Alexandros Panayi

Alexandros Panayi
Background Information
Origin	Nicosia, Cyprus
Birth date	24 June 1970
Death date	N/A
Age	54
Eurovision Song Contest - 1st Entry
Year	1995
Country	Cyprus
Song	Sti Fotia
Semi Position	--
Semi Points	--
Final Position	9th
Final Points	79
Eurovision Song Contest - 2nd Entry
Year	2000
Country	Cyprus
Song	Nomiza (as part of Voice)
Semi Position	--
Semi Points	--
Final Position	21st
Final Points	8

Alexandros Panayi, occaisonally known as Alex Panayi, is a Greek Cypriot singer, composer, lyricist, producer, vocal coach, and vocal arranger. 

Born to a musical family, where his father was the founder of the first symphony orchestra in Cyprus and his mother a famous pianist, he started learning from them. By the age of 18 he had already established himself as one of the leading singers and songwriters of his country, moving on to study music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, sponsored by the Fulbright Scholarship (BMus, Honors).

During his five-year stay in the United States he had the opportunity to perform with artists such as Gary Burton, Peter Erskine, The Manhattan Transfer, The New York Voices and Billy Joel. He also toured the USA as a member of The Vocal Summit – an a capella free improvisation vocal group – gaining the "Outstanding Musicianship Award" from the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE).

He started out his Eurovision career as a backing vocalist for their 1989 and 1991 entries, and attempted to represent them in 1990 and 1993, placing third both times. He was finally chosen to represent the country for the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 in Dublin with the song Sti Fotia, which he also composed himself. It placed 9th with 79 points.

Five years later, he represented Cyprus with Christina Argyri as the duo Voice for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song Nomiza. There, he was less fortunate, placing 21st with 8 points, resulting in Cyprus getting relegated for the 2001 contest.

Along with recording, he also works as a vocal director. Some of his most notable entries he worked at during Eurovision include Helena Paparizou's winning entry in 2005 (where he was also a backing vocalist), Sakis Rouvas in 2009 (also a backing vocalist), and Sergey Lazarev in 2016.