Early life Shaya was born in
Copenhagen, Denmark to a Danish father and an
Indo-Guyanese mother. The family moved to
Sweden after her parents' divorce when she was 6. At the age of 12, Shaya and her family immigrated once more, settling in
Thessaloniki, Greece. Her mother was a DJ before Shaya's birth.
2001–2005: First professional steps and Hi-5 In 2001, Shaya released her first solo single titled "Release Me" and promoted it around Europe. Between 2001 and 2003, she performed in many clubs in Thessaloniki. Following the encouragement of a friend, Shaya, along with the four other girls,
Marlen Angelidou, Irini Psyhrami, Froso Papaharalambous, and Nancy Stergiopoulou, had two chart-topping albums and eight singles in two years. The cover was titled "Mikroi Theoi" (Little Gods) and was released as a single from the Greek edition of the film's soundtrack; a music video followed with Martakis and Shaya molded together with scenes from the film. Later that year in 2009, Shaya also teamed up with rapper
Stereo Mike to release the duet "Esi Kai Ego" (You and I), while she was also part of the
Amita Motion Tour 2009.
2010–present: Resurrection, Dancing on Ice, Priscilla Musical, & Eurovision In 2010, Shaya signed with the newly created management, production, and artist development company My Group, active in the dance-pop and club music markets, as well under contract with
Sony Music Greece. In May 2010, she released the single "Paizis". and became a summer hit. The duo also recorded the song "My Radio", which became the official jingle for MAD Radio 106.2. Both songs were featured on Mark F. Angelo's debut album
Play.Pause.Stop.Rewind. Following the collaboration, Shaya released the first single from her debut solo album in November 2010 titled "In Your Eyes". She released her debut solo album titled
Resurrection in January 2011. Shaya penned music and lyrics to a number of the tracks on the album. In July 2011, Shaya and Mark F. Angelo were chosen as the
opening act for
David Guetta's concert in
Montenegro. In late 2011, Shaya along with Mark F. Angelo earned the win for
Best Greek Act at the
2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, for their collaboration on the single "Far From Everything" as well as several other track collaborations between the two artists. The duo was also shortlisted for
Best European Act. She finished fifth in the show. In December 2011, it was reported that Shaya was in the recording studio recording material for her new album scheduled to be released in the new year. The album was to feature more
house and
dance elements and less
pop elements than her previous album. In between shows, she also held one of three lead singer roles in the musical Priscilla, at the Badminton theater in Athens. During summer 2014 Shaya toured around Greece performing together with other artists. She also visited Denmark to record some songs for her coming solo album, and had 2 performances at the week-long festival Køge Festuge close to Copenhagen. In December 2014, she began a residency at Fotaerios club in Athens. In February 2015, Greek broadcaster
NERIT announced that she was selected as one of five acts bidding to represent
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. A national final to select the act took place on 4 March 2015 and Shaya placed 3rd out of the 5 acts. Shaya is currently signed to the record label Planetworks. April 2015 Shaya released her new video single “ΕΥΚΟΛΑ”, “EASY”. That same year she collaborated with Dino MFU with the song I’m in love released by “Zero 10 records” and also a song with BO called “Kalokairini kardia” released by Cobalt Music. In 2016 Shaya acted and sunf in the musical “Sweet charity” at Badminton Theater in Athens. In February she featured in the music video Dirty Talk by Kon Cept, entering top 100 at several charts around the globe. She also signed a record deal with www.spider-music.com, and released her first single and music video “MΑΖΙ και ΜΑΚΡΙΑ” with lyrics written by award-winning lyricist, for her soon coming second solo album. July 2016 Shaya and her new live band The Dominants started their live summer tour in Thessaloniki. August 2024 she performed in Parga ==Discography==