oneurope.co.uk

Category: Greece

The Greek entry is chosen by ERT. Greece first took part in 1974 and has won once.

  • Greece – stuck in a Eurovision groove

    Greece – stuck in a Eurovision groove

    Phil: The more I listen to this – the more I have decided that Sarbel sounds better IF you play ‘Yassou Maria‘ at 1.05 speed on WMP 9. It then has kick and a punch which the current speed and performance does not.

    His vocals are, indeed, questionable and they now spoil everything. The lyric is weak and this is going to be hurt by whatever is coming before it. Especially if it is Turkey (same song?? mwahaha!) He ticks all the boxes, mentioning Aphrodite and Cleopatra, but it is a walking Cliche of a song without a doubt!

    Nick: I’ve been struggling to find the word to describe it, and I guess “safe” is the one I’m looking for. The 1990s were characterised by Ireland sending the same song every year before realising that it wasn’t working anymore in about 2002. This will stop working too – it’s just a matter of time. “Safe” might well get you the Swedish Schlagerfemteplatsen, but that’s as much as it will get. This year, it might not even get that – it’s in a strong field. And what’s so great about dancing like a Cheeky Girl anyway? Nah, it’s alright. It’s a competent Eurovision song of the ’00s performed competently by a competent performer. He’s got ribbons! Blue ribbons for a boy, obviously.

  • Greece – or is it Grease?

    Greece – or is it Grease?

    Nick: So, this Maria … would she by any chance be into superstition, black cats and voodoo dolls? Greece is the new itself, by the sounds of it – apparently trying to milk “Shake” for all it’s worth (do you see what I did there?). It’s very good, but it’s the most obviously derivative of *something specific* out of anything I’ve heard so far. If Turkey qualifies (as it maybe will), then this and that will badly get under each other’s feet when it comes to choosing which one to wait for. I can’t really argue with the song or the performance, and it’s a style of song that hasn’t failed… yet.

    Phil: Oh dear, it is a huge portion of “let’s see what we can do with the formula” going on. It’s a cross between this year’s Turkish song and a Ricky Martin-esque creation. Yes, he moves well but this was a shock when it won the Greek national final, and it remains a shock to the system here. It’s an old-fashioned slice of Eurovision dropped into a new style world. Twelve Cypriot points, and that should be it.

    Roy: I have a little dreamy hope for this one. That Turkey get through and are drawn right in front of it, and that Belarus do the same behind it. The poor fella then will appear so insignificant that even Cyprus may forget to vote for it. But in reality I can’t see it getting more than, ooh, 13 or 14 points …

  • Now the wireless has died so …

    Now the wireless has died so …

    … only us P1’s can talk

    mweahahaha!

    This is going to be brief though as we have lots to do tonight and WEDNESDAY we are on a boat trip!

    United Daz Kingdom – Fuck ME!! – This was fan-bloody-tastic!. It looked great on stage, the girls can sing live, Daz doesn’t fanny about by being too in yer face in the rap, on the monitors it looks great and not over the top. The background has got a school motive and the papers get flung about. Now, you know that I hated the song, but it gave me a goose-bump, watching the credits at the end of the song moment.

    Something that La Vissi didn’t. This song, on this evidence is NOT going to win the European Contest of Popular Song nineteen-hundred two thousand and six. She over cooks it – she throws everything at it – Julie Wright was even told to “shut the fuck up” when she had the same contra view as us. It so isn’t going to win because it is over the top and she tried too hard to be a diva. It’s an average song, sung averagely. As I said on the audio report of the previews I did, and I have seen nothing to change my mind.

    France. zzzzzzzzzz! – Oh man, but this is dire. It sends me to sleep and I had to endure thirty minutes and four run-throughs of the song. It’s just not worth a description it really is that bad.

    Croatia, however, was worth the airfare. She is the “Lucky Loser” to the Final, and HRT are gonna make damn sure that they use all the money they have saved in airfares in order to make this work. It’s fab! – she still screams Afrika Paprika at me, she is very loud indeed in the hall, perfectly choreographed … It’s ace!! ’nuff said.

    Thank you all for visiting, we know you are here – because I’ve seen the site stats. A little more feedback would be cool though if you can manage it please!

    From all of us, to all of you, a great big thank you for tuning in and if we survive the boat trip – see you Thursday.

    Phil and OnEurope Team.

    PS – Julie Wright says UK To the Wonning as she can’t post to the DotEurovision board!!

  • I feel dirty

    I feel dirty

    Well, this is going to sound very ungrateful to our gracious Athenian hosts, but we’re going to win and they’re going nowhere.

    Seriously, Daz is FANTASTIC. The mix opens up with a bit of jangly school piano – it doesn’t really do anything else unexpected, except for being totally nailed from start to finish. Stage looks great, he looks right in tonight’s costume of a stripy polo shirt (not that that’s necessarily what he has in mind)… has Stockport got a venue big enough? It’s a goosebumps moment, and I’ve not had one of those with a UK entry for a long long time.

    La Vissi, on the other hand, is big and breathy and kneels and is extremely histrionic, and is exactly the sort of guest you don’t generally invite to your Eurovision night party. Fine for what it is – well, no, not even fine for what it is but two-and-a-bit to one to win the whole contest? Do me, as they say in unidentified parts of Britain, a lemon.

    Oh dear oh dear oh dear. And I’m going to be eating their free food in about an hour’s time. I’m not being ye perfect guest here, am I?

  • Final report of the afternoon – explanations and stuff…

    Final report of the afternoon – explanations and stuff…

    First of all – this will be last report today. As many of you know, that have read the site for a long time – I am a Diabetic that takes Tablets. Coming to a strange country with odd food stuffs takes its toll and, as many of you know, I generally have at least one ill day a year – today started off well but has turned into one of those days. As such there will be no coverage of Bosnia, France and Russia.

    Secondly , to the person or people that have decided that I hate the Cypriots – enjoy your crowing. I need my energy to fight a life-threatening disease rather than with you for things that I blatantly did not say or have tried to head off. I knew that someone would say something, and in a better state – I would fight back – but currently I don’t have either the energy or will … So away you go …

    Now, back to the reason why I am here and getting weaker by the song …

    Ukraine – As has been stated earlier , this is a perfect song for the Ukrainians, the dancers are now dressed in hoodies and still do street break dancing – Phil or Grant Mitchell is still the main singer. On the screens in the hall it comes across as everything you would expect and will go very very big in here. The more that I have seen it, the more points I can see it picking up – but I still think that it is a song that is out of context in this contest

    Germany – It’s still 80’s rock lite really – Gracia still persists in making me want to run and hide away from her and the telephone. Not having seen the National Final in Germany, I sincerely hope that this was not what her performance was like. It is too old school and too bad for this to do anything other than bomb big time. As with so many performers this year – she can sing the song – just not, unfortunately, the one that she has entered for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.

    Greece – In the video it’s fantastic! – However, there is all sorts of choreography coming on here and a general air of “I’ve won”. However good she looks on the camera – when she pulls her dancers drawstrings and does the Zorba-esque dancing – it seems to be too over-staged – it would appear that the 15/8 you can get about this in the bookmakers is too too short! – This does, on this performance, leave the door open. But we said the same about Sakis and he nearly wonned in the Istanbul – so she is still in with a shout!

    That’s it for the rehearsals – there are three more – but I can’t report back on due to illness – If I hear reports – will let you know – however tomorrow is different – tomorrow is Semi-Final dress rehearsal day. There should be a report at some time tomorrow a report on the semi at some stage.

    All being well – I should be well tomorrow

    Phil

  • Greek danger

    Greek danger

    Just uploaded something on here about the Greek song and it disappeared. Hopefully this ‘un will turn up.

    Didn’t get to see it, but by all accounts it was blimmin’ ace. Tight and accurate dance routine, formation Busby Berkley aerial view dancing and a gimmick so silly that you’ll be laughing at it and not with it. (I can give a spoiler if you want, but I’m sure you’d rather have the surprise!).

    No word on Cyprus, Bosnia or Russia, but Natalya had her press conference this morning. She’s very young looking, was flanked by a bunch of pretty boy Rasmus-Barbie types, and sang a bit of the song, and has quite a pleasant, whispy voice. Not seeing it doing much, mind, but she seems surprisingly pleasant.

    Chaira was just doing a conference, and she was as sweet as expected. Her mum and dad were up there with her and there was a lot of love in the room. Unsurprisingly she said her favourite song at the moment was a Disney ballad. Perhaps that’s her future.

    Anyroad, I’ve got to go and do real life things like eat, breathe and the porcelain unmentionable before the Cypriot run through, so I shall be away. Party reports (and possibly some pics of us carousing too!) laters.

    Big love,

    Hacksaw

  • Eurovision 2003 – Second Rehearsals Part One

    Eurovision 2003 – Second Rehearsals Part One

    Netherlands

    Well she has been practicing!!. The more that I look at this, the more that I get the sense that this could well be the one, and if its not the one, it could be in the top five. She is polished and the choreography is foot perfect. She doesn’t make love to the camera, but she does probably smothers it in kisses and tells it she loves it!!. She still looks happy on the stage and it makes a great impact. All of the mics are balanced in the hall and it is a genuine contender. The only thing it would suffer from is After the break syndrome!!

    Mark out of 100 : 384097.948

    UK

    Well it has improved slightly.. well it would have to wouldn’t it??? It still looks like the top of the bill at the local high school… They have been straining to get the notes and the choreography looks slightly better and they don’t look totally happy and neither do i. The guitarist that ISN’T playing is so out of place its ridiculous. The high campness that they promised is more like bottom of the barrel. IF they drop the guitarist and the singers and indeed the choreography and replace it with the Croatian backing singers (who know ALL the songs and can sing them better than the UK) then we might stand a chance of winning. If not, then its middle table at best.

    Mark out of 100 : 1.1

    Ukraine

    This has a contortionist in a box … It is fabulous!! Oleksander has one of the best voices in the contest. Singing in blue and white he does minimalist movements while they dance round him on stage. His voice is so powerful it carries this song which without him would probably have died on its arse a long time ago. He has the look as if he doesn’t care less, but blatantly does!!! the woman on the box is something to look out for, if you liked Goran Karan’s woman, you’ll love this … as do I …

    www.paddypower.ie has 66/1 about this winning…… now don’t all be greedy ;o)

    Mark out of 100 : 2382938 ( and extra points for her!)

    Greece

    I must admit, neither I or my representative went to this one in person, but we did see it on a screen. She looks impressive but the song still lacked a certain something …

    Hard to give a score as we were having lunch … sorry!!

    Norway

    This is very sweet … Jostein has had some sort of training, probably how to look soppy and beg for loving into the camera. Unfortunately LTV cant spell his name OR the title of the song correctly on the caption.. much sniggering and a person dispatched to LTV from NRK…

    Back to the performance, he’s still flat as a pancake, and still strains to get the high notes, but it is getting slightly better … but not by much.

    France

    Lovely strong strong, shame the dress shows her armpits too much. She looks dis-interested and a bit non fussed through the performance, but some would say that’s just French. A fellow judge for the forks remarks it was ‘competent but unremarkable’ … and that sums it up, really. Boring and uninspiring.

    Mark out of 100 : cos 0

    Poland

    This just gets better and better. It has everything … It has a man with an odd voice, a woman with a great voice, the comedy potential for him to break both legs at the end of it, AND the potential to win!! The set looks fantastic with the earth on the bottom of it. The only thing I am worried about is whether he shocks the elderly in Reykjavik too much for them to vote … but at 200/1 it is well worth it!!!

    Mark out of 100 – Infinity!! ( and £10 each way at 200-1)

    Russia

    Well they turned up … Sorry it’s been delayed, but I have been trying to find the words … I think the closest I could come up with was “ugnh!!?? ”

    It isn’t really a song, it’s a performance. One of them has a sore throat, but could you really tell? I couldn’t! It’s still very shouty, and just a mash of everything. I’m sure it’s a good rock song, but not in this context!

    Just a quick techie point, they are using the more orchestral backing tape, but does it matter??

    Mark out of 100 : -4932894283409.4398

    Belgium

    Unlike last time, there was a break and THEN the Belgians. However there are only 10 people here, cos they are all at Tatu press conference. They are a very competent performance, but it is very dis-interesting. It could be the Tatu rehearsal factor that is negating the effect of this ethno fest. I think they should get another golden fork, but the jury is out… They perform well and play live instruments (!) and for the pedants, they are allowed to ( so nurrr!)

    Mark out of 100 – 3 billion and 7

    Estonia

    Well NICK, what are your biased and totally un-newsworthy thoughts on this one?? hmmmmmmm??

    “There are no words. They look like a proper group and they sound good and they are brilliant and fab. And great. They coped fantastically with the stage crew playing the Romanian backing tape. Vaiko Eplik was particularly good by singing his song over it.”

    Seriously they were very good and we think the pianist is playing live. Vaiko still gets on his knees to beg for your forgiveness of this shite at the end, but it might get some votes. They still sound like a pub band … but a better one than Tuesday

    Mark out of 100 (by Nick) Infinity squared (!)

    Romania

    Well apparently she doesn’t wanna cry … but from this performance she doesn’t wanna win either. They still prance around on stage taking clothes off backing singers and holding records (you’ll have to trust me on this one) … They are very average and may well not do very well.. but it certainly bounces along, but it will confuse the hell out of Europe!! It is well performed but confusing

    Mark out for 100 – 3 bananas!

    Sweden

    Its *still* polished and typically Swedish but it seems to be missing something. For a couple that are supposed to be giving each other their love , they don’t appear to be doing much of that. It has in their favour that it IS typical and formulaic, but among this half of the draw that could be a bad thing. They do look good on stage, as you would expect, but its missing something…

    Mark out of 100 : 43738927

    Slovenia

    She was brilliant!!! She can still nanananana with the best of them. A vision in purple, she did really, really well. Choreography still seems to be lacking, but overall an excellent performance.

    Mark out of 100: Nanana.

  • Greece First Rehearsal

    Greece First Rehearsal

    This is not the best of songs, however, Mando is carrying it off well. She does seem to be pulling back from some lines and some of the high notes, but that is understandable because it is only a rehearsal. She looks into the camera and more importantly LOOKS like she is confident enough in her own abilities to carry this song off.

    My only worry is that with the good songs early in the draw, will she be able to get the televoters voting for this type of song? I doubt it, but we’ll see.

  • Eurovision 2002 – Rehearsal Reports – Monday

    Eurovision 2002 – Rehearsal Reports – Monday

    Cyprus

    What can one say….. It will certainly get the blood flowing in the old ladies in Europe!! Ladies, and the odd man will be jumping around with excitement!! They do strip off thankfully. You see now, Bucks Fizz and their velcro have nothing on these lads. However, vocally it is somewhat strained but they do charge on to the stage…. but as for their dress sense… it looks like they got dressed in the Nicosia branch of Oxfam. Very brightly-coloured costumes with bits hanging off, which fall across the stage, and the straps that remain after they strip off do make it look like the lads have broken a rib. It wont be the chest muscles of Europe that these lads will be straining on Saturday.

    UK

    This gets better and better, as Maian Anne Karmas said to me, not bad for 10am in the morning! The Pop Idol tour has done her for the world of good. She is very confident and a very assured performance. The doubts about the draw and the backing singers mix being too loud fade away as Jess starts to warm a very cold hall. Even the detractors should be careful about this one. She walks on to the stage, looking sulky but she cheers up later on. No problem with any high or long notes, which she hits perfectly every time. The vocal range is perfect and you know, she just might on this evidence. I’m not saying mortgage the house, just mortgage the dog kennel as life insurance.

    Austria

    Everything we have come to expect from the Austrian song. A total babe running around the stage flouting his “talents”. The song itself seems to have been beefed up somewhat with a decent backing track and he urges us to clap with him towards the end of the song. It has potential to do well, but I get the feeling that it will be swallowed up by the end of the song. Manuel’s voice is very strong but it might not be good enough.

    Greece

    What can one say that has not already been said? Dressed in leather, they goose-step their way around the stage, while stomping their feet acting like members of the Greek national guard. This gets painfully worse every time I hear it.

    Croatia

    Vesna really tries so hard to do her sex kitten impression, but. No. not really. She will be wearing a black little number which will no doubt get the blood flowing, but the song is, like so many others, weak. The performance that she gives is VERY strong and she stands at the front of the stage and pouts. Her props this year include a diamond-studded whip (evidently to smack the audience into submission and to threaten the televoters ). Vocally she is strong, but the song is intrinsically weak … though I reckon it will still do well. (Confused? I am).

    Russia

    How can an organsiation get it so badly wrong. ORT had a perfectly decent song … but then forgot that the contest is a live event. The song still stands out as a decent song that Boyzone would have covered, but they seem to be shouting the words out a great deal. There is no mix or harmonies to the backing track and they seem to have followed the “how to dance” manual. They have not yet resorted to putting the cardboard feet and arrows on the floor, but its getting close. They have an appearance of 80’s Rap acts in Baggy trousers.. though in the final they will be wearing white outfits, which doesn’t help the performance along. I’m sure it will get better….

    Estonia

    Now she gets her chance. Having progressed from the backing singers, Salhene, the new Swedish darling of the contest has the host nation’s hopes on her shoulders. I know there is not supposed to be any national broadcaster bias here, but ETV really do seem to have gone to town with the lights and the set staging, possibly better than any other song so far. She is only the second performer to utilise the front of the stage. As you would expect it is a very good performance from her, but there were some dodgy notes and the harmonies are not quite spot on as the CD version, but that is only to be expected as this is a live song. Having said that, she does have a certain something that makes it so … well … potentially irresistible to the voters. The more I look at her though the more she looks like Billie Piper crossed with Brittany Spears and, in one final hark back to 1999, she even ends with the same hair flick. Will ETV win? Perhaps … but don’t tell them.

    Macedonia

    Oh Dear….. Karolina stomped around the stage link another brooding Vesna but without the talent. From the run through that I saw, she did not seem to be trying very hard for the first half of the song, and then burst into some semblance of life towards the end. Cynics would say that she was holding herself back for the rehearsals to come, but I seriously think her heart is someplace else. She has a good voice…. but its too broody I think for the rest of Europe to pick the phone up and vote for.

    Israel

    Politicking aside, this is everything you would associate with an “normal” Israeli song. Strong ballad with “hands in the air” but this is anything other than a normal entry as we all know. Despite your political affiliation, when Sarit opens her mouth you HAVE to feel for her, for what it meant to her when she wrote it, and what it means now after what has gone on. This is still a very strong song and it has a something… call it heartstrings being tugged, call it me being soppy.. but with her singing, the candles on the background and the whole red hall.. it might not be a winner, and it might not get its share of the votes… but it damn well should.

    Switzerland

    The singer, Francois, is trying to be more French than Swiss. She is trying to give a typical “chanson” performance to the song, which frankly isn’t coming off as yet. The Backing singers just stand and sway a bit and as has lost any appeal that the song had. She does, on the positive side, have a good voice and from our position hits all of the notes and answers any questions that the song poses of her vocal range, but their is no choreography, no movement as such (just the aforementioned swaying and a bit of hand gesturing) and just no overall rhythm to it. Is this song a successor to Gunvor? is the question that we are all wondering here. Dressed in an terrible spangly red skirt and what appears to be a see through liberty bodice from Marks and Spencer’s, she looks bad and it will come across to the televoters as a song that is “decent, but not worth voting for” and that I am afraid is her downfall.

    Sweden

    Now I personally don’t get this song, but however there is a certain something that goes with this song. I think that it could be the soul/funk rhythms, it could be the semi good looking females, or it could be the infections beat. Infectious like a disease mind. It isn’t too bad and they do attack the song and they move quite well. However be warned, the Swedish have resurrected the Golden Boots, but this time, thigh height.. you have been warned!!