Eugenia Manolidou facts for kids

Eugenia Manolidou (born February 27, 1975) is a talented Greek composer and conductor. She is also a well-known television presenter in Greece. Eugenia was born in Athens, Greece. She is married to Adonis Georgiadis, who is a politician and a former Minister for Health in Greece. Her birth name was Eugenia Karagiannidou.

Biography

Eugenia Karagiannidou was born on February 27, 1975, in Athens, Greece. In 1995, Eugenia married painter Theodore Manolides. They separated in 2002. Later, she lived with Adonis Georgiades, who is a politician.

Eugenia has four children. Two children, Alexandros (born 1996) and Olympia Theodora (born 1998), are with Theodore. Her two younger children, Perseus (born 2005) and Alcaeus (born 2014), are with Adonis. Eugenia and Adonis got married on June 22, 2009.

Education and music career

Eugenia Manolidou started playing the piano at age 5. She always dreamed of becoming a composer. After high school, she first studied management. But soon, she decided to follow her musical dream overseas.

She was accepted into the famous Juilliard School in New York. There, she studied how to compose music and how to lead an orchestra. Her teachers included composer Daron Hagen and conductor Vincent La Selva. She also continued her advanced piano studies. In 1998, after four years, she went to Europe. She did postgraduate studies with Belgian composer Robert Janssens at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

TV career

After a successful concert in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics, Eugenia Manolidou decided to try a career in television. She was first considered to be a judge for The X Factor (Greek TV series) or a host for a morning show. However, the TV channel ANT1 thought it would be more exciting for her to host the Greek version of The Moment of Truth (U.S. game show).

This decision was a good one. In 2009, Moment of Truth became very popular in Greece. It also caused a lot of discussion among viewers. Some people debated if such shows should be on TV. After the first season, the show was not allowed to continue for a second season.

In early 2010, Eugenia returned to TV. She was a female judge on Ellada Eheis Talento (season 3) (Greece Got Talent). She judged alongside Ilias Psinakis and Vangelis Perris. Eugenia had different ideas about what counts as talent. This led to many discussions among the judges. However, it turned out to be the most successful season of the show.

At the same time, Eugenia also competed in the first season of Dancing with the Stars (Greek TV series). Her professional dance partner was Elias Ladas. She performed very well and gained a lot of attention from the audience. Eugenia and Elias reached the semi-final, finishing in third place. Even after five seasons of Dancing With The Stars in Greece, Eugenia is still considered one of the top contestants. She has made several guest appearances on the show.

In late 2010, Eugenia Manolidou hosted the first season of the cooking show MasterChef Greece. This show was broadcast on Mega Channel. The judges were famous chefs Lefteris Lazarou, Giannis Loukakos, and Dimitris Skarmoutsos. Many people thought the show would not do well. But MasterChef became the most successful cooking show ever on Greek TV. The excitement for each new episode grew. The grand finale on December 28, 2010, was watched by many people. Akis Petretzikis was declared the winner of Master Chef. Eugenia's excited reaction when the winner was announced became a famous phrase: "I am about to collapse!" She chose not to host the Junior version or the second season of the show.

In 2011, Eugenia returned to ANT1 for the fourth season of Greece Got Talent. However, due to money reasons, the show was delayed until the next year. Meanwhile, she agreed to host Dancing With the Stars Daily. This show followed the action of the second season of Dancing with the Stars (Greek TV series).

In 2012, Ellada Eheis Talento (season 4) finally aired. Eugenia kept her role as the female judge. This was the last season of the show. It was also Eugenia's most recent job on TV.

Discography

Eugenia Manolidou has released several music albums. These albums show her talent as a composer and conductor.

• 1999 – Meanings and Symbols: This was Eugenia's first album. It explored 14 ancient Greek myths through music. She called these myths "an infinite source of inspiration." She first recorded it in New York in 1998, while she was still a student at the Juilliard School. A later recording with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra SIF 309 was released in Greece.
• 2001 – Greek Hymns: Eugenia's second album. It featured her musical interpretation of 10 Orphic hymns. She recorded it in the Czech Republic with the Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, a soprano, a tenor, and a choir.
• 2004 – Archetypon (meaning Original Model): This album included her first symphony, Mythical Couples. It also had two other compositions dedicated to Greece and Alexander the Great. Mythical Couples is a symphonic poem with four parts.
• 2004 – Gaia (meaning Earth): This album contained the music for a ballet called Gaia. The ballet had two acts. It was recorded in 1999 and performed in Wuppertal the same year.
• 2007 – Epos (meaning Logos): Epos is a dramatic musical work with three acts. It features a full symphony orchestra, solo singers, a choir, and a narrator. It was recorded in Athens in 2005.
• 2003 to 2009 – Hercules: The real face of the great hero, Alexander the Great: The living legend, Iliad-Odyssey: This was a series of educational recordings for children. Eugenia worked with her husband on these. They told Greek history and mythology as fairytales. They used music, narration, and sound effects to make them fun and educational.