Melissa Kyriakou is a 27-year-old singer from Cyprus with also roots in the United Kingdom. Her passion towards music is leading her towards a captivating career full of beautiful experiences. She works with her voice as a singer but also as a voice actress, she is the Greek voice of Barbie! In this interview she describes herself and her journey from the start to the present, going through her participation to The Voice of Greece where she participated in 2019. Her passion and perseverance are the proof of how powerful music can be!
When and why did you decide to be a singer?
It sounds cliche but I always knew that singing and acting was what I wanted to do. My interest towards both started when I was so young so I decided to combine them as a career path
What is your favorite genre to sing?
I love to sing pop and Disney above all! I find my artistic expression in these genres since I also enjoy to listen to them.
What have you studied?
I focused all my studies on music and performance. I graduated in Music Theatre at and then I did a masters degree in Professional Voice Practice to focus on both music and acting.
We saw that you did the voice of Greece in 2019. How was that experience and what did you learn?
It was surreal and amazing at the same time. Throughout the whole process I thought that I was in a dream. I learned to believe more in myself, enjoy every step of the way, not to stress for things you can’t control and that everything happens for a reason.
You are also an actress so you work with voice all the time. How do you conciliate your two passions?
With a lot of passion and hard-work. It is difficult physically and mentally but I am fortunate enough to be able to combine both acting and singing in each job I do so I wouldn’t change it, I love that everyday of my life is different, so I never get bored.
You are the Greek voice of Barbie. What advice would you give to your younger self as a young kid who probably played with Barbies?
Still feels very odd and shocking when I say that I am the voice of Barbie. I would tell my younger self that there is no limit of how high you can aim. If you can dream it , you can do it, as Walt Disney once said.
How would you describe the singer's side of music industry in Cyprus?
In Cyprus most artists work individually without a manager or major record company as we are a small island and we don’t have majors recording companies. Saying this, our island has amazing talented creative individuals.
What are your future projects?
I am looking forward to the release of my second single just before summer so keep an eye out for that.
Do you have any suggestions for others who want to do your same job?
I would say never give up. Honestly, I wanted to give up so many times but my heart always knew that I had to keep going. You need to work hard and never settle for what you have. This job keeps you on your feet all the time and it always changes. It will break you so many times but it is so rewarding in the end.
Do you have a song in your native language to suggest to our readers?
O Erotas o Gyteftis by Costas Kakogiannis, I also covered it. The song is beautiful, it talks about love and it is written and sung in the Cypriot dialect.
Follow Melissa here and listen to her music here: