Liza Minelli in Athens for Hellenic Festival July 26, 2006 Academy Award-winning actress and singer Liza Minelli was in Athens on Monday, where she will close the events for the Hellenic Festival with two concerts on Wednesday and Thursday night at the Herod Atticus Odeon beneath the Acropolis. At a press conference at a central Athens hotel, she expressed herself excited and proud to be in Greece - a magical country that combines colour, romance and courtesy, lots of music and dance. According to Hellenic Festival director Georgios Loukos, the organisers had saved the best for last and were closing the festival with a superstar. He thanked Minelli and U.S. Ambassador to Athens Charles Ries for his help in organising the two concerts by the multi-talented artist, which are taking place in collaboration with the American-Hellenic Arts Centre of Halandri and the American Community School (ACS) in Athens. He said the revenue raised by the concerts would go to support the activities of the arts centre, since the U.S. Embassy supported cultural programmes in the conviction that Art was a universal language uniting all peoples. This is the second time that Minelli will be performing in Athens, while her appearance here will be part of a major European tour that the artist began in February this year in Munich. After Athens, she is due to appear in Moscow and finally in Montreal. Her Athens performances will also be an opportunity for Minelli to take a 10-day trip in Greece. Author : Athens News Agency