Shaya (singer)
| Shaya | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Marianna Hansen 17 February 1983  Copenhagen, Denmark
|
| Other names | Shaya |
| Occupation | Singer, dancer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Partner(s) | Theodore Papantonis |
| Children | Jason Papantonis |
Marianna Hansen (born 17 February 1983), known professionally as Shaya, is a Greek singer, of Danish, Guyanese and Indian descent. Shaya was a member of the girl band Hi-5, the result of the Greek version of the talent show Popstars. She is currently pursuing a solo career and finished fifth in Greece's version of Dancing on Ice.
Shaya was born in Denmark to a Danish father and a multiracial Guyanese mother of Greenlandic and Indian descent. 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 disc jockey before Shaya's birth. Although Shaya enjoyed singing and dancing from a young age, including performing with SambaSchools in Copenhagen Carnival, she became interested in becoming a singer by luck when she was persuaded to get on stage to sing a song with co-workers after work at a club she worked at in Kavala around age 18.
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, in 2003 Shaya entered the Greek version of the talent show Popstars and won a spot in the girl band Hi-5. 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 band decided on an amicable split in 2005 after the contract with their record label expired.
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