Why Susan Boyle May Lose to Stavros Flatley
Agamemnon
Greek Father-Son Duo Win Cheers From Viewers & Judges on 'Britain's Got
Talent'
By EFTEHIA KATSAREAS
LONDON, May 28, 2009
Why Susan Boyle May Lose to Stavros Flatley
Greek Father-Son Duo Win Cheers From Viewers & Judges on 'Britain's Got
Talent'
By EFTEHIA KATSAREAS
LONDON, May 28, 2009
Move over Susan Boyle, there's a new act in town.
Just when the world thought they had already seen the most surprising act in
the reality program "Britain's Got Talent" along came Stavros Flatley-- a
dance act by a Greek-Cypriot father-son duo wearing nothing but red fez hats
and white skirts.
The Stavros Flatley comedy dance act was propelled into stardom after
winning Tuesday's semi-final on "Britain's Got Talent." The show reportedly
garnered an audience of 14 million and an audience share of as much as 50
percent. The duo parodied the syrtaki, the hugely popular Greek dance made
famous by Anthony Quinn in the Academy Award winning 1964 film 'Zorba the
Greek.' The first performance by the duo was a play on Michael Flatley's
dance extravaganza 'Riverdance.'
This time, the large bellied Dimitri appeared on stage with a Cyprus tattoo
on his chest, a red fez over a blonde wig and black dancing shoes tipped
with red pompons. He then called the younger version of himself on stage,
his 12 year old son Lagi. The boy's moves lifted the audience off their
chairs to join in on the dancing and the arena filled with howls, laughter
and clapping.
Even master of sarcasm Simon Cowell, judging 'Britain's Got Talent' along
with Amanda Holden and Pierce Morgan, said of the act: "It is rubbish but
brilliant. It is incredibly infectious. The final would be a worse place
without you." Amanda agreed: "I just love, love, love, love, love you. It is
everything that this show should be about." But the duo didn't just uplift
viewers. The stage chemistry between father and son and endearing comments
by the father afterwards moved both judges and viewers. Dimitri interrupted
the show's two presenters and millions of viewers witnessed a very private
family moment. A breathless Dimitri looked at his son and said: "I just want
to thank you so much for dancing with me." In an interview on British
television channel, ITV2, later that evening Dimitri said 'If you're gonna
dance with your son, nothing is as good as that.'
The Birth of Stavros Flatley
Dimitris Dimitriou, his wife Karen and their two children live in Enfield,
North London, a suburb known for its large Greek-Cypriot community. Dimitri
told ABC news that he suffered a great loss early on in life. He was only 5
years old when his lost his father and his mother became the breadwinner,
managing the family's shops and dress factories, while little Dimitri was
raised by his maternal grandmother.
As a child he spent long summers in Cyprus, where the humid climate was
considered beneficial to his serious asthma condition. It is there that he
learned his parents' language, met his extended family and discovered the
central role of family in Cypriot culture. These were formative experiences,
he says. His English wife Karen speaks fluent Greek and so do his
second-generation Greek-Cypriot children. 'Kyriakoula', the woman who raised
him, still lives down the street from them.
After studying at catering college and working a string of hotel jobs,
Dimitri and his brother decided to open 'Syrtaki' restaurant in 1994.
Dimitri told ABC news, "The food was terrible and the restaurant was empty
Monday through Thursday, except for my neighbor whom I cooked for every
night to pay back for the large fridge he gave me for the restaurant."
In a bid to save the restaurant, Dimitri and his brother decided to provide
their guests with live entertainment. Word of mouth made 'Sirtaki' the IT
spot in North London for hen nights and birthday parties. At times, Dimitri
says, the restaurant was booked three months in advance.
Besides encouraging customers to stand up on chairs and break plates,
Dimitri made the guests the stars of the show. A group of girlfriends would
bring the bride to-be to 'Syrtaki', where Dimitri would take over, dressing
the bride in a funny outfit and showing her to the Karaoke stage. Dimitri
adds that he never abandoned the frightened singers but made sure he
embarrassed himself on stage with them.
The Cypriot has an entire list of song and dance pieces he came up with for
his guests: performing the song 'Shake Your Tail' dressed as one of the
Blues Brothers, leading a Conga dance through the restaurant, inventing the
'Zebra Crossing' where his guests left the restaurant and crossed the street
in a horizontal line imitating the Irish performer Michael Flatley's
Riverdance and the list goes on....
"It's All About Throwing Away Your Inhibitions"
Dimitri told ABC news that he left the restaurant to open his own electrical
business, which would afford him more time with his young family. When asked
about his relationship with his son Lagi (an abbreviation of the name
'Michalaki), Dimitri's voice changes. He says, 'I'm not ashamed to tell you
I love my son. And I'm not ashamed to tell my son that I love him. He's the
person, after all, who has to hear it from me.'
He adds that parents are always telling people outside the family how much
they love their children, but they rarely tell the children themselves.
Dimitri says his son looks up to him, and this is what 'makes him melt.'
The idea to enter the talent competition came to him while he and his family
were sitting around the television. He saw the advertisement and turned to
Karen playfully, "Wouldn't it be fun if I did the Michael Flatley dance on
television?" They all laughed and then Lagi said he would love to dance it
with his father. And that is how the idea for the Stavros Flatley act was
born.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7699132&page=1