Annet Artani

Annet Artani - Alive - Jason Nevins Electrotek Club Mix - FINALLY! A great track on this disc. Excellent vocals and a sick beat! Lovin this remix, however Jason Nevins always does a smash up job. 9/10 - New Music Review.com

The Top Pop Songs of the Decade were influenced by leading ladies -- Britney, Kelly Clarkson and Evanecence's Amy Lee -- all who deliver powerful vocals and emotional words about vulnerability, lost love and separation. But in the 2000s, dance club beats prevailed, with newcomer Lady GaGa and producer mogal Timbaland reigning the airwaves, the latter dropping collaborations with Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and even OneRepublic. See below for AOL Radio's Top Pop Songs of the Decade, rated by our radio listeners.



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Written by Spears and her background vocalist Annette Artani, the piano-led ballad with string instruments is entirely different than the rest of her dance-pop singles on 'In the Zone'; the lyrics were scrutinized by the press, suggesting the song is about her relationship with ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake: 'I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song is my sorry.' - AOL RADIO BLOG .COM

As a young girl Annet was always attracted to the sound of music and the passion that derived from it.
She took that passion and merely multiplied it with her own and developed into a chart breaking recording artist. Her family who came from the scenic island of Kefalonia were already entrenched in the wonder of music. Her father and mother filled the house with music on a daily basis.

Annet caught the musical itch at a young age and along with her sister Diana joined a band called Nootropia where they sang in Greek. The group developed a following in New York and were even promoted on National Greek TV (NGTV) and Aktina FM. But that did not last long and Annet soon set her sights on bigger things.

Annet always had a huge love affair with R&B and club music. “I remember when I was real young I would wake up late at night just to catch Janet Jackson at the AMA. I would sneak to watch it when I knew my parents did not approve of us staying up late. My mother would yell at me to turn off the TV but that image of Janet on that stage I knew I belonged there.”

She would soon go on to receive a scholarship from BMG for writing and performing an original song, called “Summer Days”. Annet did not stop there she went on to win several talent titles in America’s Favorite Pageants, the New York Star Pageant and the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection. She also managed to be feature in the Pageantry and Billboard Magazine.

When she entered the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection she as the only white contestant every other contestant was African-American. The judges and the majority of the audience were African-American excluding Annet’s forty family members. “It was an odd experience. We even caught someone on video saying “that white girl better win” who was someone else’s supporter. I thought there was no way I can win. But my parents realized that I belonged on a stage.”

Annet also offered her voice in her college Gospel choir. She took her first step into her career as an opening act for Mando a Greek pop star, and was featured in her own summer concert in 1995. Annet made some more strides by collaborating with several accomplished writers like: Jeff Franzel, who’s written for NSYNC, Alex Forbes who has written for Taylor Dayne and Cyndi Lauper, among others. Annet was so much in everyone’s face singing at the Bitter End and CBGB’s. She was her own promoter. That is how Britney’s people found out about her.

Annet then went on to be a backup singer with rising pop star Britney Spears on her tour Dream Within A Dream Tour. Following that great accomplishment she then collaborated with Spears, co-writing the single “Everytime”. The single was soon released in 2004 and became an international top ten hit. “Working with Britney was definitely an eye-opener into how warped it all is sometimes. She would see a bikini in a store and say I like that and the next minute you know they would send forty of them to her room. It is a fine line between what’s real and what is not.”

Then as she was enjoying her success with Britney the homeland beckoned her presence on the reality show “Fame Story” in Greece. Yet she ended up walking off the show due pressure from the producers. She eventually signed a recoding contract with Virus Music which released her first single “Goodbye Amor”. “My album was mostly in Greek but there were some American songs. It gave me the opportunity to sign with Virus and release the album “Mia Foni”.”

While she was enjoying the fruits of her labor she was cordially invited by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation to take part in the Cypriot selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. After that was introduced the people chose a single out of twenty songs during the final round. The song was from a show entitled “A Song For Europe”. She won the majority of the votes for her ballad “Why Angel’s Cry”, even though she was suffering from laryngitis.

Since she was suffering from laryngitis the song was enhanced a touch by adding the Russian philharmonic in its orchestration. Annet then went on to represent Cyprus in Athens at the Contest’s semi-final.

Eventually this opened the doors to other possibilities. Annet was soon approached by the Greece’s Hellenic Radio & Television to represent them in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. She developed three possible candidate songs, yet she realized early on that for her to submit them there would be strings attached. At this time she had already left her Greek record label Virus and signed on with an American label, Ultra Records. She knew by submitting the songs she would be tied to the Greek label restricting her to move on to greater pastures in the US.

She has currently released her first single under Ultra Records, entitled “Alive” a single that cuts close to home for Annet. “It was something that meant a lot to me. I came back from Greece with emotional scars from a failed relationship and this song reflects those feelings. I wanted to come back stronger here in America. I was nervous to come out like this in my video being it was so personal but I felt it needed to be done to expose the hardship of domestic abuse. But it also allowed me to feel liberated from that as well.”

Recently, Annet performed at her first US concert the Party 105 Mega Jam this past August where she brought the house down. “It was exciting and fun to get that exposure to a younger crowd. I love being out there on stage no matter where it is. I was able to project my dancing and singing together.”

Currently, she is working on her second single and developing her band to bigger and better things. Annet also fancies herself as a trend setter with her fashions. She always tries to come out with colorful dresses or styles that make a statement. “I think of myself as a cartoon character. I think of myself like Elmira from Tiny Tunes who is an animal lover just like me. I also did a little stand up comedy. I consider myself very colorful. I am slowly coming out into who I am what I can do. What I want to do more than anything is to sell out Wembley and do it on my own and make things happen for me.” - Greek Hollywood Reporter

While many people have heard Britney Spears‘ heartfelt ballad, “Everytime,” hardly anyone has ever heard the story behind its creation from the song’s co-writer herself.

After learning of her involvement in an interview about Britney for the upcoming NBC series called Killer Comebacks, I got in touch with Annet Artani to discuss her time spent working with Spears on the Dream Within A Dream tour, as well as their songwriting sessions together and her own musical plans for the future.

The Greek singer-songwriter first got her start with Britney after auditioning to become a back-up singer for Britney’s upcoming promotional tour. Though she had no idea what the job entailed, she assumed it was a one-off gig for Britney’s upcoming performance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Only hours after their performance on September 10, 2001, she was asked to join Spears and the rest of the tour crew for what would become the Dream Within A Dream Tour.

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Artani was unsure about whether or not to go on tour with Spears after having already generated buzz as a solo artist in New York. However, the events of the following day would quickly change her mind. “I needed to get out of the city. When they asked me to go on tour, I was like, ‘Absolutely,’” she explained of her decision. Looking back, Artani is proud to have chosen the tour rather than staying put. “It was an amazing experience, and an escape for me as well.”

The tour was also a brief time of romance for Artani, who struck up a relationship with the tour’s musical director for the duration of the show. “I was enamored, we fell in love from the beginning.”

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However, their relationship didn’t last long. “I was so young…It was just too much too quick,” she noted.

So how did she and Britney begin to write with each other? Their interactions up until the very end of the tour were brief, limited to vocal warm-up routines, short chats in the gym, and time spent together on stage. Finally, by the last date in Mexico City, Britney struck up conversation with the singer. “She was getting her nails done at the pool area. At one point, she called me over to tell me how cute me and the guy are and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to last.’ She goes ‘What do you mean?’ and I was like, “Well, it looks like we’re going to break up,’ and she said ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re going to hang out with me.’”

Spears and Artani slowly began to forge a friendship following the tour’s end. “I didn’t expect her to call me, but then she did. She invited me to L.A., and then she invited me to Milan and I went with her to Donatella Versace’s fashion show.” According to Artani, their relationship grew out of their shared dating experiences at the time. “Basically, we commiserated because she, at that time, had broken up with Justin [Timberlake]. Maybe like nine months before, but of course it was really fresh in the media. I was just breaking up with this guy, so we kind of like–I think we kind of needed each other.”

As a result, Spears and Artani began to write together. “I was staying with her in her house in LA for a few weeks…she had a piano in the middle of her house, so, of course, we’d sit around and start writing.”

After spending time in L.A., the two traveled to Lake Como. “It was me and her, her stylist and Felicia, and we had this humongous house to ourselves, and they had a piano there as well.” From out of these sessions came a song called “Everytime,” a deeply personal, heartbroken ballad that displayed Spears at her weakest and most vulnerable state. “It was a very organic, sad experience, but I think that’s where the truth comes out,” Artani says of the songwriting process.

As most people had quickly assumed, “Everytime” was in large part a response to Justin Timberlake’s release of “Cry Me A River” as well as various radio interviews, including a particularly raunchy moment on Hot 97 which Artani cited as an all-too-personal moment on air. “He was talking shit about her at that time on the radio. He was getting personal. Here, she had a different type of image, and he was really exposing some stuff that she probably didn’t want out there, and in front of her little sister…I remember her sister being mortified and her being mortified. I’m sure that that really hurt her.”

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And so “Everytime” was born, although it wasn’t the only song to stem from the writing sessions in Lake Como. “There was a song…she basically started writing something for Jamie-Lynn, and we called it ‘Shine.’ It never came out, we never finished it…she was obviously very close to [Jamie-Lynn]. That song never came into fruition for some reason. I don’t even think we finished it, to be honest.”

Additionally, the two singers also started collaborating on a somewhat unexpected project–a film: “I started writing a screenplay when I was in Donatella’s house because I was staying in her daughter Allegra’s room and I was just really inspired in there. I started writing a screenplay about these two best friends, and then she and I were working on it on the airplane…it was an idea that we both started developing. We actually started to write a screenplay that we never finished.”

Though contact with Spears has since slowly diminished following their songwriting sessions after the Dream Within A Dream Tour, Artani remains grateful for her experience and the time spent working with Britney.

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Since then, Artani has stepped out from the sidelines and begun venturing on her own solo endeavor. Along with the release of her latest single, “Alive,” which premiered last year (click here to check out the video), the up-and-coming artist is now making steps to recording her first album.

In 2005, the singer was chosen to enter Greece’s Fame Story, a kind of American Idol spin-off in Greece. Though personally responsible for some of the highest ratings the program ever received, she soon walked off the show after refusing to sign an extended recording contract in Greece. “I got a record deal anyway, and I put out two gold albums. I wound up touring on my own as a pop artist all over Europe, all over Australia,” she explained of her fame at the time. A year later, she was chosen to represent Cyprus in 2006’s Eurovision with the song, “Why Angels Cry.”

Shuttling between the U.S. and Greece, Artani finally found a management team and home stateside with Ultra Records in the past few years, although she’s currently being serviced to larger labels for her eventual debut’s distribution.

As she explained to me, the album is progressing–albeit slowly–as she continues to find the right collaborators to create a distinct, Mediterranean-inspired sound. “It’s not about getting the producer, it’s about getting the combination of two producers together who understand what I want to do that’s never been done. I don’t want to show them something and have them recreate it–I want to create something from scratch. It’s going to be a whole new thing,” she explained of her desired sound.

“Basically it’s like, and I hate to compare, sort of like if P!nk and Katy Perry were from the Mediterranean. There’s a little bit of that Shakira ethnicity, but hers is more Latin and Middle Eastern, whereas mine is more Mediterranean. It’s authentic to who I am,” she says of her upcoming music. “People haven’t really tapped into the Mediterranean thing.” - MuuMuse

Annet Artani is a Greek/American singer, with an amazing voice. She represented Cyprus at the Eurovision 2006 with the song "Why angels cry?"... Nowadays, she's in the USA enjoying her life and her new album which is about to be released. Already her first english song "Alive" is available on iTunes driving everyone crazy!!!

As she is experienced with the contest, Annet gave an interview to me telling some things about the Eurovision Song Contest, both Greek and Cypriot 2009 entries and of course about her...
Check it out...

01. First of all Annet i would like to thank you for accepting this interview...
Annet = No problem Krikor... I should thank you for asking me.

02. Let's start with some words about yourself
Annet = Well, i basically grew up writing and singing since i was a child, and did alot of talent pagents while i was in school that i won, and eventually found myself recording my own songs at 15 years old. Within a few years after winning a scholarship for songwriting from BMG, I studied music and go asked to tour with Britney and wound up writing the hit song "Everytime". When i was in La working as a songwriter and singing with Cyndi Lauper and Taylor Dayne, I was told about the Fame Story Auditons and wound up moving to Athens and stayed for almost 4 years. My fame via Fame Story and support and love from my Cypriot fans led me to compete to represent Cyprus Eurovision, which was one of my biggest honors!
(you can tell us some chilhood memories, first steps on singing...)

03. In Greece people know you basicly from the Fame Story 3. What memories do you have from there?
Annet = I remember feeling like I needed to just focus on being myself. i could see that some people were trying to provoke or impress, but i didnt want to be known as "that" girl. I wanted me to like me or hate me because that was their genuine opinion. I tried to tune out as much of the negativity I sensed from the other contestants by doing yoga, which made me look even weirder i think!, and focused on staying true to myself :0)

04. For what reasons did you left the academy?
Annet = I didnt have a choice. I was told that I had 20 min to leave OR sign a contract for about 7-9 years for management and contract, and I always wanted to come back home and have a career in the US, so committing to something for that many years sort of scared me.

05. How came the co-working with Britney Spears and her song "Everytime" which you composed?
Annet = After the Dream Within a Dream tour in which i sang backgrounds for her, we became friends and bonded over breaking up with our boyfriends.
So we sat down in her house and starting writing. It was a very cathartic moment to share with another girl who has gone through something similar.

06. Who asked you to sing "Why angles cry?" and take part in the Cypriot National Final for the Eurovision 2006?
Annet = The songwriter of Why Angels Cry, Petros Giannakis, asked me to compete within Cyprus, and i was lucky enough to win and go!

07. Can you tell us which was your first reaction after listening to the song?
Annet = I thought it was beautiful and meaningful.

08. Were you sure that the Cypriot audience would choose you and your song as the winning song of that night?
Annet = No. You can NEVER be too confident or too sure. I was just happy to be there!

09. Share with us your first thoughts after knowing that "Why angels cry?" is the Cypriot entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006...
Annet = I was crying from the excitment and i felt overwhelmed to be a Greek and not a Cypriot have to represent them with honor and pride. Its one of the most humbling moments of my life and I'm very grateful to have been chosen.

10. Can you also share with us your memories from Athens and Eurovision 2006?
Annet = Well, one thing i will not forget is being afraid of Lordi. They looked scary to me! One of the girls who sang with me kept trying to get me to take a picture with them and I didnt have the guts to, so i think I got close enough for her to snap one quickly! haha! I know...I was being a baby! Also, the moment I stepped foot on that stage and saw all those people, I wanted to cry. It was so emotional. And Im proud that i wore that yellow dress. It symbolized the struggles of the Cypriot people and I finally felt like I could represent them with honor after taking the time to know more about them, their history and their struggles.

11. Do you feel like having learned things in general for your life from the Eurovision?
Annet = I dont think you can walk away from that experience without having learned something. I learned that doing your best and having honor and pride in what you do is the most important thing of all.

12. How do you comment on your appearance in the semi final?
Annet = I like that i was simple and classy and I also liked that i wore yellow. Maybe I am not Cypriot, but I felt like I carried all of Cyprus with me in that song and was honored to wear that color!

13. Why, do you think, that the song did not make it to the final?
Annet = I was told a week before that I wouldn't make it to the final, btw. This is not something I ever told anyone. I know there was alot of political stuff involved and I also dont think its a coincidence that my song was NOT played in Greece.

14. Have you attend the final of the Eurovision?
Annet = No, i was in the recording studio :0)

15. Do you like Lordi's song which finally won the contest? Which other 2006 entries do you like?
Annet = I think Lordi had a great performance and a great stage show, and a good song. As for the other songs, i think some were great and others were not. But from what i see, its not about the song as much as it is about the performance and the elements of the showmanship. I did the best i could with a ballad about children dying and angels crying. it was a respectful sweet solemn song and I couldn't have performed it any other way without being disrespectful.

16. Is Annet generally a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest? Is there any song from the history of the contest which you like most?
Annet = I am a fan! ofcourse! And I dont want to be biased, but i LOVED My #1 by Elena Paparizzou because i think she and the whole concept was brilliant.

17. What did you do after the Eurovision?
Annet = I left Greece a year ago and I just released my first worldwide single with an American label! I'm very excited. In the coming weeks it will be going to radio internationally and so is the video!

18. Tell us about your brand new song "Alive" which is already loved by the fans...
Annet = Its sold thousands already and I am SO grateful for everyones support!!!! I had been in a bad relationship for a while and this song was written in Vancouver, Canada, during the time I was building up my strength to leave him. I didnt leave the relationship til a year later and the situation became much worse, and sadly, ended violently. The video touches on this subject as well, and Im hoping to send a message to girls everywhere that you shouldnt stay in a relationship with anyone who treats you badly EVER. So that video will premiere soon and I'm very proud to take a stand on that subject. A year ago i was crying and found myself in despair, and now I'm a new woman who has turned my life around. I feel very grateful for having music as my outlet and using that as my therapy and I hope this song does that for others as well.

19. Would you take part again at the Eurovision Song Contest?
Annet = Ofcourse i would!

20. What do you think about the Greek and the Cypriot entries for this year?
Annet = Well, I think Sakis is perfect for this contest, and he has proven himself to be a winner many times! As for Christina, i think she looks like an angel and its a very good song. My only concern is that Eurovision winners are usually more extroverted and explosive. And I think I learned this first hand! :0)

21. If you would responsible to choose someone to represent Greece at the contest, who would you suggest?
Annet = If it was up to me, I would hold a contest for NEW people. People who have NEVER gone before. People who are unknown talent and who would be grateful to be up there. I think that this shows unity and support towards the young talent within a country.

22. Annet, thank you so much for this interview. We wish you all the best for you life...
Annet = Thank you for asking me Krikor! Good luck to Greece and Cyprus this year! I will be watching all the way from NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oxAA~ - KRIK MUSIC CORNER

The name Annet Artani might not sound familiar to most of you, nor will her real name Annette Stamatelatos, though she already has achieved some great things in music..

Annet is a Greek-American singer who I discovered as a backing vocalist in Britney Spears' 'Dream Within A Dream' Tour. She also co-wrote Britney's 'Everytime'..

Her own music career started in 2004 when she entered the third edition of the Greek reality singing show Fame Story. After just one month she walked off the show, because she felt like she couldn't fit the image the people there wanted to give her.

In 2006 Annet represented Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest, where she didn't reach the final (despite being one of my favorites..). After the contest, she released her first studio album, 'Mia Foni', in Greece and Cyprus. It went top 10 in both countries.

After that, she concentrated on an international breakthrough, and 'Alive' is the first single from her yet untitled next studio album. You can check out the video below! ;)




Be sure to support Annet if you like her by buying the single on iTunes! ;)
- POPNATION.COM