Vasiliki Papathanasiou (Greek: Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου; born 23 August 1949), generally known as Vicky Leandros (Greek: Βίκυ Λέανδρος), is a Greek singer living in Germany. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou (also known as Leo Leandros as well as Mario Panas). In 1967 she achieved worldwide fame after gaining fourth place for the country of Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "L'amour est bleu", which became a worldwide hit. She further established her career by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with the song "Après Toi", again representing Luxembourg.

On 15 October 2006, Vicky Leandros was elected town councillor of the Greek harbour town of Piraeus on the Pasok list. Her task concerned the Cultural and International development of Piraeus. She was also Deputy Mayor of Piraeus. It was announced in June 2008 that Leandros decided to leave her position in Greek politics with immediate effect stating that she had underestimated the work load and time needed to fulfil her political obligations and that it had become impossible to combine those duties with her singing career.

Leandros was born as Vasiliki Papathanasiou in Palaiokastritsa, Corfu. Her father wanted to expand his career and went to West Germany while she grew up at her grandmother's house until the age of eight. In 1958 her parents took her to West Germany where she stayed with her father permanently after her parents' divorce. She revealed her talent at a young age while taking guitar, music, dance, ballet and voice lessons.

In 1965, she released her first single "Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht". This was the beginning of a successful career for her with her father as composer, manager and producer. In 1967 she received an offer to sing for Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "L'amour est bleu". She finished in fourth place but the song became one of the biggest worldwide hits of the year and was covered by other artists. She was shortly singing in eight languages with her albums, singles and EPs being sold all over the world.

In 1970 her first TV show Ich Bin was broadcast in 13 European countries. It received many awards for its originality and thought-provoking contemporary graphics including in 1971 the world-famous Bronze Rose of Montreux. It was also the first time that Vicky used the same stage surname as her father (actually his real Christian name) and became known from then onwards as Vicky Leandros having been known simply as Vicky during the 1960s. Guests appearing were Julien Clerc and Deep Purple. The show has been repeated over the years and is seen as a classic piece very evocative of the era though at first it was not well received in all quarters owing to its surprising even shocking imagery in an age when songs were not generally accompanied by visuals for marketing purposes. Throughout the 1970s other film portraits by prominent film makers were to follow which attracted interest around the world. She later went on to host a television series in the UK for the BBC, entitled Music My Way.

Vicky Leandros (Βίκυ Λέανδρος), née Vassiliki Papathanasiou (Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου) le 23 août 1949 à Corfou dans les îles Ioniennes, est une chanteuse grecque ayant notamment remporté l'Eurovision 1972 pour le Luxembourg.

Elle s'est illustrée dans la musique de variétés d'expression française, allemande, anglaise, néerlandaise ou bien japonaise. Vicky Leandros est une artiste très populaire dans les pays de langue germanique, tout comme en Grèce ou à Chypre.

Vicky est la fille de l'artiste peintre Kyriaki Protopapa et du chanteur, auteur, compositeur, producteur grec Leandros Papathanassiou plus connu sous le nom de Leo Leandros (alias Mario Panas). En 1958, Vicky, âgée de 9 ans, rejoint ses parents à Hambourg, où son père connaît un grand succès jusqu’à être numéro 1 des ventes en Allemagne en 1960 avec Mustafa. Vicky commence sa carrière en 1965 avec le single Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht, qui est un succès immédiat en Allemagne et alentours. Sa première chanson en français N'y pense plus, tout est bien figure sur son premier album Songs und Folklore, paru en 1966.

À la suite de sa participation au Concours Eurovision de la chanson 1967 à Vienne avec la chanson L'amour est bleu, classée numéro 1 aux États-Unis dans la version orchestrale de Paul Mauriat, Vicky offre au Luxembourg une quatrième place et entame sa carrière de manière fulgurante en Europe, dans le reste du monde et surtout au Japon et au Canada, en particulier au Québec, pays dans lesquels elle enchaîne albums et tournées. Au Japon, dans le mois qui suit sa sortie, L'amour est bleu s'écoule à plus de 500 000 exemplaires. Après un tel succès, Vicky ajoute une nouvelle langue à son répertoire et enregistre en japonais. Ses premiers titres Machi Kutabireta Nichiyobi et Watashi No Suki Chocolato pulvérisent les records de ventes. À l'appui des albums A Taste Of Vicky, Summertime forever, Ich Glaub An Dich, Vicky und ihre Hits, Ich bin qui paraissent en allemand, grec, français et japonais les succès suivent: To Mistiko Sou, Mia Fora Ki Enan Kairo, Non c'est rien, Ne tarde pas trop, Bunterluftballon, Chameni Agapi, Karussell d'Amour, Klipp und Klar, Ouvre les yeux sur le monde, Les Moulins de mon cœur, St Tropez, Gitarren bei Nacht, Mon cœur sous les drapeaux, Ne me quitte pas, Réponses, Mamy Blue, My Sweet Lord.

En 1970, Vicky enregistre Ich Bin, son premier show pour la télévision allemande où elle reçoit Julien Clerc et Deep Purple. L'émission, diffusée dans treize pays européens mais également aux États-Unis, est récompensée en 1971 par la Rose de Bronze au festival international de Montreux, année où paraît son premier album au Royaume-Uni I am. ...

Source: Article "Vicky Leandros" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Vicky Leandros ist eine Sängerin aus Griechenland mit deutscher und griechischer Staatsbürgerschaft, die über 55 Millionen Tonträger weltweit verkaufte