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Category: Greece

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

  • Phil’s Eurovision Countdown – Part 16/37 – Greece

    Phil’s Eurovision Countdown – Part 16/37 – Greece

    People of a certain age will remember this

    Where the lovely Judith Chalmers and Chris Kelly swan off across parts of the world that you can not afford to go to and tell you how nice it all is?  Now imagine that as an idea that some people who should know better came up with in a room in Thessaloniki or Piraeus late last year and set to musak.  That’s Greece’s entry in a nutshell.  It takes the travelogue concept just that one step too far and that’s before we start with the singing bit.

    I say singing, I suspect Marina has never seen a note written down in her life cos she sings all of them and not in any semblance or order or structure either.  It starts in a key that is too high for her larynx or her talent and she then proceeds to reel off a selection of thoughts set to an equal number of musical themes intercut with “ TA TA TA” for reasons.  It’s like the songwriters were asked if they could knock something up in 24 minutes because ERT forgot everything they knew about this contest and wanted something quick.

    Nul points

    I couldn’t get to the end of the song, the first time that has happened this year, but I am reliably informed it gets no better. ERT clearly ordered this from Temu and expected it to be from Harrods.

     

    OnEurope Countdown to Eurovision 2024

  • Monty’s Eurovision Countdown 2024 Part 16 – Greece

    Monty’s Eurovision Countdown 2024 Part 16 – Greece

    Well, this is refreshingly different. Marina Satti gives us one of the most contemporary songs of Eurovision 2024.

    From the opening of the music video, it’s clear Marina wants to offer something different, something that challenges our expectations. She’s collecting newly arrived tourists at the airport for her Eurovision tour. The clip, shot to look like an amateur travel video, follows a parallel journey of a tourist around some of Greece’s best-known tourist sites, including the Acropolis in Athens. Marina baits him into the taxi she’s somehow ended up driving and here seems to take him captive, spinning the car as he sits terrified in the back seat.

    Along the way she sends up some of the stereotypes of Greek culture: gyros, Greek dancing, and ancient tourist traps. She’s described her aim as wanting to shake up what people think about Greece and present something more of the modern and urban culture. She certainly does this sonically, with music that blends Greek sounds with reggaeton and other styles of the eastern Mediterranean. Lyrically it feels to break less new ground.

    10 pointsI’m so intrigued to see how she presents this on stage. It would be challenging to carry through the motifs of the video, but it’s a song that feels it needs something thematic, and more than just formation choreography.  I’m also intrigued to see how it goes down with the viewers and the juries. It’s already a massive number one hit in Greece where it’s been certified gold. It won’t be everybody’s glass of ouzo but I’m so here for this kind of sound in the Contest.

     

    Photo: Peggy Theodorogianni/EBU

  • Eurovision Countdown 24 – Greece according to Mo

    Eurovision Countdown 24 – Greece according to Mo

    For some years, Greece has been the saviour of Eurovision, sending credible song after credible song. Performers who stand up way beyond the Contest with songs that last. It all ends here.

    This is easily the worst song I’ve heard this year (full disclosure: I’d only heard six when I wrote the review, and I’m almost certain others will give Marina a run for her money). I’d go so far as to say it’s the worst thing I’ve heard this year, full stop. And it’s not really a song, is it? It’s just a bunch of noises and beeps and ethno-instruments and digitally enhanced vocals.

    I happened to say this on Twitter/X – the levels of abuse I received surprised even a thick-skinned, ageing homosexual like me. For the record, I’m not racist, I’m not 1000 years old and I do have ears. Though there will be three minutes in May where I won’t be using them.

    There’s a case to be made for the way the song blends traditional Greek musical elements with contemporary sounds to create a unique and captivating experience. The song’s lyrics weave a complex tapestry of emotional resilience, the pain of loss, and the courageous act of moving forward.

    No, I’m talking bollocks…

    Nul pointsZero points are too good for this cynical mess. Surely even Cyprus will struggle to award its customary 12.

     

    OnEurope Countdown to Eurovision 2024

  • 12 April – Flowers make kisses

    12 April – Flowers make kisses

    Cast your mind back to when there was no free language rule. Two, maybe three countries could sing in English, and there was a plethora of tongues to delight any polyglot.

    In 1981 we had the first occasion where two – yes, two – songs were sung in Greek. Cyprus made their début but Greece had been doing their stuff for a few years. Today’s birthday boy Γιάννης Δημητράς/Yiannis Dimitras was the Greek performer, along with the young Sofia Houndra on the piano. Yiannis finished eighth, which was a common occurrence in those days. Greece finished higher before, but didn’t do better than eighth until 1992. If you’ve not heard this song before (where have you been?), you’ll enjoy it’s simple quality.

    Yiannis is 70 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά Γιάννη!

  • 9 April – Come in our dream to make us laugh

    9 April – Come in our dream to make us laugh

    Have you ever met your hero? That one person who made you think a particular way, or aspire to a certain lifestyle. Were you disappointed when you met them, or did you admire them all the more?

    Today’s birthday girl Τάνια Τσανακλίδο/Tania Tsanaklidou sang about someone who as presumably one of her heroes. It’s never been reported whether she met Mr Chaplin, and she took part in the contest a year after he died. She managed to finish eighth in what was the biggest ever contest at its time. Maybe these days people would sing songs about other pioneers of stage and screen. So, Ralph, how soon could you write a song about Raquel Welch, Matthew Perry or Gina Lollobrigida?

    Tania is 72 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Τάνια!

  • 14 March – It is burnt by napalm

    14 March – It is burnt by napalm

    When you look at how some countries are performing these days, it’s often good to see how they got to where they are. It can be surprising.

    When you think of Greece, you might think of the 21st Century when they started getting good results. But back in the 1970s it wasn’t always the way. Today’s birthday girl Μαρίζα Κωχ/Mariza Koch. She brought a very ethnic sound to the contest in The Hague and it didn’t go that well. The thing is that if she had entered the same song 40 years later, she probably would have breezed through a semi-final and finished on the left-hand side of the scoreboard. As it was, Mariza and her instrumentalist came 13th of 18. But she did have the third-favourite song in the French jury.

    Mariza is 80 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Μαρίζα!

  • 11 January – Take me out of this fiery hell

    11 January – Take me out of this fiery hell

    Continuing our Mediterranean theme – well, it started yesterday – we move east to the popular country taking part in our favourite TV show since the 1970s.

    As we’ve discussed, Greece’s success has mainly been 21st Century, when someone gave ERT/NERIT/ERT a kick and told them to pull their socks up. Even now, getting out of semi-finals is fairly easy, even if the Grand Final finish doesn’t always find the mark. But one of Greece’s best finishes recently fell to today’s birthday girl Μαρία Έλενα Κυριάκου/Maria Elena Kyriakou (almost two-thirds of an Andy Paul song title, but there you go). She wowed us with her preview video set in an underground car park with trailing wires that looked a little unsafe. By the final, all health & safety issues were resolved and she’d opted for the portal to another dimension instead. The noteworthy thing about our M-E was that she only got eight points from a certain Eastern Mediterranean island! Who knew?

    Maria Elena is 40 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Μαρία Έλενα!

  • 9 January – It’s been a lovely year for us

    9 January – It’s been a lovely year for us

    We’ve mentioned before that Greece seem to have generally hit their mark in the last 20 years. One win, a couple of third places, and a regular qualifier from semi-finals, you can never write them off. And they sometimes surprise.

    In Torino/Turin, Greece entered Greek-Norwegian Αμάντα Κλάρα Γεωργιάδη Τένφιορντ/Amanda Klara Georgiadis Tenfjord. You can probably guess which bits of her name are Greek and which are Norwegian. Her staging was a slightly cluttered affair, but she had a good voice to appease anyone with OCD. She finished a creditable eighth – the best finish since 2006 – and was quite a hit with the juries around Europe. Maybe that second Greek win isn’t far away.

    Amanda is 27 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Αμάντα!

  • 5 January – Make that move on me

    5 January – Make that move on me

    Any country can win our favourite TV show. Even a country that languishes way down low when the scores come in can confound those critics and finish first. Just look at Portugal. That was a good win.

    At the end of the last century, our friends in Greece were having an indifferent time. Nothing better than fifth, and that was exceptional. However, we ticked over to the 2000s and things started to happen. Two third places in four contests and then a win. One of those third places came from today’s birthday boy Αναστάσιος ‘Σάκης’ Ρουβάς/Anastasios ‘Sakis’ Rouvas. In that first year of proper semi-finals, he surprised us all with his finishing position. And he was so popular ERT got him to co-host the Athens contest, before coming back in 2009, this time managing a seventh after standing on a giant stapler. Is he Greece’s Mr Eurovision? Name someone else it could be.

    Sakis is 52 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Σάκης!

  • 20 December – I know I’m still in love

    20 December – I know I’m still in love

    As you’ll know, there have been 67 contests. So that means 67 home entries. We had one yesterday, and we’ve got another one today. Are you excited yet?

    Today’s birthday girl Άννα Βίσση/Anna Vissi was the home entrant in 2006, but more of that shortly. However, it was her third – yes, third – time as a named performer. She’d done the job in 1980 for Greece and then two years later for her native Cyprus. We could level a false-flag allegation at her, but the lines are blurred whether she’s Greek or Cypriot. Anyway, a proud Greece hosted the contest, so an internal selection picked a massive name to aim for the double. With today’s pick of song, she managed a ninth place. Maybe the broadcaster ERT was happy with this, as it meant they wouldn’t be bankrupt just yet organising a second contest. And in a nice twist, Lordi performed straight after Anna in the Grand Final. Is this her finest Eurovision hour?

    Anna is 66 today.

    Χρόνια πολλά, Άννα!