From todays cyprus mail : Cypriot ‘Riverdance’ takes Britain by storm By Jacqueline Theodoulou
A GREEK Cypriot father and son have taken Britain’s Got Talent show by storm with a comedy act that had even the grumpiest of judges crying with laughter.
Demetris Demetriou and his 12-year-old son Lagi have become Cyprus’ claim to fame with their hilarious duo act Stavros Flatley – named after Irish dancing legend Michael Flatley – passing through to the next round of Britain’s Got Talent.
The two received a lukewarm reception from judges and audience alike when they arrived on the stage with their souvla-bellies, looking like they didn’t really have a clue what they were there to do.
But once the act began, even stone-faced Simon Cowell threw his head back in hysterics.
Demetris, who sports a tattooed map of Cyprus on his stomach, and Lagi, came in with no shirts on, and proceeded to do a rendition of Riverdance even Michael Flatley would have felt envious of. Cowell told the pair: "This was one of my favourite acts ever".
It all started as an innovative business idea for Demetriou, who used to own a popular Greek restaurant in North London’s Winchmore Hill area.
Diners who used to visit Demetriou’s restaurant didn’t just do it for the food; it was the entertainment value.
“The whole idea behind the restaurant was that when you came in, or your friends brought you in for your birthday, it was to stitch you up,” Demetriou told ITV.com.
“We would have a whole hour of cabaret - we would have Greek dancing, belly dancing, plate smashing… and then we would drag you up to do a Greek dance, or do karaoke dressed as Rod Stewart, or Michael Jackson, or Madonna,” he added.
“It would go from being a restaurant for 100, 120 people, to being a disco, it would go mad. I’d lead everyone out into the street… and back in again”.
Apart from the increasingly popular Stavros Flatley act, Demetriou played a number of other hilarious acts, such as cabaret character Stavros Dinapolis Dinadopilou.
Demetriou’s business venture thrived for almost eight years, before the family decided to give it up for a quieter life. “I couldn’t take it any more,” he told ITV.com, adding that Lagi was just a baby at the time and he never saw him.
But his Dad’s act had left an impression on Lagi, who urged Demetriou to apply for Britain’s Got Talent when it was advertised on TV.
“He said I should do it and I said ‘No’. But then he said ‘Go on, I’ll do it with you’. We had a practice in our living room and he was brilliant. I thought, ‘Ok, we’ll have a go’ – but I didn’t think the reaction would be that good. It was amazing,” said Demetriou.
The pair’s ambition now is to win the show and play a Greek-themed act for Prince Philip.
Demetriou said: "Well, Prince Philip is Greek. If he's around, we're half way there!"
“When I had t he restaurant, people used to come up to me and say, ‘Are you that guy with the restaurant? You stitched my friend up.’ You miss that. When you’ve got an electrical company nobody comes up to say, ‘Oh, by the way, you wired my house’, do they“?
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
_________________ REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE---------------------------------------------------------------- Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full or half empty ? . I drank it ..... The opportunist..
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