Annette Denise Stamatelatos (born 6 September 1976), better known by her stage name Annet Artani is a Greek-American singer and songwriter. She is best known for representing Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song “Why Angels Cry”, as well as co-writing the worldwide hit “Everytime” with Britney Spears.

Artani was born Annette Denise Stamatelatos in Flushing, New York to Gregory and Julia Stamatelatos. Her family originates from the village of Karavados on the island of Kefalonia, Greece. She is named after her maternal grandmother, Anneta, and she chose to use her paternal grandmother’s first name, Artani, in her stage name, as a dedication to both of them. While in the US she uses the name “Annette”, she was advised to spell it “Annet” in Europe to avoid being called Annet-Te. She graduated from Queens College and received an associate’s degree from Five Towns College.

Artani and her older sister Diana, who also sings, formed a rock band named Nootropia (Mindset), singing in Greek, and promoted on National Greek TV (NGTV) and Aktina FM. The group sang Greek rock songs which were fused with classical elements.

Artani expressed her interest and love for music at a young age, particularly in offerings of such greats as Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. After her early days singing with her sister, Artani decided that a solo career would suit her best. She received a scholarship from BMG for writing and performing her original song titled “Summer Days”, and has also won several talent titles in America’s Favorite Pageants, the New York Star Pageant, the Ophelia Devoure Talent Connection, and has been featuring in both Pageantry and Billboard Magazine.

Over the years, Artani incorporated influences of singing in her college Gospel choir, as well as listening to R&B, pop and rock music. She started off her singing career as an opening act for Mando, a Greek pop star, and was featured in her own summer concert in 1995. She collaborated with several accomplished writers in New York City such as Jeff Franzel, who’s written for NSYNC and played with Frank Sinatra, and Alex Forbes who has written for Taylor Dayne and Cyndi Lauper, among others.

While singing as a singer-songwriter in clubs all over New York City, Artani received a phone call from a friend saying that she should audition to be a backing vocalist for Britney Spears. She was called back and informed that she would be on The Rosie O’Donnell Show with Spears and would subsequently be a part of the Dream Within a Dream Tour. Her interactions with Spears during most of the tour were limited to small conversations at the gym and vocal warm ups. Artani had begun a relationship with the show’s musical director during 2002; however, it was not working out well by the end of the tour. Before the last date in Mexico City, Spears called her and asked about the relationship. Artani told her they were going to break up, to which Spears responded, “Don’t worry about it, you’re going to hang out with me”. Following the end of the tour, Spears and Artani began to forge a friendship. Spears invited Artani to her house in Los Angeles, California. According to Artani, their relationship grew out of their shared romantic experiences at the time. She explained, “Basically, we commiserated because she, at that time, had broken up with Justin [Timberlake]. Maybe like nine months before, but of course it was really fresh in the media. I was just breaking up with this guy, so we kind of like—I think we kind of needed each other.” Artani stayed at Spears’s house for a few weeks, in which they started writing songs at the piano. Shortly after, they traveled to Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy. Artani added, “It was me and her, her stylist and Felicia, and we had this humongous house to ourselves, and they had a piano there as well”.

According to Artani, “Everytime” was written in large part as a response to “Cry Me a River” as well as various radio interviews. Artani explained, “He was getting personal. Here, she had a different type of image, and he was really exposing some stuff that she probably didn’t want out there, and in front of her little sister … I remember her sister being mortified and her being mortified. I’m sure that that really hurt her. “Everytime” was recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles and mixed at Frou Frou Central in London, England. “Everytime” was released as a single on 17 May 2004 through Jive Records, and was positively received by critics, who complimented its simple lyrics and the organic feel of the song. The single also achieved commercial success, peaking inside the top five in most countries, while reaching the top of the charts in Australia, Hungary, Ireland and the United Kingdom.