1992–2001: Start of career She started her music career in 1992. A year later she moved to
Athens, Greece, where she had a cooperation with
Yiannis Parios. Olympiou has also cooperated with other Greek music artists, including
Haris Alexiou,
Michalis Hatzigiannis,
Dimitris Mitropanos,
Mimis Plessas,
Pandelis Thalassinos and
Marios Tokas. She first appeared on the George Sarri album
Ftaine oi Aponoi Kairoi with the song
"I kounia mas" ("Our Swing"). Olympiou also appeared on the album
Emeis oi Ellines with the song
"Pros rakosillektes kai sinodiporous" and on the
Pandelis Thalassinos album ''Ap' tin Tilo os tin Thraki'' with four songs. Olympiou's first album,
Ton Mation sou i Kalimera, includes music by
Pandelis Thalassinos, Manoli Lidaki, Gerasimos Andreatos.
2002–2006: Universal Music, Vale Mousiki, Exoume Logo and Auto Ine Agapi In 2002, she signed to the
Universal Greece label. In June 2003, Olympiou started her cooperation with
Michalis Hatzigiannis with the CD single
Vale Mousiki with music by Hatzigiannis and lyrics by Eleana Vrachali. The album included a duet with Hatzigiannis, ''"Na 'soun allios"'', which was very successful. A year later the CD became platinum. A year later, she released her second album with the name
Exoume Logo. In 2005, Olympiou released her new album,
Auto ine Agapi (
This Is Love), including twelve songs written by Giorgos and Alexandros Pantelia (from Kitrina Podilata), apart from one song which was written by Lina Dimopoulou. The first single from the album was
"Kapote".
2007–2012: Pes to Dinata, Mazi Xorista, Mia stigmi In the spring of 2007, she released the CD single
Pes to Dinata, which was very successful both in Greece and Cyprus. Later Olympiou released her album,
Mazi Xorista once again cooperating with Michalis, with lyrics by Eleana Vrachali and Nikos Moraitis. The album was re-released in 2008, this time gold, and includes the song
"Pes to Dinata",
"Mazi Xorista" and her duet with Michalis Hatzigiannis,
"O Paradisos (Den Ftiahtike Gia Mas)". The album also includes the new song
"Omorfa Psemata", written by Michalis Hatzigiannis and Nikos Moraitis. At the 2008
MAD Video Music Awards, she won the Best Duet award for the song
"O Paradisos". In 2010, she releases her album entitled 'Mia stigmi', which became one of the most successful albums of that year, reaching Gold status in Cyprus. Considered as the most mature work by Despina, again penned by Michalis Hatzigiannis, included many hit singles like 'Pano stin agapi' which became a huge summer hit, 'Adynamia' and a very sentimental ballad entitled 'Mi m'agapas'. In 2012, Despina collaborated with
Stereo Mike on a new hit single entitled 'Den s' afino apo ta matia mou', a duet that met great success in Cyprus and Greece, and marked her first steps without Michalis Hatzigiannis on her side.
2013: Eurovision Song Contest 2013 On 1 February 2013,
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation announced that Olympiou had been internally selected to
represent Cyprus in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013, held in
Malmö, Sweden. On 14 February, the Greek language song "
An me thimasai" (Αν με θυμάσαι) was presented as the Cypriot Contest entry. An English acoustic version and Spanish version were also prepared for promotional purposes. Olympiou competed in the first semi-final of the Contest on 14 May 2013, however, she failed to qualify to the final, getting the fifteenth place with eleven points. Stereo Mike, the singer who Olympiou collaborated with on "Den s'afino apo ta matia mou", had also
represented Greece in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011, held in
Düsseldorf, Germany, along with
Loukas Giorkas, with the song "
Watch My Dance". == Relationships ==