In the 90s, and to be honest in any decade, a Greek artist collaborating with a big name from abroad was a very big thing.

And the Bonnie Tyler he was definitely one of the biggest names in the pop scene of the world era. So her duet with Sophia Arvanitis “The Desert in your heart” has made history.

Sofia Arvaniti herself, speaking to Ilias Maraveyas and the newspaper Espresso, stated among many other things that it is a remarkable moment and she would have said the same even if she had not sung it.

-Capital Michalis Rakintzis. How did it come into your life?

“He was commissioned by my record company to make my second album, which he did. Michalis and I worked together for months in the studio and in 1990 we made an amazing record, which has remained timeless, with the song “Don’t talk to me about summers” played every summer and beyond. It had touched me from the start and I expected it to be a hit.

Of course, I did not expect then, 34 years ago, how I would hear it on the radio until now. My expectations were not that high. Another record with Michalis Rakintzis followed, where something shocking happened: He put me in touch with the internationally famous pop singer Bonnie Tyler with a song, the duet “The dessert is in your heart”, which I consider a remarkable moment in the Greek discography. I would say the same even if I hadn’t sung it.”

-What do you remember from meeting and working with Bonnie Tyler?

“It left me that she is a professional with a happy and straight face and very responsible in her work. He said the piece shockingly, he sat down and worked on it a lot. He did some rehearsals and we were in the studio and it was really enjoyable to see Bonnie Tyler cover your song.

Our collaboration was a fantastic experience, just as it was last year, when I saw her at one of her concerts at the Sunny Festival. When she was informed by her people that I was there and that I wanted to meet her in her dressing room, she welcomed me with open arms, while also referring to me from the stage, saying that she wishes to do a song together again. He really is a very generous person.”

-At some point you dabbled in folk singing, a fact you satirized in a later rock piece of yours. Do you wish you had avoided it?

“No, because I really like to try things in my life and see how I feel through these experiments. So when I see that something doesn’t inspire me, doesn’t create the upliftment I might have expected to feel in my soul, I may then become discouraged from doing it again. But I can’t say that I have regretted things I have done in my professional life.”

Source: WomenOnly.gr