12 May – Oh oh oh… oh, oh oh oh… oh

For every act that makes it to the big Eurovision stage, there are many who try and fall by the wayside. Persistence can pay off, and those who keep trying sometimes – eventually – make it.

Today’s birthday girl Ελευθερία Ελευθερίου/Eleftheria Eleftheriou (so good they almost named her twice) tried several times before she got to the contest in Baku in 2012. And not just for Greece either. But she got there in the end. It could have been a bit wobbly. An early draw in a semi-final can be no guarantee, but she made fourth place. Then onto the final. Curiously, two songs she beat in her semi-final got their own back in the Grand Final. Aren’t national tastes odd?

Eleftheria is 35 today.

Χρόνια πολλά, Ελευθερία!