Katy Garbi

Katerina "Katy" Garbi (Greek: Κατερίνα "Καίτη" Γαρμπή, pronounced [kateˈrina ˈceti ɣarˈbi]; born 8 June 1961) is a Greek singer. Her career has spanned over 35 years with over 2 million records sold in Greece and abroad. Garbi's discography is marked by several multi-platinum releases, including Arhizo Polemo (1996) and Evaisthisies (1997), two of the best-selling albums of the decade. Garbi represented Greece in the annual Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 with the song "Ellada, chora tou fotos", taking ninth place. She later struck her biggest commercial success with To Kati (2000) in terms of unit sales. Over the years, Garbi has won 11 Pop Corn Music Awards, including three for Album of the Year, and one Arion Music Award. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked her among the top-certified female artists in Greece's phonographic era (since 1960).

Katy Garbi began her singing career with her younger sister Liana, as the "Garbi Sisters", in the summer of 1977, when she was just 16 years old and Liana just 13. Due to their age, their father was against their work as singers, but he did not want to stand in the way of the future that he felt their talent offered them. They are most remembered for the backing vocals they provided at Yannis Floriniotis's performances in the early eighties.

Breaking away from the duo with her sister Liana, Garbi recorded her first solo song "Sain Trope". Her official debut in discography came in 1987, when she appeared as one of the artists on a new compilation album called Ta Deka Dekaria alongside other new singers including Manto, Polina, Sophia Vossou and Laurentis Mahairitsas. In addition to "Sain Trope", early contributions also included a duet with Kostas Haritodiplomenos titled "Glyka".

With the success of the first album, the second volume was released in 1989 which featured Garbi in two new songs titled "Ah, Afto Mou Aresei" and "Zo Na S'Agapo". These early songs grabbed the attention of Greek music executives, and led her to her first record contract with CBS Records Greece, paving the way for her first studio album in 1989.

Two years after her recorded music debut, Garbi released her debut personal album titled Prova (English: Rehearsal) in 1989. In 1990 and 1991 she released her second and third studio albums: Gyalia Karfia (English: Glass and nails) and Entalma Silepseos (English: Arrest warrant), respectively. Both albums fared well and allowed her to rise in the ranks of the Greek music scene.

By 1992, Garbi released her fourth album Tou Feggariou Anapnoes (English: The Breaths of the Moon). Garbi took on a more pop approach to her music, faring well with audience as she would gain her first certification when the album achieved gold certification by IFPI.

In 1993, she accepted the offer to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 with the song "Ellada, chora tou fotos", where she stirred up controversy in the Greek media due to the slitted blue dress she wore. Garbi's performance placed Greece 9th with 64 points. Garbi holds the Eurovision record for the individual singer with the longest camera close-up. During her performance, the camera showed a focused close-up of Garbi, fixed for 43 seconds before cutting to a different angle.

Following her highly publicized participation at Eurovision, Garbi's popularity began to climb, releasing albums that reached platinum certification, including platinum album Os Ton Paradeiso (English: Until paradise) and the double-platinum album Atofio Hrysafi (English: Pure gold) in 1994. During that time, Garbi released a duet with her then boyfriend Dionisis Shinas. Years later he would make a marriage proposal live in front of a national TV audience while promoting the song on Mega Channel's show Bravo hosted by Roula Koromila.