved to Fresh FM, a Dutch radio station. It is now a weekly feature on SLAM!FM, another Dutch radio station, DI.FM, an online radio station, and on XM Satellite Radio, channel 80 in the United States and Canada. A complete list of stations that broadcast A State of Trance can be found at the ASOT section of Armin's website. Also in 2004, Van Buuren remixed the 24 theme song into a trance hit. In June 2005, the 200th episode was celebrated in Amsterdam and subsequently aired on radio. The 250th (eight hour) anniversary episode was celebrated in Club Asta in The Hague, Netherlands, featuring Van Buuren, Jonas Steur, M.I.K.E., John Askew, Rank 1 and Menno de Jong.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, he had a residency at Glow in Washington D.C.,^[9] and he has played all across North America in San Francisco, Vancouver, Houston, Toronto, Boston, Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago, Montreal, Detroit, Edmonton, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Seattle and at The Necto (nightclub). He has also regularly appeared at Amnesia on the island of Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain. In October that year, Van Buuren was voted Number 5 in the DJ Magazine 100 top DJ's. The following year, he jumped up to the No. 3 spot, and held 3rd place for the next three years. His work left him at the No. 2 spot, just below Paul van Dyk in the 2006 polls, and, in 2007, Armin reached #1, heading the 2007 DJ Mag Top 100. He was voted No. 1 again in 2008, 2009 and again in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2003, Van Buuren released his debut studio album, 76, a 76-minute album divided into 13 tracks.^[12]

Armin Van Buuren performing at Avalon, Boston, Massachusetts 2007

[edit] 2005–present: Shivers, Imagine and Mirage

On 8 August 2005, Van Buuren released his second studio album, Shivers. On the album Van Buuren worked with artists such as Pakistani-American singer Nadia Ali, English singer Justine Suissa and American trance duo Gabriel & Dresden.

On 11 November 2006, he had a live performance called Armin Only in Ahoy Rotterdam for the second time (after 12 November 2005) with a nine hour solo set, where he performed to over 11,000 fans.

In the summer of 2007, Van Buuren recorded and released a live set at Amnesia, Ibiza. Universal Religion Chapter 3, Live from Amnesia at Ibiza was released on 28 September 2007 as a mix compilation on Armada Records and in the US as "Universal Religion 2008" on Ultra Records on 4 December 2007.

On 17 April 2008, Van Buuren released his third studio album, Imagine. It features collaboration with singers such as Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation and Jacqueline Govaert of Krezip. The album debuted at number one on the Dutch Albums Chart. Since the release of Imagine, Van Buuren has been working with Benno de Goeij and DJ-RA of Rank 1 on solo productions and remixes.^{[citation needed]}

19 April 2008 saw the 3rd edition of Armin Only, this time in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands. The event was attended by 16,000 fans and (partly) broadcast live on Dutch National TV. During the second half of 2008, Van Buuren took this show abroad, with visits to Australia, Romania, Poland, Belgium, and a special New Years Eve 2008 show at Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S.

On 29 September 2008, Armin won the DJ Award for "Best Trance DJ" at Ibiza along with other nominees, that of Tiësto, Ferry Corsten and Paul van Dyk.

On 12 January 2008, Van Buuren was given the "Buma Cultuur Pop Award," the most prestigious Dutch music award.

In 2009, Foreign Media Games announced the production of In The Mix: Featuring Armin van Buuren, a music game being produced in collaboration with Cloud 9 Music and Van Buuren's Armada Music label. The title is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 exclusively for the Wii console.^[13]

He has collaborated with his brother, guitarist Eller van Buuren, in such venues as Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S., on New Year's Eve 2009, as well as on Armin's 2008 album Imagine.

On 3 March 2010, Van Buuren was awarded with the prestigious Golden Harp, for his musical work and contribution to Dutch music, by the music collecting society BUMA/STEMRA at the 2010 Buma Harpen Gala in Hilversum, the Netherlands.^[14][15]

On 23 June 2010, it was announced that Van Buuren's fourth studio album, Mirage was due to be released on 10 September.^[16] The first single "Full Focus", was released through iTunes Store on 24 June at midnight.^[17] The song peaked at number sixty in the Netherlands. One of the confirmed tracks from the album is a collaboration with English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor called Not Giving Up On Love, which was released as a single from Bextor's fourth studio album, Make a Scene.^[18][19] Armin also wrote a song for English singer Seal, but due to the release of his greatest hits album, Hits, the collaboration never came together.^[20]

On 12 September 2010, Van Buuren launched "A State of Sundays", a new weekly 24-hour radio show aired on Sirius XM Radio ^[21]

On 20 October 2010, Van Buuren won the award for Most Popular International DJ presented by The Golden Gnomes.^[22]

On 27 October 2010, Van Buuren was announced, for the 4th year running, as the number 1 DJ, and thus prolonging his title as 'Most Popular DJ in the World'.^[23]

The 2010 edition of Armin Only: Mirage kicked off on 13 November 2010, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with more shows coming in Saint-Petersburg, Kiev, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Beirut, Poznań, Moscow and Bratislava .^[24]

On 27 November 2010, Van Buuren made his third appearance in Shanghai, China.

On 2 February 2012, Van Buuren mentioned a new studio album in the works on episode #546 of his radio show, "A State Of Trance".

A State of Trance 500 (ASOT 500)[link]

To mark the 10 year anniversary and 500th episode of his weekly radio show A State of Trance, Van Buuren performed at five shows across five continents over five consecutive weeks along with various artists.

The first show was held on 19 March 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa at the MTN Expo Center. In addition to Armin, Blake Jarrell, Protoculture, Lange, Leon Bolier, and Jorn van Deynhoven were performers. Super8 & Tab were to be part of the South African show, however a flight cancellation caused them to be absent for the event. The event was attended by over 20,000 people.

Miami's show was performed at the Ultra Music Festival on 27 March, and part of the show were Marcus Schossow, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Cosmic Gate, Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten, ATB, and Sander van Doorn.

Argentina held the third celebration of ASOT 500 in club G.E.B.A Buenos Aires, with Heatbeat, Jochen Miller, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, John O'Callaghan and W & W. It was the only of the five ASOT 500 celebrations that was held outdoors. Van Buuren recorded a live video with his cell phone and uploaded it to Twitter while playing his live set.

ASOT 500 was celebrated in the Netherlands in Den Bosch. Accompanied by more than 30 DJs from countries all over the world, the event was attended by over 30,000 people. DJs present included Markus Schulz, Gareth Emery, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold and Sean Tyas. The event was radio broadcast live to over 30 countries.^{[25][dated info]}

The final show was held in Sydney, Australia on 16 April at Acer Arena in Olympic Park. It was a sold out event weeks before the night. Artists present included Shogun, tyDi, Menno de Jong, Aly & Fila, and Alex M.O.R.P.H. Van Buuren played for three hours.

A State of Trance 550 (ASOT 550)[link]

In March 2012, Van Buuren performed in six shows across three continents as part of ASOT 550. He began his tour on March 1 in London, continued on to Moscow on March 7, and to Kiev, Ukraine on March 10. Then, he traveled to the United States to host his show at the Beyond Wonderland festival in Southern California. A week later on March 25, he closed out Ultra Music Festival 2012 for the 5th edition. This was followed by the final show in the Brabanthallen of Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

A State of Trance sponsored a tent at the Electric Daisy Carnival at Met Life stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 19, 2012, which by all accounts could be considered an unofficial extension of ASOT 550. ^[26]

Discography[link]

• 76 (2003)
• Shivers (2005)
• Imagine (2008)
• Mirage (2010)

Year Mixes[link]

Van Buuren is well known for his annual "Year Mix" which incorporates clips and custom mashups from the year's most popular trance tracks. Each year-mix consists of about 85 individual releases, edited into a two hour mix which is released on double CD as well as aired on his weekly radio show at the end of each year. According to Van Buuren, each year-mix takes several months to make, including thousands of digital audio edits and hundreds of audio plugins.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Armin van Buuren

• Official website
• Artist Page on ArmadaMusic.com
• Armin van Buuren on Myspace
• Armin van Buuren at Allmusic
• Armin van Buuren discography at Discogs
• Armin van Buuren discography at MusicBrainz
• Armin van Buuren at the Internet Movie Database
• Armin van Buuren's profile on Trancepedia
• Armada Music – the record label of Armin van Buuren
• Armin van Buuren – A State of Trance episodes
• *Flowd - artist channel on *Flowd network.

M. Pokora
M. Pokora on stage at Bercy in Paris during the Tour Player in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Matthieu Tota
Also known as	Matt Pokora, M. Pokora, M.P.
Born	(1985-09-26) 26 September 1985 (age 26)
Origin	Strasbourg, France
Genres	Pop and R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter Dancer
Years active	2003–present
Labels	EMI France Universal Music France (2003–2006)
Website	mpokoramusic.fr

Matthieu Tota (born 26 September 1985) in Strasbourg, France commonly known as M. Pokora or Matt Pokora, is a French-Polish singer and songwriter.

Early life[link]

Matthieu Tota, is the son of professional footballer André Tota and his mother is Brigitte Tota. His parents divorced in 1998 when he was just 13. As a child, he studied at an elementary school in Hohberg, and later at Collège Paul-Émile Victor in Mundolsheim, and Lycée Aristide Briand in Schiltigheim near Strasbourg. As a young man, football (soccer) became his first ambition and he wanted to be a professional player. But he opted for music.

Matthieu Tota explained about the origin of his name Pokora in an interview during the documentary Mis à jour broadcast on 26 August 2010 about him on NRJ 12 television station.^[1] He said he was searching for an artistic name and happened to be talking to his grand mother of Polish origin and the importance of humility came up. So he asked her how do we say humility in Polish language and she said "pokora". So Matthieu immediately decided to call himself Pokora. Matt came form his name Matthieu. So he became to be known by his stage name Matt Pokora.

He earned some public attention as a member of French R&B group, Mic Unity.

In Popstars and Linkup[link]

In fall 2003, he participated in the third season of Popstars, a French talent reality television show broadcast on M6. The concept of the program was to present possible candidates the winners of which would take part in the formation of a boy band or girl band. He was a crowd and jury favourite, and became a member of a boy band called Linkup formed with Lionel and Otis, two other winners in 2003 Popstars. The female winners were formed into another group Diadems formed of Marylore, Angel, Pookie, Ophélie and Alexandra. In the final showdown, the boy band including Mattieu Tota won the series over the girl band Diadems, who ended up runners-up.

Their first Linkup single "Mon Étoile" was very successful topping French charts, and the debut album Notre Étoile was moderately successful. However the second single release "Une seconde d'éternité" was much less successful despite good sales.

The band tried again their hand in a collaboration with the British boy band Blue making a bilingual English/French version with Blue based on the latter's song "Bubblin'". The bilingual English/French Blue/Linkup version was entitled "You & Me Bubblin". Soon afterwards, Linkup disbanded due to poor performance of sales on releases.^[2]

Solo career[link]

[edit] 2004: M. Pokora

In 2004, soon after the break-up of Linkup, Mattieu started working preparing for a solo career collaborating with the producers Kore & Skalp.

Under the stage name Matt Pokora, he released his first eponymous solo album originally entitled Matt Pokora. In 2005, he was forced to change his chosen name after a lawsuit from French R&B singer Matt Houston. As a result, he changed his stage name to M. Pokora and re-released the album as M. Pokora.^[3]

The debut single from M. Pokora was the very successful. Called "Showbiz (The Battle)" it was a Top 10 hit in France, and also charted in Belgium and Switzerland. The second single Elle me contrôle featuring Sweety reached #6 in France and Pokora received two NRJ Music Awards for the single. Yet a third successful single was released called "Pas sans toi". The album released on Universal was certified gold.

He also started collaborating with Hakim Ghorab who became his long-time choreographer and took part in many of his music videos. He also developed a close collaboration with music video director Karim Ouaret who directed most of his successful videos.

[edit] 2006: Player

In January 2006, his second album Player was released topping the French chart. For producing the new album, he collaborated with Belgian producers Bionix, Rachid Mir and Christian Dessart mixing R & B with pop and crunk'n b, and artists Red Rat and Zoxea and geared toward the younger and feminine fan brackets. He also enjoyed great popularity with gay audiences. The first single from his second album was the very successful "De retour" featuring Tyron Carter. That was followed with single "Oh la la la (Sexy Miss)" with Red Rat.

During a concert organized by NRJ Radio in France, he met Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin and Martin asked M. Pokora to make a collaboration on Martin's hit "It's Alright". The result was a bilingual French/English Ricky Martin/M. Pokora release also entitled "It's Alright" that sold more than 100,000 copies. Finally, a last single from the Player album followed called "Mal de guerre", which was a relative success. M. Pokora released Player in a second edition in March 2006 with the bonus track added of the duet with Ricky Martin.

To promote the album and capitalize on its success, M. Pokora engaged in an big tour in more than 30 French venues under the title Player Tour that culminated in a big sold-out concert at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. At the end of the tour, a DVD containing materials from the shows was marketed under the name Player Tour Live. The DVD also included a photo book and memories from the tour.

Pokora also created his own label M2theP Entertainement, signing his protégé, the rapper Tyron Carter. In addition to being featured on "De retour", Tyron Carter released "Ne me dis pas" that featured M. Pokora, a Top 30 hit, followed by an album Mon hold-up.

[edit] 2008: MP3

After end of the Player Tour, Pokora left Universal and signed with EMI France. Also desiring a more international profile, he went to New York and created contacts most importantly with R & B producers Ryan Leslie and J. R. Rotem. The result was his third album MP3 that was released on 24 March 2008, and included 14 tracks, including 12 in English.^[4] The title of the album was a play on his name Matt Pokora (MP) and the number 3 (his third album) but also referring to the popular gadget MP3, the audio format for consumer audio storage. Pokora promoted the launching of the album with a prerelease of single "Dangerous" featuring American hip hop artist Timbaland and Sebastian, Timbaland's brother and the timing of the release was picked to coincid with the NRJ Music Awards of 2008.

The album reached #7 with estimated physical sales of 200,000 copies and additional downloads of 151,000. The album was certified gold. The album also did well internationally charting in Finland, Germany, Mexico, Belgium and in his homeland Poland where he won the Polish Eska Music Awards as the "International Pop Artist of the Year".

After the success of "Dangerous", Pokora released a second single "They Talk Sh#t About Me" that features the young English rapper Natalia Kills credited on the release by her stage name Verse. The single unlike "Dangerous" (that had reached #1) was not played heavily on French radio because of English language content and managed to reach only #24. A third release from MP3, namely "Catch Me If You Can" was made with the music video featuring Julie Ricci. She is known for her appearances on Top Model in 2007 on M6 and in Secret Story in its 4th season on TF1. The single failed to make it to the French charts, but was successful in Poland reaching #11. The follow up "Through The Eyes" was also a relative success in Poland reaching #31 in the Polish charts.

To coincide with MP3 release, M. Pokora launched his Catch Me Tour 2008 ending with a concert in Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy on 18 November 2008. He also toured Belgium (6 December), Switzerland (13 December) ending with a final concert in Lyon, France on 14 December 2008.

[edit] 2010-2011: Mise à jour / Updated

Fourth studio album titled Mise à jour was released on 23 August 2010. The lead single "Juste une photo de toi" was released on 7 June 2010 and was a big hit reaching #4 in the French Albums Chart. It includes collaborations with Wayne Beckford, Gee Futuristic, X-Plosive, Astro Boyz, Tarz, STX and Bionix. Simultaneously a Mis à jour Édition Deluxe was released that in addition to the original 15 tracks of Mis à jour also contained seven new tracks exclusive for the Deluxe edition (including six in English).

The first single from the album was "Juste une photo de toi" released concurrently with the launching of the album. On 22 January 2011, during the NRJ Music Awards, the song was chosen as "Song of the Year" in addition to M. Pokora being chosen "French Male Artist of the Year".

To consolidate his international drive started with the MP3 album, he announced that an English language version was under preparation. Finally the Englishversion titled Updated was launched on 14 March 2011, containing 11 songs, mostly adaptations of the French language hits on Mise à jour. Six of the titles were already known by the French public through the August 2010 Mise à jour Édition Deluxe release.

For promotion of the album, he organized a mini tour and a series of open-air concerts rather than concerts in halls.

In November 2010, a follow-up single "Mirage" was released accompanied with a new music video. The single received a great number of downloads, but not enough physical sales to have an impact on the charts and the single made only up to #64 despite the top position in downloads.

In January 2011, "Oblivion" an English language of "Mirage" was released with same arrangement but with new English lyrics for the international markets. The single was an opener for the reelased of Updated, destined for non-French markets of Mis à jour songs, but was made available for French markets as well.

In March 2011, M. Pokora announced a tour of 15 French cities, venues in Belgium and a final show in the Olympia. As a prelude, he also appeared in French, Belgian and Swiss clubs with dates from April to June 2011.

He also launched in March 2011 Mise à jour Version 2.0 that included extra materials including the Jean-Jacques Goldman, Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones classic "À nos actes manqués" which was destined to be his new single. It immediately became the number one physical single sales and reached the Top 10. The album Mise à jour Version 2.0 was made available on 18 April 2011, containing 17 titles including 14 form the original, the Jean-Jacques Goldman cover single three English language titles from Updated and a new French track "Si on échangeait les rôles", the French version of Updated's "Finally Found Ya".

[edit] 2012: A la poursuite du bonheur

The fifth studio album A la poursuite du bonheur by French singer M. Pokora, was released on March 20th. The single "Juste un instant" was released on January 30, 2012 followed by "On est là" in April 2012.

Personal life[link]

M. Pokora

M. Pokora was troubled by the divorce of his parents and remained greatly attached to his mother after the divorce and lived with her in Strasbourg before renting a personal flat in Paris. His autobiographical song "Sur ma route" co-written by Jack Robinson, M. Pokora and Jordan Houyez from his album MP3 is about his experiences as a child in a broken home. He keeps contact with his father who actively supports him.

He is an avid football fan and dreamed of a professional football career very early on. He is a big supporter of the French football club Olympique de Marseille, and takes part in many football events.

M. Pokora has been friends for many years with his personal choreographer Hakim Ghorab and his wife Aline and is godfather to their daughter Lola. He is also a friend of footballer Djibril Cissé and is godfather to one of his sons. He added a tattoo reading X as a tribute to him, because Cissé makes the X sign with his hands every time he scores. Cissé carries a similar X tattoo himself.

Sexuality

Pokora remains single although he had some female companions.

But despite this, speculations linger about his sexuality. Pokora is considered a gay icon which he endorsed fully in an interview in 2007 with Grand Journal on Canal+, when he said: "I do music for everybody. Regardless of whether my fans are heterosexual or homosexual doesn't bother me at all. Many great artists in the world are gay icons". He remains very gay friendly and actively supports HIV/AIDS causes and has appeared on cover of the April 2008 edition of the gay French publication Têtu posing semi-nude for the magazine. He declared to the magazine: "I do not care what people say. I am happy to make the cover of Têtu." But in an interview in the same issue of the magazine, he denied being gay and said he had a female companion. He was dating Sofia Boutella for three years.

Charities and public awareness

From the start, and over many years, M. Pokora has been a great supporter of charity causes particularly HIV/AIDS and children charities. In 2004, he took part in the charity single "Chanter qu'on les aime", in support of Association Mondiale des Amis de l'Enfance (AMADE). In 2005, he was in "Protège-toi", an AIDS charity single for Collectif Protection Rapprochée. In the same year, he was in "Et puis la terre...", a charity single for the tsunami victims under the name Artistes Solidaritie Ici pour Eux (A.S.I.E.) with a great number of French artists.

In 2006, he sang in "L'Or de nos vies", a charity single from Fight Aids. In 2007, he took part in two renditions: "Je fais de toi mon essentiel" by Emmanuel Moire and "S'aimer est interdit" by Anne-Laure Girbal both featured on the charity album "Le Roi Soleil – De Monaco à Versailles (LIVE) – Fight Aids".

In 2010, he appeared in Collectif Kilomaitre charity single "Un Respect mutuel", with many other hip hop and urban artists. He was associated with AIDES project and in 2010 sang a solo cover of Tracy Chapman's "Talking About a Revolution", on the charity album Message (AIDES)"

Tattoos

M Pokora is very famous for his body tattoos including:

• "POKORA" meaning humility in Polish (also the artist's adopted artistic name) inscribed on his right arm in capital letters
• "Only God Can Judge Me" on the right arm in English
• Chinese calligraphy signifying "Creativity", "Peace" and "Patience" surrounded by a dragon on his left shoulder
• The letter M signifying his name (Matthieu) surrounded by colorful flames on his left arm
• A tattoo on the calf symbolizing dancing
• A famous saying in Arabic calligraphy on his neck^[5]
• "Ambition" on his lower back in Chinese calligraphy surrounded by chains and two wings.
• Letter X on his right wrist signifying brotherhood/friendship, as a tribute to his close friend Djibril Cissé, a footballer who makes the X sign with his arms every time he scores in a soccer game.
• A star between his left thumb and forefinger
• Star-flower near his left ear

In popular culture[link]

• M. Pokora took part three times in French television game and adventure competition series Fort Boyard in 2005, 2006 and 2009 winning with his team 3690, 28230 et 3000 euros respectively, all donated to charities.
• In 2006, he performed "Elle me contrôle" in the TV show La chanson de l'année alongside other notable artists
• In 2006, his song "Get Down On It" appeared on the soundtrack of Asterix and the Vikings
• In 2006, he took part in the French version of Muppets TV (broadcast on 31 December 2006)
• In 2007, he took part in Symphonic show special organized by Sidaction, a French AIDS charity
• In 2008, Sony Ericsson and EMI Music France his label offered in exclusivity the downloading of 7 songs from the MP3 album through the W380i as a promotional and sponsoring campaign.^[6]
• In April 2008, M. Pokora also gave an interview to French gay publication Têtu also appearing on its cover.^[7][8]
• He took part in "L’Or de nos vies", a charity song recorded for "Fight AIDS Monaco", an association of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
• He also took part with a song in the album Message made available starting January 2010 with contribution from many artists including Christophe Willem, Jennifer, Anggun, Sliimy, Natasha St Pier, Daniel Powter, Lara Fabian.^[9] M. Pokora's contribution included "Talking About a Revolution", a cover of a Tracy Chapman hit.
• In 2011, he performed on Le show Johnny hosted by Johnny Hallyday
• Enjoying great popularity with children, M. Pokora has taken part in many broadcasts concentrated on kids, including a special on him on 25 May 2011 on L'École des fans presented by Philippe Risoli where children Gabin, Alicia, Romane, Yamin, Axel and Inès aged 5 to 7 years sang covers of his songs.^[10] He also interpreted his cover hit "À nos actes manqués" on the show. He was also was co-sponsor with Hélène Ségara et Jean-Luc Reichmann of the second edition of TF1's show Le grand show des enfants broadcast on 30 April 2011.

Winning Danse avec les stars

• On 19 March 2011 he won season 1 inaugural series of Danse avec les stars (the French version of Dancing with the Stars) with his partner Katrina Patchett getting 62% of the votes against 38% to runners-up David Ginola and Sofia Essaïdi.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

As part of Linkup

Solo

Solo singles[link]

DVDs[link]

• 2005 Un an avec M. Pokora (One year with M. Pokora)
• 2006 Player Tour

Guest appearances[link]

• 2004 "Chanter qu'on les aime", a charity single by AMADE
• 2005 "Protège-toi", a charity single by Collectif Protection Rapprochée
• 2005 "Et puis la terre...", a charity single by A.S.I.E.
• 2005 "Oh" (French Remix) by Ciara
• 2006 "L'Or de nos vies", a charity single from Fight Aids
• 2006 "Get Down On It" from Astérix et les Vikings OST
• 2006 "rainbfever.com" by Amine featured on "Raï'n'B Fever 2"
• 2007 "Ne me dis pas", featured on "Mon Hold-Up" by Tyron Carter
• 2007 "Girls", featured on "Lady Sweety" by Lady Sweety
• 2007 "Je fais de toi mon essentiel" by Emmanuel Moire featured on the charity album "Le Roi Soleil – De Monaco à Versailles (LIVE) – Fight Aids"
• 2007 "S'aimer Est Interdit" by Anne-Laure Girbal featured on the charity album "Le Roi Soleil – De Monaco à Versailles (LIVE) – Fight Aids"
• 2010 "Un Respect mutuel", a charity single by Collectif Kilomaitre
• 2010 "Talking About a Revolution", featured on the charity album "Message (AIDES)"
• 2010 "Let's Get It Started", featured on "Setting Standards" by Lazee
• 2012 "Wanna Feel You Now", featured on "Globetrotter" by Patricia Kazadi

Tours[link]

• 2006 Player Tour
• 2008 Catch Me Tour

Awards[link]

• 2006 : NRJ Music Awards video of the year with Elle me contrôle
• 2006 : NRJ Music Awards French song of the year with Elle me contrôle
• 2006 : HIT MACHINE d'or French male artist of the year
• 2007 : NRJ Music Awards French male artist of the year
• 2007 : NRJ Music Awards video of the year 2007 with De retour
• 2009 : Eska Awards pop artist of the year
• 2011 : NRJ Music Awards French male artist of the year
• 2011 : NRJ Music Awards French song of the year with Juste une photo de toi
• 2012 : NRJ Music Awards French male artist of the year
• 2012 : NRJ Music Awards French song of the year with A nos actes manqués

Discography[link]

• 2006: M. Pokora – La révolution R&B
• 2006: Et je me souviens, Editions K&B
• 2008: M. Pokora vu par, Éditions Broché

References[link]

External links[link]

• (fr) Official website
• M Pokora's official YouTube channel
• M. Pokora at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2009)

Vicky Leandros
Vicky Leandros in Berlin, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Vassiliki Papathanasiou
Also known as	Vicky Leandros
Born	(1949-08-23) 23 August 1949 (age 62)
Origin	Palaiokastritsa, Corfu, Greece
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, politician
Years active	1965–present
Website	Hey! Vicky Leandros Vicky Leandros' Greek website

Vicky Leandros (born Vassiliki Papathanasiou, Greek: Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου, 23 August 1949,^[1] now legally Vassiliki, Baroness von Ruffin) is a Greek singer with a long international career. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou (known as Leo Leandros – composer pseudonym Mario Panas). She achieved worldwide fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with the song "Après Toi" (representing Luxembourg).

Early career[link]

Leandros was born in Palaiokastritsa, a resort on the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea. Her father wanted to expand his career and went to Germany while she grew up at her grandmother's house until the age of eight. In 1958 her parents took her to Germany where she stayed with her father permanently after her parents' divorce. She revealed her talent at a young age while taking guitar, music, dance, ballet and voice lessons.

In 1965 Leandros released her first single "Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht". This was the beginning of a successful career for her with her father as composer, manager and producer. In 1967 she received an offer to sing for Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "L'amour est bleu". She finished in fourth place but the song became one of the biggest worldwide hits of the year and was covered by many artists. She was shortly singing in eight languages with her albums, singles and EPs being sold all over the world. She became particularly successful in Japan and Canada.

The 1970s[link]

In 1970 her first TV show, Ich Bin was broadcast in 13 European countries. It received many awards for its originality and thought-provoking contemporary graphics including in 1971 the world famous Bronze Rose of Montreux. It was also the first time that Vicky used the same stage surname as her father (actually his real Christian name) and became known from then onwards as Vicky Leandros having been known simply as Vicky during the 1960s. Guests appearing were Julien Clerc and Deep Purple. The show has been repeated over the years and is seen as a classic piece very evocative of the era, though at first it was not well received in all quarters owing to its surprising, even shocking, imagery, in an age when songs were not generally accompanied by visuals for marketing purposes. Throughout the 1970s other film portraits by prominent film makers were to follow which attracted interest around the world. She later went on to host a television series in the UK for the BBC, entitled Music My Way.

In 1972 she represented Luxembourg at Eurovision for the second time and won the contest with the song "Après Toi". Translated into English as "Come What May" it was also a hit in the UK reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart.^[2] Globally it sold over six million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[3] Leandros recorded the song in seven languages. Later in the year she released her version of the Theodorakis composition "O Kaymos (Sorrow) (The Love in Your Eyes)" which became a hit all over the world in various language versions. It peaked at #40 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2] In 1973, "When Bouzoukis Played" became another massive selling world hit in several languages, reaching #44 in the UK chart.^[2] In 1974 she recorded "Theo, wir fahr'n nach Lodz" a song that was a #1 hit in Germany. She also found much success in South Africa during the 1970s.

In Japan she reached her peak during late 1960s and early 1970s and recorded many times in Japanese. Her second Japanese single "Watashi no Sukina Chocolate" (The Chocolate That I Like) became a notable hit. She also recorded many cover versions of songs, "Mamy Blue", "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and "My Sweet Lord" among others.

In 1975 she recorded an album, Across the Water in Tennessee and Miami. The album was a departure for her, combining country, rock and soul, gaining her good reviews on release in the US. In 1976 she signed a multi-million contract with CBS Records for albums in the US and started working in Hollywood with Kim Fowley. This did not last long however as Leandros felt a lack of support from her record company and returned to Europe.

After her American adventure Leandros released albums of German folk songs, Christmas songs and a Spanish album which became a success in Spain and all over Latin America. The first single "Oh Mi Mama" was a minor hit, but the second single "Tu Me Has Hecho Sentir", although not promoted by Leandros or CBS due to differences between the two and a reported health scare, was a big hit in Spanish-speaking countries in 1979. It regularly appears on compilation albums and is easily the most famous and remembered song by Vicky Leandros in Spanish . A new album, Wie am Allerersten Tag went unreleased and Leandros became pregnant and took time off over the next 18 months.

The 1980s[link]

In 1981 she recorded the album Love is Alive including duets with Demis Roussos, Johnny Hallyday and US star David Soul for a United Nations Benefit. Also in 1981, she released the album, Ich Gehe Neue Wege and its Greek version, Irtha Yia Sena. This comeback was consolidated in 1982 by the success of the song "Verlorenes Paradies" from the same titled next album which saw Leandros back in the upper reaches of the singles charts in many territories after a few years absence. It was also recorded in Dutch . In 1983 came the album Vicky containing the popular song and single "Gruesse an Sarah" which is regularly still sung in concerts often a cappella with the other musicians and vocalists making the sounds of the beats and instruments vocally to combine with Leandros' main vocal. Also later in 1983 she recorded again in Dutch a song specially for the Dutch-speaking market; "Ver Van Het Leven". In 1984, the French version - "A l'Est d'Eden" - was a big success in France, reaching #2 on the singles chart. This single and corresponding album (Vicky) gave Leandros a notable comeback in Canada and she toured there after a gap of many years in 1985. Two more single releases from the album also became Canadian hits - "Tu as sept Ponts a traverser" and "Salut bien Sarah" the French version of "Gruesse an Sarah".

In 1986 following the success of her 1985 album Eine Nacht in Griechenland Leandros again took time off to concentrate on her private life. The album achieved Gold status in the Benelux and German speaking countries. It was early 1988 before the next album release "Ich Bin Ich" on which she worked with Klaus (Nick) Munro. This album contained many new rhythms and was more rock orientated . Leandros did not tour though and made very limited appearances during this period concentrating mainly on her family life and her ( by now three ) young children . Nevertheless two singles were released from the album "Du hast schon laengst Goodbye gesagt" and "Oh Oh Oh" in a remixed version .

In 1989 she returned to her music career and charted highly in Greece with her comeback album, Piretos tou Erota.

The 1990s[link]

In 1990 Leandros released the album "Starkes Gefuehl" (Strong Feeling) which notably contained a new version of "Apres Toi" her Eurovision song contest winner of 1972 . The album also contained the German version of Piretos tou erota now "Suchtig nach Geborgenheit" which was the first single cut . The early 1990s saw her scoring successful albums in Greece with "Prosexe" in 1991 ( Nur Einen Augenblick in Germany ) and "Andres" ( unique album for Greece ) in 1993 and in Europe in 1994/5 with singles "Du Bist Mein Schoenster Gedanke" and a duet with Tony Christie, "We're Gonna Stay Together".

The resurgence of popularity in Greece saw first the re-release on vinyl of Leandros' early albums (with different sleeves) and later a CD release of them all with bonus tracks.

From 1995 to 1998 she collaborated with German hit-maker Jack White and released three Top-10 albums, as well as the German version of the Titanic song "My Heart Will Go On". This song "Weil mein Herz dich nie mehr vergisst" gave Leandros her highest charting record since Verlorenes Paradies in 1982.

Recent career[link]

In 2000 she started producing her own records. The album Jetzt / Now was a success and her own compositions received critical praise. Her duet with Chris De Burgh was one of the highlights of the album. Following this she featured again on the charts of several countries such as Canada, China, Japan, Belgium and South Africa due to the many greatest hits collections that several companies released.

In 2003 she recorded a new album, Tragoudi Alliotiko with songs by Mikis Theodorakis accompanied by the Kamerata Orchestra under Theodorakis's supervision. The album became a success in Germany, central Europe and in Greece. TV stations and tabloid newspaper reviewers celebrated her comeback while other publications and reviewers questioned the rationale behind Leandros' performance of songs from a political composer like Theodorakis. Around this time Leandros appeared in many TV shows on German and Greek television including galas with José Carreras. The album made it to the 100 best selling records of 2003 and Theodorakis wrote that he considered "her among the two or three most important interpreters of [his] work". In 2003 Leandros received two prestigious awards from the Greek government for her promotion of Greek culture and music abroad and the other from the Greek Orthodox Church in recognition of her work for poor children in Africa. The latter award was presented to her at a classical concert held at the Herod Atticus amphitheatre in October 2003 and is the highest honour that the Greek Church can bestow. Leandros is one of only a few to receive it and the only female.

2005 saw the release of a double album, Ich Bin Wie Ich Bin containing new recordings of Leandros's songs. The album charted in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Leandros' Jubilee Tour of Europe started in February 2006.

In March 2006, Leandros took part in the German pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest - 34 years since "Après Toi". Her song, "Don't Break My Heart" which had already entered the charts, failed to win the most votes from the televoting public.

Leandros released a CD in March 2009 titled Möge der Himmel. This album contained soul elements combined with some R&B flavour, hip hop and rap. The change in direction was headline news and the album received mixed reviews. The next album Zeitlos in 2010 returned to the idea born in 2008 of recording a collection of French songs and World hits in the German language.

In 2011, Leandros re-recorded her hit "L'amour est bleu" as "C'est Bleu" for the Scooter album The Big Mash Up. The unusual collaboration was named a highlight of the record and was released as a single on December 2, 2011.

Personal life[link]

From 1982 until 1986 Leandros was married to Greek entrepreneur Ivan Zissiadis. He is the father of her son Leandros Zissiadis (Leo) (born 6 June 1980). In 2005 Leandros and her second husband Enno von Ruffin separated after 19 years of marriage. The couple has two daughters: Maximiliane von Ruffin (Milana) (born 31 January 1985) and Alessandra von Ruffin (Sandra) (born 6 December 1986). On 15 October 2006, Leandros (as Vassiliki von Ruffin) was elected town councillor of the Greek harbour town of Piraeus on the Pasok list. Her task concerned the Cultural and International development of Piraeus. She was also Deputy Mayor of Piraeus.

It was announced in June 2008 that Leandros decided to leave her position in Greek politics with immediate effect stating that she had under estimated the work load and time needed to fulfill her political obligations and that it had become impossible to combine those duties with her singing career .^{[citation needed]}

Awards and collaborations[link]

Leandros has received innumerable awards including gold and platinum records from all around the world for discs that have sold in excess of 150 million copies.^{[citation needed]}

She has worked with many composers and producers such as Kim Fowley, Leo Leandros, Brad Shapiro and Michel Legrand and also with conductors such as Herbert von Karajan and Claude Denjean. She has been awarded with the "Bronze Rose of Montreux", "Goldene Europa", "Record Award of USA", and "Song Statue of Japan".

• 1967: Fourth place at the Eurovision with the song „L´amour est bleu“
• 1968: Goldene Europa
• 1971: Bronze Rose von Montreux for the TV-Show "Ich bin"
• 1971: Bronze Lion of the Radio Luxembourg
• 1972: First Place at theEurovision with the song "Aprés toi“
• 1972: Best Selling Artist Internationally
• 1974: Goldene Europa
• 2001: Goldene Stimmgabel German pop
• 2001: Internationaler Schlagerpreis in the category of „Beste Künstlerin International“
• 2003: Hospitality Zeus
• 2005: Woman of the year in Greece

Selected discography[link]

Albums[link]

Many variations of Leandros's albums were released around the world and a huge amount of compilations which still continue to be released on a regular basis . The following list is of original albums she recorded. In Japan a few albums also contain some songs mainly in Japanese or English which were not released elsewhere though the majority of tracks were recorded in Europe and featured also in various languages on albums already listed here.