PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the popular Greek song "Porta Ya Ton Ourano" (Πόρτα Για Τον Ουρανό), which was sung by Elena Paparizou. Also included is a pronunciation guide for the Greek lyrics so you can sing along if you like.

Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

About Elena Paparizou

Elena Paparizou, also known professionally as Helena Paparizou, was the vocalist who popularized this song. She initially rose to fame as a member of a duet known as Antique which was together 1999-2003. Her partner was Nikos Panayiotidis (Νίκος Παναγιωτίδης). Both were born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, and had known each other since they were children. They were brought together by two Swedish (non-Greek) music producers. Nikos is a singer and bouzouki player. Paparizou's perfect accent in English made her songs very popular as the two of them began to mix Greek and English lyrics. All songs released under Antique's collaboration were a huge success.

Antique first appeared on the scene in 2001 when they performed on the Eurovision television show, which is a renowned European music competition. They featured their hit song "I Would Die For You", which included lyrics in both Greek and English, and they won third place. According to Elena, Antique was a "Nordic beats with Greek influences" band. Their first song made it in the top 10 in Sweden — something which is rare as usually other language genres make it big in the west. Antique albums have sold worldwide, including in the Arabian Gulf. They have also toured the world in concert.

After Antique ended as a duet act, Elena moved forward with a solo career. In 2005, Paparizou performed her hit song "My Number One" in that year's Eurovision competition, taking first place. I feel one factor that contributed to her amazing performance was that she had been raised by dancers. She was among the few to incorporate Pontian Anatolian rhythm in mainstream Greek music.

As of 2019, Paparizou is now on the judging panel of Greece's version of The Voice, and has been for several years!

About Eleana Vrahali

Eleana Vrahali, the lyricist for this song, was born in 1978 in Athens, Greece. She worked as a radio producer and music editor, and later achieved great commercial success as a poet and lyricist. In a 2019 interview, Eleana Vrahali spoke about her experience of living with multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Song: Porta Ya Ton Ourano (The Door to Heaven), 2008

Lyrics: Eleana Vrahali

Music: Liden Per, Toni Mavridis, Niclas Olausson

Original Artist: Elena Paparizou

Album: Vrisko To Logo Na Zo (I Found The Reason To Live) CD Single

Dance Style:

• Not suitable for belly dance
• Okay for pop/rock participation dance

Τραγούδι: Πόρτα Για Τον Ουρανό, 2008

Στίχοι: Ελεάνα Βραχάλη

Μουσική: Περ Λιντεν, Τόνυ Μαυρίδης, Νικλας Ολαουσσον

Πρώτη Εκτέλεση: Έλενα Παπαρίζου

Άλμπουμ: Βρίσκω Το Λόγο Να Ζω, CD Single

This page was contributed by Panayiota Bakis, who is happy to share her culture and music she grew up with! Here's how Panayiota describes her background:

I always love engaging with intelligent like-minded people, especially artists. I love sharing anything and everything about my Hellenic culture and upbringing, especially music and dance. A conversation with me will bring you back to America's favorite Greek-American movie by Nia Vardalos called My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

I love investigating Greek culture, history, music, and dance. Speaking of investigating, I think I missed my calling, I probably should have been an investigator. Instead, I use those skills to dig and dig and dig tirelessly, often times falling asleep on my laptop... just to find the truth. But, most importantly, accurate truth. For me personally, and other respectable folklorists, my culture and accuracy are very important. Each generation of ethnic born artists has a duty to do the best it can to pass down our traditions as was taught to us. We have been given this artistic gift to be the gatekeepers of our heritage and culture.