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Kalomoira (Greek: Καλομοίρα; born Marie Carol Sarantis,[1][2] January 31, 1985, West Hempstead, New York, United States),[3] also known simply as Kalomira or K-Moira, is an American singer who achieved fame in Europe, especially Greece and Cyprus.

Kalomoira, known as Carol in America,[1][2] hails from Nassau County, New York. She was born to Greek American restaurant owners Nikos (Nick) and Eleni (Helen) Sarantis on January 31, 1985 and has one sister.

Since childhood, Kalomoira's dream was to become a pop star.[4] She took part in many extracurricular activities at school including drama productions and musicals. Her favorite instrument was the viola, which she studied for 9 years and played in the school orchestra.[4] She was also Miss West Hempstead (Homecoming Queen) at her high school in 2003.[3][2]

On a tip from her cousin, she entered and won second place at a music contest organized by WBLI Radio.[3] Following her appearance, she participated as a supporting actress in several live shows with famous American artists, such as Jessica Simpson, LL Cool J and Jennifer Love Hewitt.[4]

Kalomoira entered the New York City auditions for Antenna's Fame Story 2 (licensed from Star Academy, a reality talent show similar to American Idol in the United States and Fame Academy in the United Kingdom) and was one of the two singers chosen from a group of 200 performers. Despite speaking primarily English, Kalomoira went to Greece after having completed one semester of college at Adelphi University where she was a music major, and competed on the three month long show.[5] Kalomoira placed first and her professional singing career began.[4]

After the New York City auditions Kalomoira went to Greece for the start of Fame Story 2. Kalomoira's first song was Katy Garbi’s “Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό” in which she swapped the lyrics “είμαι η Καίτη που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kaiti who you used to love”) with “είμαι η Καλομοίρα που αγαπούσες” (“I am Kalomoira who you used to love”). Her difficulties with Greek songs were not significant enough to hold her back.

Kalomoira singing on Fame StoryFollowing the success of her first performance, she performed the popular song "Stand by Me". The following week, the challenge became bigger as she performed the Greek song “H Γκαρσόνα” ("The Waitress"), which seemed totally out of Kalomoira's vocal and style capability[citation needed]. She was also told to perform Aliki’s song “Γατούλα” ("Pussycat"), written by Manos Hatzidakis. The songs became more challenging for the singer as her teachers in the academy pushed her to sing Greek songs[citation needed]. Her next songs were “Ανάβεις φωτιές” ("You are lighting fires") and "Dancing Queen".

The judges assigned Kalomoira with Barbara Streisand’s "Woman in Love", a song with special vocal requirements[clarification needed]. Kalomoira fared well, but in the week that followed, Kalomoira's rendition of Stavros Ksarhakos’ “Ένα πρωινό” ("One morning") left the judges unimpressed. Next, Kalomoira chose to perform "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna and managed to stay in the game. This was followed by a duet with another participant (Nikos Mihas) in "Gucci των Μασάι" ("Masai's Gucci"), which gave her a chance to remain in the show for another week.

Marinella’s "Γιατί Φοβάσαι" (Why are you afraid) was difficult for her[citation needed], but Kalomoira made it through to the next week’s "Περιττός" which was better received. She continued in the game with a performance of Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again". After many weeks of the competition, Kalomoira was one of the final six participants of the game with only two performances left. Her rendition of "Εϊ Καζανόβα" ("Hey Cazanova") equalled her success with Madonna’s "Express Yourself" in the final show. Kalomoira won the contest, earned 200,000 Euros and a recording contract with Heaven Music.

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