Annet Artani

Her voice comes from the horizons, she ranges in styles, loves animals and has a personality that rocks! She's a little of this and a little of that, singing awesomeness, Annet Artani is back after a small hiatus with a brand new single "Mouthful of Me". The Quentin Tarantino style avant-garde video, was shot at Joshua Tree National Park. In this artsy depiction of a lovers ball and chain, Annet is what's on the menu.

For those of you that don't know Annet Artani, you will soon. She has been something of a sensation, from appearing on talent shows such as FameStory in Europe (equivalent of Canadian Idol here in Canada and American Idol in the US) to singing alongside Britney Spears and helping her co-write the 2004 hit "Everytime".

She has impressed even the finest with her performance of Why Angels Cry in Eurovision 2009.

She also wrote, "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Canadian producers C2, which became a huge hit in Korean Pop, performed by pop group "Girls Day". - Montreal Quebecer

As a young girl Annet was always attracted to the sound of music and the passion that derived from it. She took that passion and merely multiplied it with her own and developed into a chart breaking recording artist. Her family who came from the scenic island of Kefalonia were already entrenched in the wonder of music. Her father and mother filled the house with music on a daily basis.

Annet caught the musical itch at a young age and along with her sister Diana joined a band called Nootropia where they sang in Greek. The group developed a following in New York and were even promoted on National Greek TV (NGTV) and Aktina FM. But that did not last long and Annet soon set her sights on bigger things.

Annet always had a huge love affair with R&B and club music. “I remember when I was real young I would wake up late at night just to catch Janet Jackson at the AMA. I would sneak to watch it when I knew my parents did not approve of us staying up late. My mother would yell at me to turn off the TV but that image of Janet on that stage I knew I belonged there.”

She would soon go on to receive a scholarship from BMG for writing and performing an original song, called “Summer Days”. Annet did not stop there she went on to win several talent titles in America’s Favorite Pageants, the New York Star Pageant and the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection. She also managed to be feature in the Pageantry and Billboard Magazine.

When she entered the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection she as the only white contestant every other contestant was African-American. The judges and the majority of the audience were African-American excluding Annet’s forty family members. “It was an odd experience. We even caught someone on video saying “that white girl better win” who was someone else’s supporter. I thought there was no way I can win. But my parents realized that I belonged on a stage.”

Annet also offered her voice in her college Gospel choir. She took her first step into her career as an opening act for Mando a Greek pop star, and was featured in her own summer concert in 1995. Annet made some more strides by collaborating with several accomplished writers like: Jeff Franzel, who’s written for NSYNC, Alex Forbes who has written for Taylor Dayne and Cyndi Lauper, among others. Annet was so much in everyone’s face singing at the Bitter End and CBGB’s. She was her own promoter. That is how Britney’s people found out about her.

Annet then went on to be a backup singer with rising pop star Britney Spears on her tour Dream Within A Dream Tour. Following that great accomplishment she then collaborated with Spears, co-writing the single “Everytime”. The single was soon released in 2004 and became an international top ten hit. “Working with Britney was definitely an eye-opener into how warped it all is sometimes. She would see a bikini in a store and say I like that and the next minute you know they would send forty of them to her room. It is a fine line between what’s real and what is not.”

Then as she was enjoying her success with Britney the homeland beckoned her presence on the reality show “Fame Story” in Greece. Yet she ended up walking off the show due pressure from the producers. She eventually signed a recoding contract with Virus Music which released her first single “Goodbye Amor”. “My album was mostly in Greek but there were some American songs. It gave me the opportunity to sign with Virus and release the album “Mia Foni”.”

While she was enjoying the fruits of her labor she was cordially invited by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation to take part in the Cypriot selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. After that was introduced the people chose a single out of twenty songs during the final round. The song was from a show entitled “A Song For Europe”. She won the majority of the votes for her ballad “Why Angel’s Cry”, even though she was suffering from laryngitis.

Since she was suffering from laryngitis the song was - Greek Hollywood Reporter

The Top Pop Songs of the Decade were influenced by leading ladies -- Britney, Kelly Clarkson and Evanecence's Amy Lee -- all who deliver powerful vocals and emotional words about vulnerability, lost love and separation. But in the 2000s, dance club beats prevailed, with newcomer Lady GaGa and producer mogal Timbaland reigning the airwaves, the latter dropping collaborations with Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and even OneRepublic. See below for AOL Radio's Top Pop Songs of the Decade, rated by our radio listeners.

Written by Spears and her background vocalist Annette Artani, the piano-led ballad with string instruments is entirely different than the rest of her dance-pop singles on 'In the Zone'; the lyrics were scrutinized by the press, suggesting the song is about her relationship with ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake: 'I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song is my sorry.' - AOL Music

While many people have heard Britney Spears‘ heartfelt ballad, “Everytime,” hardly anyone has ever heard the story behind its creation from the song’s co-writer herself.

After learning of her involvement in an interview about Britney for the upcoming NBC series called Killer Comebacks, I got in touch with Annet Artani to discuss her time spent working with Spears on the Dream Within A Dream tour, as well as their songwriting sessions together and her own musical plans for the future.

The Greek singer-songwriter first got her start with Britney after auditioning to become a back-up singer for Britney’s upcoming promotional tour. Though she had no idea what the job entailed, she assumed it was a one-off gig for Britney’s upcoming performance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Only hours after their performance on September 10, 2001, she was asked to join Spears and the rest of the tour crew for what would become the Dream Within A Dream Tour.

Artani was unsure about whether or not to go on tour with Spears after having already generated buzz as a solo artist in New York. However, the events of the following day would quickly change her mind. “I needed to get out of the city. When they asked me to go on tour, I was like, ‘Absolutely,’” she explained of her decision. Looking back, Artani is proud to have chosen the tour rather than staying put. “It was an amazing experience, and an escape for me as well.”

The tour was also a brief time of romance for Artani, who struck up a relationship with the tour’s musical director for the duration of the show. “I was enamored, we fell in love from the beginning.”

However, their relationship didn’t last long. “I was so young…It was just too much too quick,” she noted.

So how did she and Britney begin to write with each other? Their interactions up until the very end of the tour were brief, limited to vocal warm-up routines, short chats in the gym, and time spent together on stage. Finally, by the last date in Mexico City, Britney struck up conversation with the singer. “She was getting her nails done at the pool area. At one point, she called me over to tell me how cute me and the guy are and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to last.’ She goes ‘What do you mean?’ and I was like, “Well, it looks like we’re going to break up,’ and she said ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re going to hang out with me.’”

Spears and Artani slowly began to forge a friendship following the tour’s end. “I didn’t expect her to call me, but then she did. She invited me to L.A., and then she invited me to Milan and I went with her to Donatella Versace’s fashion show.” According to Artani, their relationship grew out of their shared dating experiences at the time. “Basically, we commiserated because she, at that time, had broken up with Justin [Timberlake]. Maybe like nine months before, but of course it was really fresh in the media. I was just breaking up with this guy, so we kind of like–I think we kind of needed each other.”

As a result, Spears and Artani began to write together. “I was staying with her in her house in LA for a few weeks…she had a piano in the middle of her house, so, of course, we’d sit around and start writing.”

After spending time in L.A., the two traveled to Lake Como. “It was me and her, her stylist and Felicia, and we had this humongous house to ourselves, and they had a piano there as well.” From out of these sessions came a song called “Everytime,” a deeply personal, heartbroken ballad that displayed Spears at her weakest and most vulnerable state. “It was a very organic, sad experience, but I think that’s where the truth comes out,” Artani says of the songwriting process.

As most people had quickly assumed, “Everytime” was in large part a response to Justin Timberlake’s release of “Cry Me A River” as well as various radio interviews, including a particularly raunchy moment on Hot 97 which Artani cited as an all-too-personal moment on air. “He was talking shit abo - MuuMuse