Marina Satti

Marina Satti (Μαρίνα Σάττι, ; born 26 December 1986) is a Greek singer, songwriter, actress, and music producer. Her music combines traditional Greek, Arab, and Balkan sounds with urban elements, rhythm, and production. She represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Zari", finishing in 11th place.

Early life and studies
Satti was born in Athens and was raised on the island of Crete. Her father, Ali Osman Satti, was a Doctor-anesthesiologist from Sudan and former deputy professor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; her mother, Chariclia Filoxenidi, is a chemical engineer from Heraklion, Crete, with ancestry from the Greek population of Asia Minor. Her parents met at the Faculty of Medicine in Athens where they studied. Satti spent her childhood in Heraklion and, as a child, she visited Sudan during the summers. She graduated from school as a top of the class student. She has a brother who lives in England and a half-sister from her father's subsequent marriage to another woman. He had returned to Sudan, and later moved to Egypt; Satti and her sister first met when her sister was 8 years old, as she had not seen her father for 13 years.

Satti grew up influenced by Björk and Moderat and the Berlin electronic scene. In 2008, after studying with the baritone Panos Dimas, Satti earned a first degree in lyrical monody with honors and a first prize. One year later, she earned a second degree in advanced classical studies and piano, while also studying jazz at the Nakas Conservatory. She studied Architecture for 3 years at the National Technical University of Athens. Marina also studied at the Veaki Drama School and the Kentriki Skini Drama School, on a scholarship. In 2011, she completed a 3 year degree in jazz composition, contemporary writing and production at the Berklee College of Music on a scholarship. Among her teachers at Berklee were Jamie Haddad and Danilo Pérez.

Career
Satti formed part of the EBU's European Jazz Orchestra. She also performed as a singer of the World Jazz Nonet at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In 2011 she performed along with Bobby McFerrin and the a cappella vocal group The Singing Tribe at Berklee Performance Center. From 2006-2019 she acted, sung and wrote music for theatre in 14 plays in Greece. In 2016, Satti founded Fonés ("Voices"), a female a cappella group performing traditional polyphonic songs. Furthermore, she writes music for short films and advertisements. Satti has given her singing voice to 19 cartoons and was the voice for the whole of Walt Disney’s Moana and Ariel in the Little Mermaid for Greece. She is also invited to teach music and singing in schools and universities in Greece.

In 2016, Satti released her single "Koupes" ("Cups"), which reached more than 27 million views on YouTube, and was included in Ravin & Bob Sinclar's Buddha Bar 20 Years Anniversary album. In 2017, her next single, "Mantissa" ("Seeress"), charted in the European Union's Official Top 100 and Bulgaria's Top 40. Global Citizen named it "song of the summer." Joanna Kakissis, an Athens-based correspondent for NPR, described it as "the summer hit that fills a generation with hope". Ιt reached 57 million views on YouTube.

In 2017, Satti curated a series of cultural events that led to the formation of the choir Chόres (a portmanteau of the Greek words for "countries" and "choruses"), consisting of 150 women aged 13–55. In 2020, Chόres presented traditional songs in archeological locations.

In June 2018, Satti and Fonés presented Yalla!, a repertoire of world music and pop compositions, as well as renditions of Eastern Mediterranean traditional music, which was first performed at the Melina Merkouri Theater and then toured abroad to France, England, Switzerland, as well as to Tampere, Finland, for the 2019 World Music Expo. In May 2022, she released her debut album Yenna ("Birth"). The release of the album was followed by a European tour that lasted over 4 months.

On 24 October 2023, she was announced as the at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. She was internally selected by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and her entry, titled "Zari" ("Dice"), was released on 7 March 2024. She finished in 11th place with a total of 126 points.

Right after her Eurovision entry, Satti released an EP, titled P.O.P. ("PDO"). It has 7 songs including Zari. The EP features a new single called "Lalalala", and a ten-minute track called "Mixtape" with guest appearances by Lefteris Pantazis, Rack (rapper), Efi Thodi, Vlospa, and Oge. P.O.P reached number 8 on the top 10 albums globally on Spotify. It also reached the top 10 on the UK Spotify chart. Zari reached the top 50 on YouTube global trends. It also reached no18 on the top 50 on Spotify and no1 on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube trends in Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark,Sweden,UK and Ireland. Zari and the whole EP have reached charts worldwide making this the first ever Greek artist to achieve this with a Greek language album.

Theatre
Satti has worked as an actress and a music score composer with the National Theatre of Greece, the Greek National Opera, the Athens Festival, and others. Satti has performed in the ancient theatre of Epidaurus and Herod Atticus in Greece.