Vicky Leandros

Vasiliki Papathanasiou (Greek: Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου, IPA: [vasiliˈci papaθanaˈsi.u]; born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Vicky Leandros (Greek: Βίκυ Λέανδρος, IPA: [ˈvici ˈle.anðros]), is a Greek-born German singer. 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 workload and time needed to fulfil her political obligations and that it had become impossible to combine those duties with her singing career.

Early career

Leandros was born Vasiliki Papathanasiou in Palaiokastritsa, Corfu. 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 on 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.