By Athan Karras

Anna’s recent visit to California’s southland chose to celebrate Greek Easter at Hollywood’s SBE’s AREA NIGHTCLUB, home of the Hollywood heavyweight celebrities and upbeat latest rage partygoers at this airy space fancy Mid-Century Modern décor. It was just what Anna Vissi, the ultimate superstar and reigning queen of Greek music, chose appropriately the AREA nightclub, a latest addition of expanding nightlife in Los Angeles hotspots to celebrate Greek Easter.. Anna reached out to entertain her young fans in southern California as she does all over the world adorned her fans with a new previewed CD bearing the title “APAGOREVMENO” (forbidden), composed by Patrick Leonard and Kara Dioguardi, who have been associated with Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani, Santana and others bearing delicate and sensitive intriguing arrangements, bringing out Anna Vissi’s torch like moods that flared throughout the multiple TV monitors at the Area Club. Fans anxiously waited, while others stretched on banquettes and sofas in intimate seating areas surrounding the dance floor flanked by the club’s two bars. The poised fans eagerly waited for the goddess to appear and as she emerged, young celebrants with flowers in hand hoisted her on the dance floor while sparkling flashing cell phone cameras snapped commemorating this special holiday for Greeks. She opened in soft spoken Greek a warm narration, and invited all to join at this momentous special occasion.

Anna Vissi is no stranger to Los Angeles, frequently visits for recording sessions and concerts and this Hollywood nightspot gave her a new energy to reinvent herself with enthusiastic Greek and crossover audiences in a mix of young fans who find her as fascinating, and impulsively attractive, sexy and sultry as she moved lithely delivering songs with an undulating vibrant rhythmic pulsation, that brought the AREA Greek club to a flaming excitement. Eager and restless young ladies in miniskirts raged at the shortened spirits of young men casually dressed, with multiple spiked hairdos all waved ar Greek ms and writhed while Anna Vissi took the floor to nonstop renditions, a mike in hand embracing and contacting her audience few performers rarely involve their fans.

Anna’s stellar career is a perfect example of a talent that showed promise very early in her high school years in Larnaca, Cyprus, where she excelled and encouraged to continue musical studies, along with classical piano and dance. Her natural talent immediately burst through that by the age of twelve she was signed for her first recording contract. Her collaboration with Nicos Karvelas brought her even greater attention and soon began a touring career in Greece and immediately after that in Europe, where sell-out crowds thronged at the theaters.