To be true to your own country’s sound or not? That is the question. If you do, you get kudos in your own country but might be seen as a novelty by certain others.
Back in 2010, Greece sent today’s birthday boy Γιώργος Αλκαίος/Giorgos Alkaios along with his ‘friends’. His song had a definite Greek bent to it, but it also had a contemporary sound. There was something to keep everyone happy. And, in the early part of the 21st Century at least, Greece could do no wrong when it came to what they entered. This could only be a good thing. It did work to an extant. Giorgos and his pals came second in the semi-final and eighth in the Grand Final. It proved that you didn’t need to sing in English to get a good result.
Giorgos is 49 today.
Χρόνια πολλά, Γιώργος!