11 January – Just pain, fake love and drunken lie

We all love a good ballad. Don’t we? After all, Eurovision isn’t all about Schlager (whatever that is) or badly-thought out costume changes. While you can’t boogie to a good ballad, it gives the singer the chance to hopefully show off their full vocal range. So it’s with the greatest of pleasure that I’ve picked this ballad from 2015. A reasonable year if you ask me, with the press bag of infinite delight. Anyhow, the preview video for this song was filmed in an underground park in deepest Athens, but birthday girl Μαρία Έλενα Κυριάκου/Maria Elena Kyriakou didn’t seem to mind.

Maria Elena is 33 today.

Χρόνια πολλά, Μαρία Έλενα!