Antique

Antique is a Greek–Swedish vocal duo formed by Helena Paparizou (Έλενα Παπαρίζου) and Nikos Panagiotidis (Νίκος Παναγιωτίδης), both born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents. Their music blends europop, club and Greek folk, combining traditional Greek sounds with a Nordic eurodance beat.

They began their career in 1999 in Sweden with the album Opa – Opa, which established them on the Swedish scene thanks to the title single (certified platinum) and ‘Dinata – Dinata’ (certified gold): they were the first group to enter the Swedish top five with a song sung in Greek and the first to be nominated for a Swedish Grammis in the Modern Dance category with a Greek-language song.

In 2001 Antique were selected to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with (I Would) Die For You, performed in a mix of English and Greek; their third place was then Greece’s best result. The single went triple platinum in Greece and reached the top 3 in Sweden. Their second album, Die For You, was released in June 2001.

Their first entirely Greek album, Με λόγια Ελληνικά, was released in December 2001 and includes the single ‘Follow Me (Ό,τι θέλεις)’, a major radio hit. Their third and final studio album, Άλλη μια φορά, came out in 2003 with the singles ‘Μωρό μου’ and ‘Άλλη μια φορά’, heavily played on radio and in clubs; the duo’s production is marked by the C&N Project sound, which brought Greek folk music into Sweden and combined it with the duo’s Nordic sound.

In April 2003 a compilation of their earlier English-language hits, Blue Love (known in Greece as the ‘Swedish album’), was released in the Nordic countries and then in Greece, where it reached number one. The duo amicably split at the end of 2003 to pursue solo careers, reunited for an appearance in 2019 and officially returned in March 2022 with a cover of ‘Ti Ti’ by Giorgos Alkaios.