Born on the Greek side of Cyprus (though his parents fled to the other side of the island during the Turkish invasion of 1974), Mihalis Hatzigiannis developed a strong singer/songwriter sound, becoming highly popular in Greece despite the generally club/dance-heavy sounds of Eastern Europe. Starting out young with his first major performances coming at Eurovision qualifiers when he was only 17 years old, he had three hit records (all reaching platinum status in Cyprus) and a representation at Eurovision by the time he was 20, whereby he expanded into the larger market of Greece proper. After a successful soundtrack collaboration, Hatzigiannis released his first full-length Greek album, quickly hitting the double-platinum mark and catapulting the singer into stardom and collaborations with major Greek vocal stars. Garnering awards and popularity, Hatzigiannis performed on behalf of Cyprus at a European Union induction ceremony and on behalf of Greece at the 2004 Olympics, soon moving beyond touring his home region and into Greek communities worldwide (notably Australia and the Chicago, IL area of the United States). Pumping out an album each year, Hatzigiannis continued to build a strong following, also branching into styles other than his original singer/songwriter format, hitting upon elements of dance and electronica, perhaps more par for the course in Eastern Europe. Releasing a second live album (his tenth overall album) in late 2007, Hatzigiannis quickly captured platinum status and remained in the Greek Top Ten in album sales through the fall of 2008 on the strength of the album. ~ Adam Greenberg