Kostas Martakis

Kostas Martakis was born in May 1984 in the Athens area: a 2008 biography published by the public broadcaster ERT says Athens, while a 2020 interview profile says Piraeus and adds that he grew up in Palaio Faliro. According to ERT, he concentrated on sport until he was about twenty-two, especially basketball, in which he won medals and cups. In spring 2006 he applied to the television talent show Dream Show, his first real contact with professional singing. In October 2006 he released the single Πάντα μαζί (Always Together), and in December he began appearing at the Rex venue in Athens alongside Despina Vandi and Giorgos Mazonakis.

His first album, Ανατροπή (Upheaval), appeared in 2007 on Sony BMG Greece. That autumn he took part in the New Wave festival in Latvia, where ERT reported second place in the televote. In December 2007 ERT chose him as one of three candidates for the Greek final of Eurovision 2008. On 27 February 2008 he sang Always and Forever and finished second behind Kalomira. Albums followed in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016, and in 2014 he again came second in the Greek selection. In 2020 he appeared in Antonis Loudaros’s stage production Παριζιάνα (The Parisienne), based on a text by Giannis Dalianidis. In a 2024 television interview he described a period away from recording as a need to find his centre again.

Martakis’s recordings belong to mainstream Greek pop, sung mostly in Greek, with dance tracks and ballads written by established songwriters. In 2008 ERT noted that Ανατροπή (Upheaval) brought together many well-known composers and lyricists, unusual for a newcomer, and listed songs such as Ναι (Yes) and Θέλω επειγόντως διακοπές (I Urgently Want a Holiday) among its radio successes. Πιο κοντά (Closer) followed in 2009 and Ένταση (Intensity) in 2011. On Panik Records he released Αν κάπου κάποτε (If Somewhere, Sometime) in 2013 and Σύνορα (Borders) in 2016.

His two national-selection songs differ in language. Always and Forever, by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Vicky Gerothodorou, was in English. Κανένας δε με σταματά (Nobody Stops Me), written by Elias Kozas, was in Greek; at Eurosong 2014 on 11 March 2014 it finished second with about 28 per cent of the combined jury and public vote, and Freaky Fortune went to Copenhagen instead. Together the two attempts show each stage of a selection: being chosen as a candidate, presenting a song, a mixed jury and public vote, and accepting the result.

Since the late 2010s he has released mainly singles, from 2023 through Minos EMI. In 2024 Θέλω επειγόντως διακοπές returned in a new version featuring Khay Be, linking his early repertoire with a younger performer.

Martakis belongs to the generation of Greek pop singers launched by television talent shows in the mid-2000s, and his two second places remain part of the history of Greece’s Eurovision selections. For learners, his Greek titles are compact statements of attitude. Listen to the official recording of Κανένας δε με σταματά (Nobody Stops Me) and note only the title. Then turn it into a sentence about your own goal: Δεν με σταματά κανείς· προετοιμάζομαι για την ακρόαση (Nobody stops me; I am preparing for the audition). Finally, use his phrase το Α και το Ω (the be-all and end-all) to say what matters most in your work, and explain how you would accept a second place. These practice sentences are our own, not lyrics.

• ERT’s 2008 biography says he played basketball until he was about twenty-two.
• His 2008 national-final song was in English; his 2014 song was in Greek.
• At the 2007 New Wave festival in Latvia he also received the journalists’ special award, according to ERT.
• Θέλω επειγόντως διακοπές, a 2007 radio success, returned in a new version in 2024.