The women met two years ago when Ms. Vissi played Madison Square Garden Theater. "Before the concert, I went over to Astoria and picked up a T-shirt with Anna’s image on it and made myself a tube dress out of it," Ms. Field said. "Then I made her a little tube dress out of an ‘I Heart New York’ T-shirt, and when she was onstage singing, I threw the dress at her."

As the exclusive clothier to the Sex and the City gang, Ms. Field has personally controlled the fashion trends of the last six years. However, whether her endorsement of the Greek songbird can similarly influence the music industry remains to be seen.

"It’s difficult to say what’ll happen when someone from overseas comes here. We’re very used to exporting our own talent. It’s difficult for outsiders to make it in America," said Marianela, the 25-year-old host of Daily Download on the Fuse network.

Thus, Ms. Vissi sagely enlisted the help of Jerry Blair, the former executive vice president of Columbia Records Group, who used to manage the careers of Ricky Martin and Mariah Carey (when they had them). Of course, if she doesn’t go the way of Joss Stone, Ms. Vissi will always have Athens. This past summer, she performed at the Olympics closing ceremony. "Oh my God, she’s the most well-known singer in Greece!" Marianela gushed. "She’s, like, Madonna over there! You put her on and people lose their minds!"

"Everyone calls me the Madonna of Greece because I’m constantly reinventing myself, but I think I’m more like Bruce Springsteen, because I play for three or four hours at a time," Ms. Vissi said, tossing her highlighted waves. "I like to break the rules, mess up the place, make mistakes, fall on the stage. I hate when you go to a concert and nothing real happens. You need to rock it."

She frequently lets her audience storm the stage during her concert, which is what happened the last time she performed at Beacon Theater. "I let, like, 30 people come running onstage and we all started dancing, but then security got mad. They’re afraid of the performer getting hurt. I’m not afraid of people, anyway—I know my audience. Besides, it helps break the ice! I will say that the show was thoroughly fu … um, messed up."

Bruce and Madge aside, others claim the singer is to the Greek community what Frank Sinatra was to the Italians. Several weeks ago, Ms. Vissi had caused a near riot when she gave an impromptu performance during dinner at Periyali, a popular Greek restaurant on 20th Street. "Everyone was talking about it," said Timothy Corscadden, 32, the vice president of a small fabric company, whose leather vest and pants showed off his extensive tattoos, including a three-pointed star down to his groin. ("Eventually my penis and scrotum will be solid black, but the head will be left as is!")

"I did not sing at Periyali!" Ms. Vissi said indignantly the next afternoon after partying till 8 a.m. "It’s a very quiet place, a taverna. It has class and is not a place for someone to sing. Besides, they already play my music!"

Said Mr. Blair: "We’ll go to a little restaurant in Astoria, and she’ll come in with her own fish—that way, she can make sure it’s fresh—and have them prepare it for her. And they’ll do it gladly, because everywhere you go in Astoria, they all have her picture up."

Nearby, next to the inevitable girl in the tutu, was actor Chris Gampel. "Everyone’s full of champagne, and if they’re not, they should be—and that’s one of your problems because you need a drink badly!" the octogenarian roared at The Transom. A tweedy man (and the only one at the party in earth tones), Mr. Gampel has appeared in Annie Hall, The Wrong Man and, most recently, on television’s Ed and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. He befriended Ms. Vissi at a screening of The Merchant of Venice. He said that he’d come to the party for the food and that his musical tastes lean towards classical, so conversion was unlikely. "I don’t understand it," he said of the party’s ambient music. "It’s noisy and it makes me yell and I DON’T LIKE TO YELL!" he yelled.

However, Anneliese Estrada, creative director of DIFFA, says it’s only a matter of time before Ms. Vissi conquers the U.S. She’s been a fan since the singer performed in Miami at the White Party, a gay, lesbian and transgender bash. Ms. Estrada put her arm around her girlfriend, "You know, the gays always spot the good people first!"

http://www.newyorkobserver.com/pages/transom.asp