Paphos welcomes back local ‘Madonna’

SINGING sensation Anna Vissi will perform in Paphos this evening for the first time in 17 years.

“I am always happy to come back to my country. I feel safe here; I feel honoured and moved,” She told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Although the singer has performed regularly in Cyprus over the years, the town of Paphos had, until now, missed out.

The mayor of Paphos Savvas Vergas greeted the star and spoke of his delight that she would be performing in the coastal town.

Vissi was born in Larnaca and began singing and performing from a young age. She was only six years old when she began to study music.

Following her family’s move to Athens in 1973, Vissi studied music at the National Conservatory.

Now aged 53, the lithe, engaging star has enjoyed success in Cyprus, Greece, the UK and the USA and is often referred to as the Greek answer to Madonna.

Vissi said: “I love this feeling of familiarity when I’m in Cyprus as this is the place where I was born and people embrace me with such love and pride.”

In 1983 the singer married composer Nikos Karavelas, and the duo began a musical partnership which has included many gold and platinum selling records to date.

The good-humoured star held a press conference yesterday ahead of her concert and spoke in both Greek and English. Mobbed by fans and hotel guests the singer posed for endless photographs and signed numerous autographs before she was swept away by her entourage.

“I see in their faces (of Cypriots) what I have become. It’s like Cyprus is equal to my mother,” she said. “I would also like to see the foreigners in Cyprus to come and support my concert.”

Anna Vissi will perform this evening at 9pm at Pafiakos stadium in Paphos.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.