Wednesday, 14 October 2009
http://www.enfield-today.co.uk/tn/news. ... adline=The three-minute dance that continues to change the lives of a family
‘If Stavros Flatley was over tomorrow then, thank you very much, we had a wicked time'
Top of their game: Demetri and Lagi with some of their promotional material
By Mary McConnell
STAVROS Flatley, the stars of the hit ITV show Britain’s Got Talent, began as a little joke in a Winchmore Hill front room eight months ago.
But Demetrios Demetriou and his 13-year-old son Lagi became an overnight sensation when they performed their comedy dance routine – a Greek version of Michael Flatley’s Riverdance – in front of a TV audience of millions.
Last month, The Sun newspaper claimed that the pair were clocking up scores of performances every month, earning them up to £200,000 a week.
“That is a massive overexaggeration,” said 41-year old Demetrios, who goes by the name of Demetri. “I blushed when they said we were earning that much money. We’d have to be doing 20 shows a day in order to do that, and we don’t.”
They may not be doing 20 shows a day, but they have not stopped since becoming massive stars of the talent show, in which contestants have to face the acerbic tongues of judges Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan.
Stavros Flatley, who dance shirtless in traditional Greek costumes and blond wigs, stormed the competition, though despite waltzing into the final they were eventually beaten by dance troupe Diversity.
But the pair became superstars and are now in constant demand – Lagi has taken a break from Highlands School in Winchmore Hill and is being privately tutored, while Demetri’s brother has been taking care of the family’s electrical firm, based in Station Road, East Barnet, so that they can travel the country with their act. “You can’t really call it work,” Demetri told the Advertiser. “We just turn up, dance for thee minutes and that is it. But it is such good fun – we just have a laugh.
“We are really homely people and this has given us the chance to go everywhere, places we would never have dreamt of going before.
“We would go to Cyprus on holiday but other than that the furthest we had ever been was Great Yarmouth. Now I have been to Scotland, to Dublin, to Durham. Now I am asking myself why I never went to these places before.”
And the pair, from Bazile Road, Winchmore Hill, seem to be taking fame in their stride. Demetri said: “It is a really weird feeling when people just know who you are – we feel like we are friends with them within ten seconds.”
Since they began their careers as entertainers, Demetri and Lagi have performed for cricketer Andrew Flintoff’s charitable foundation, danced on the catwalk at a L’Oréal show and they are soon to fly to Shanghai to entertain the Chinese.
The biggest casualties in their act are their blond wigs. Every time they dance they throw them into the crowd and so far they have been through 400 of them.
Demetri has just ordered another 600 that, he hopes, should keep them well stocked up for the coming months.
“It is such a strange thing,” said Demetri. “Before pressing that enter button we should’ve at least had a talk about it, but we just thought it was a bit of a joke.
“We still would’ve done it but we should really have sat for ten minutes and talked about it, but we didn’t.
“I spoke to Lagi’s headmaster and he said to just grab the experience with both hands. It is such a life-changing thing.
“When I started this I knew that it would bring a smile to people’s faces, but I never expected this.
“If it was over tomorrow, then, you know, thank you very much, we’ve had a wicked time.
“And my daughter Elle has been brilliant. She never gets jealous or anything and Lagi is never star-struck. If he knows that Elle likes this or that star he always goes up and asks them for a picture or their autograph, and it is always signed to Elle. She has got Will Young, Peter Andre, all the guys from Britain’s Got Talent.
“We went on the pitch at London Irish and did a dance in front of 20,000 rugby fans, we went to Dartford Festival where the crowd was about 40,000. We just run on, do a dance for a few minutes and then run off. It is so much better when people aren’t expecting us, when we come on as a surprise.”
My grandfather always used to say ‘you’re here and if you manage to leave a footprint then you’ve done well’. And we have – we’ve done something.”
The pair have a book coming out on October 19 called How To Be (A Little Bit Greek), containing a few hints and tips on how to live life to the full, Greek-style.
Demetri added: “There are a few stories about my life and what it is like to be Greek in England. We know that you could all be Greek like us, if you just let yourself go.”
