Masai may refer to:

• Masai, Johor, a place in Malaysia
• Maasai people, an ethnic group in East Africa
• Maasai language
• Masai (musical group), a Kenyan hip hop group

See also[link]

• Maasai giraffe
• Maasai Mara
• Maasai (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Elli Kokkinou Έλλη Κοκκίνου
Elli Kokkinou in 2005
Background information
Born	(1970-07-24) July 24, 1970 (age 41) Athens, Greece
Origin	Athens, Greece
Genres	Contemporary laïka, folk, dance-pop
Labels	Heaven Music (2003-2006) Sony Music Greece (1996-2002, 2007-2009) The Spicy Effect (2009-present)
Website	http://www.ellikokkinou.eu

Elli Kokkinou (Greek pronunciation: [ˈeli koˈcinu]; Greek: Έλλη Κοκκίνου) (Born July 24, 1970) is a Greek singer who was born in Athens, Greece.^[1] Kokkinou is among the most popular singers in Greece today. She has performed together with Greek music stars such as Anna Vissi, Glykeria, Paschalis Terzis, Sakis Rouvas, Tolis Voskopoulos, Thanos Petrelis, Natassa Theodoridou, Yiorgos Tsalikis and Kalomoira. Kokkinou has been certified for the sales of 135 thousand albums by IFPI Greece. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Kokkinou the 27th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).^[2]

Career[link]

Early life and beginnings[link]

Elli Kokkinou grew up in a family with a love of music. From a young age, Elli showed interest in music and was also part of the dance group at her school.^[3] Her father encouraged her to listen to music, mostly jazz, while her mother encouraged her to listen to more mainstream music, such as disco. At age five she started ballet, while at home she sang and danced for her parents at night. She soon began classic guitar courses at the Attiko Conservatory, and after that, acoustic and electric guitar lessons for another three years. Kokkinou was also very interested in sports and for six years before she finished school, she was on a water ski team. On the team she won third place in a pan-Hellenic championship as well as many gold medals. Upon graduation Kokkinou wrote her first band called "Anonimi" (Anonymous). At the same time she completed examinations and was accepted to the school Vakalo where she studied graphic, free and architectural drawing and art history.

Elli Kokkinou first professionally dealt with music in 1990 with the request of the famous Kostas Tournas.^[1] Soon after, Kokkinou collaborated with many big names at the clubs such as Antonis Vardis, Tolis Voskopoulos, Anna Vissi, Pashalis Terzis, Glykeria, Eleni Dimou, and many more. At the same time Kokkinou also provided backing vocals for a number of artists' albums.^[3]

In 1992, Elli Kokkinou moved to Los Angeles, CA where she studied for two years voice and piano at the Musicians Institute of Technology.^[1] Her relocation to the United States offered her the chance to be taught by strong names in the music industry such as Carl Schroeder, pianist for Sarah Voaghn, and Scott Henderson. In 1994 she graduated and returned to Greece.^[4]

[edit] 1996-2002: Kapia Mera, Epikindyna Paihnidia, and Andriki Kolonia

In 1996 Elli Kokkinou signed a contract with Sony Music Greece and in 1998 she released her first CD single titled Kapia Mera (Someday). Music was by Antonis Vardis, with lyrics by Manou Tsilimidis and Gioula Gerorgiou.^[4]

In 1999, Elli Kokkinou released her debut album titled Epikindyna Paihnidia (Dangerous games). The song "Pao Pao" became a hit single off the album. In 2000 she released her second album titled Andriki Kolonia (Male cologne).

[edit] 2002-2004: Sto Kokkino

In 2002 she signed with Heaven Music and the following year started collaborating with popular song writer Phoebus.^[5] In May 2003 she released the album Sto Kokkino (In red) which was one of the most successful releases in Greece of the year, reaching double platinum status.^[6] The album's first platinum certification was attained within two months and was also a great success in neighboring Turkey. Kokkinou performed with Giorgos Mazonakis in the song "To Gucci Ton Masai" which made it into the Greek top ten. Following the success of Sto Kokkino, her former label Sony Music released a greatest hits album titled Paradinomai (I'm surrendering).^[3] Following the platinum status, Sto Kokkino was repackaged as Sto Kokkino Platinum Edition in 2004 with four bonus songs including a duet with Giorgos Tsalikis and a DVD. The four new songs became instant hits, while the re-release help push the certification up to 2x platinum.

On April 14, 2005, Elli Kokkinou won the international award for "Best New International Artist" by the "Union of Journalists of Turkey" (MGD), as her songs from Sto Kokkino were big hits in Turkey.^[4]

[edit] 2005-2006: SEX

Following a series of concerts in the United States and Australia with Christos Dantis, Elli Kokkinou returned in the summer of 2005 and began recording songs for her next studio album with Phivos. On November 10, 2005 Kokkinou released her fourth studio album titled SEX which was certified gold on the day of its release. The album shortly reached platinum status and was repackaged on November 13, 2006 as Ki' Allo Platinum Edition (More). Ki' Al'lo featured 4 new songs and a bonus DVD, including a duet with Thanos Petrelis and the French language version of the single "SEX" first performed at the "MAD Music Video Awards" in 2006. For the winter season of 2006-2007, Kokkinou performed with Petrelis at club "Apollon".^[5]

[edit] 2007-2009: Eilikrina

On April 1, 2007, Elli announced on her official website that she had left Heaven Music and Phoebus stating she would like more creative input as one of her reasons.^[7] She also stated that Heaven Music had offered her to resign, which she decided not to do. Following a couple months without a label, Elli announced in July 2007, that she has signed with her original label Sony BMG Greece.^[8]

In September 2007, she started appearances with Nikos Kourkoulis and Natassa Theodoridou at club "Votanikos".^[5][9] In November 2007, she released her fifth studio album titled Eilikrina (Honestly).^[10] The album peaked at number 2 on the Greek IFPI charts, while her lead single "Lypamai Eilikrina" peaked at number 2 on the Nielsen's Greece Radio Airplay Chart. The album quickly certified gold.^[11] Due to her pregnancy, she stopped singing at Votanikos club on January 5, 2008 and Sarbel replaced her.^[12][13]

In November 2008, Kokkinou released a song titled "Mi Ta Paratas" with music by Dimitris Kontopoulos, which was the title track to the Greek film "O Ilias Tou 16ou".^[14] She also recorded a track titled "Demenes" for the Barbie movie "I Barbie Kai To Diamantenio Kastro", releasing the video through her official Myspace page.^[15]

In late March 2009, she released a digital single titled "Pame Ksana" (Let's go again) composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos with lyrics by Alexandra Zakka.^[16] In June 2009 Elli started performing at club Romeo, marking the first time in a year that she was back on a stage. In October 2009 Kokkinou embarked on a North American tour, appearing in cities in the United States and Canada.^[17]

[edit] 2010-present: Greek Idol and Ta Genethlia Mou

On November 27, 2009, it was announced that Kokkinou had left Sony Music Greece, and would sign to Phoebus's record label, called The Spicy Effect.^[18] On December 11, 2009, Kokkinou officially signed a five-year contract with the label.^[19][20] As a result, Kokkinou will once again collaborate with Phoebus on her new album.^[21] Speaking at the signing, Kokkinou stated that the first single from her upcoming album written by Phoebus has been recorded and will be released in January.^[19] On January 22, 2010, Kokkinou released a digital single titled "Ontos" (Indeed), which featured rapper Ypochthonios.^[22] A remix followed, while in March 2010, Kokkinou released another digital single titled "Apohoro" (I'm departing).

On July 23, 2010, Kokkinou kicked off a summer tour across Greece and Cyprus with Despina Vandi.^[23] For the winter season, Kokkinou will be appearing with Vasilis Karras at club FIX in Thessaloniki set to kick off on October 22, 2010.^[24] Songwriter Phoebus has written them a duet titled "Den Tin Palevo" which premiered on October 12, 2010.^[25] Her new album is expected to be released in November 2010.^[24]

On October 26, 2010, Alpha TV announced that Elli Kokkinou will be a judge for season 2 of reality singing competition Greek Idol, which started in February 2011.^[26] On 9 December 2011, she released the studio album Ta Genethlia Mou (My Birthday), her first since 2007's Eilikrina, and her first on The Spicy Effect.^[27] The album will be released as a Deluxe Digipak, featuring a booklet and fifteen songs in total.^[27]

Personal life[link]

In the 1990s, Elli Kokkinou had a relationship with Dionisis Schinas. Later, in 2000, she began dating her business manager, Panayiotis Vassiliadis, and in September 2007 the two married. She became a stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage. In December 2007 she revealed that she was pregnant with her first child after much media scrutiny. In June 2008 Kokkinou gave birth to a boy.^[28][29] After much speculation and no public joint appearance of the two in six month, Kokkinou and her son moved to a new house in March 2010 with the couple announcing their divorce shortly after.^[30][31]

Discography[link]