Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

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For Greece's most recent participation, see Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.
Greece
Greece
Member station Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)
Former members
National selection events
National Final
Internal Selection
  • 1974
  • 1976–1978
  • 1981-1983
  • 1985
  • 1992–1997
  • 2004
  • 2016[1]
Appearances
Appearances 36 (36 finals)
First appearance 1974
Best result 1st: 2005
Worst result 20th: 1998, 2014
External links
ERT Page
Greece's page at Eurovision.tv


Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 36 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time (1975, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1999 and 2000). Greece won for the first time in 2005 with "My Number One", sung by Elena Paparizou. The national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) broadcast the event each year and organised the process for the selection of the Greek entry.[2] Greece has never finished last in the contest and along with Romania and Russia has never missed a final since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004. [note 1]

Greece only achieved two top five results in the contest throughout the 20th century, finishing fifth in 1977 with the song "Mathima Solfege", and again fifth in 1992 with the song "Olou Tou Kosmou I Elpida" performed by Kleopatra. In the 21st century, Greece has been more successful, with ten top-ten results, including third-place finishes for Antique in 2001 (with 2005 winner Paparizou as lead singer), Sakis Rouvas in 2004 and Kalomira in 2008.

History

After debuting in the 1974 Contest, Greece did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 for "unknown reasons" according to the EBU, but it was discovered that the withdrawal was in protest of Turkey's debut and its invasion of Cyprus in 1974.[3][4] Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing "Sarantapente Kopelies" (Σαρανταπέντε Κοπελιές), a previously released song. A known Greek folk song had been revised for the competition, but it violated the rules since all songs have to be original in terms of songwriting and instrumentation and cannot be cover songs. Greece was forced to pay a fine, and was allowed to return the following year.[5] Had Adamantidis been allowed to perform "Sarantapente Kopelies", he would have appeared second at Harrogate.[6] After returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of "low quality" and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984.

Greece returned once again to the Contest in 1985, and Polina was picked in the 1986 national selection to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 in Bergen, Norway, but ERT pulled out of the Contest unexpectedly. Polina stated that it was due to political troubles in Greece at the time,[7] but she noted that a Eurovision website had learned that the real reason was that the Contest was to be held the night before Orthodox Easter.[7] Had she performed, she would have appeared eighteenth and she would have performed the song "Wagon-lit".[7][8]

Greece returned to the Contest in 1987 and performed each year until the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, when it as not permitted to participate because its five-year points average had fallen under the limit for participation after Thalassa's 20th-place finish in 1998. The following year ERT announced that it would not return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 due to financial reasons.

Thirty-one years after its debut, Greece won for the first time in 2005 with Elena Paparizou singing "My Number One", which tied for the record for the most number of twelve points allocated to a song (ten in total) along with Katrina and the Waves' 1997 "Love Shine A Light". The song also made Greece the first country not a member of Big Four to win the contest without going through a semifinal. After Eurovision, the song topped the charts in Greece, Cyprus and Sweden and entered the top ten in Romania, the Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, as well as the American Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart. In 2005, Eurovision held a commemorative programme, Congratulations, to celebrate 50 years of the contest, in which "My Number One" came fourth in a vote for the show's most popular entry, behind "Hold Me Now" (1987), "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (1958) and ABBA's "Waterloo" (1974).

Before Greece's win, the highest score was third place, achieved by duo Antique (of which Elena Paparizou was a member) in 2001 with "Die for You" and then again by Sakis Rouvas in 2004 with "Shake It". Greece's least successful result was at 20th place in 1998 with the song "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" (English, "A Hidden Sensibility") by Thalassa, with 12 points, all from Cyprus and in 2014 with the song "Rise Up" by Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd, with 35 points, but this time Cyprus was out of the contest.

In 2006, the 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held in Athens, Greece, following Elena Paparizou's victory the previous year. The two hosts were popular singer, and former contestant, Sakis Rouvas and Greek American presenter Maria Menounos. The singer representing Greece in their own country was popular Greek Cypriot artist Anna Vissi.

From 2004 to 2006, ERT had selected high-profile artists internally and set up national finals to choose the song, while in 2007 and 2008 it held a televised national final to choose both the song and performer. For the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, ERT was able to secure a high-profile artist once again and planned a national final to choose the song.[9]

Greece has been one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 21st century, ten times finishing in the top-ten.[10] including ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007, third in 2008, seventh in 2009, eighth in 2010 and seventh in 2011. After Eleftheria Eleftheriou placed 17th in 2012 with her song "Aphrodisiac", Greece achieved its 10th top-ten result of the century and 18th in total in 2013, finishing sixth with the song "Alcohol is Free". In 2014, Greece finished in 20th place, which, along with 1998, is the countries worst result in the contest.[11] Greece is one of only three countries (along with Romania and Russia) to have never failed to qualify from the semifinals since their 2004 introduction (2004–15). In addition, Greece also qualified from the 1996 audio-only pre-qualifying round. In 2015, Greece failed to reach the top-ten for the third time in four years, finishing 19th.

Since 2013, the music channel MAD produces the Greek national final.

Voting

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"Cyprus and Greece are commonly accused of favouring each other and of all the countries, statistics suggest they are the most likely to vote for each other. Wogan seemed to sum it up when Cyprus awarded Greece 12 points in last year's contest. 'Over the years people say this is ludicrous [...] but still they do it. They just don't care.' "

Ruth Alexander, "The maths of Eurovision voting", BBC News[12]

Greece is famous for, especially in recent years, always giving twelve points to Cyprus and always receiving twelve points from Cyprus. This is one of many examples of the bloc voting seen in contest which also occurs between Balkan, Scandinavian, ex-Soviet and Baltic countries. In the case of Greece and Cyprus, the exchange of twelve points is probably because the majority of Cypriot citizens are Greeks thus sharing linguistic ties (speaking Greek) and musical taste. Furthermore, Greece and Cyprus share the same music industry. Due to the controversies caused by political voting, two semi-finals were introduced for the 2008 Contest in which Cyprus and Greece were unable to vote for each other in the semi-finals.[13] In the build-up to the 2008 contest, however, the artists representing Greece and Cyprus jointly held a successful warm-up party at the Euroclub, attended by 17 other delegations from the contest and 1500 guests attracted by the promised "confluence of the Greek-Cypriot sound".[14] However, for the first time ever in 2015 Greece and Cyprus did not give each other 12 points, with Greece giving Cyprus 10 points and Cyprus giving Greece only 8 points, and curiously both countries gave the maximum to Italy.

Popularity of the Contest

Until 2001, Greece was seen as one of the least successful countries in the Contest, and therefore the interest of Greek people in the Contest was relatively low. Since Antique's third place in 2001, the contest has grown into one of the most popular events in Greece with an estimated five million viewers each year. The extremely high expectations of the Greek public has led to seeing the Contest as a "national affair" of very big importance, and this has caused controversy. The Greek viewers expect their singers to qualify from the semi-final to the final and place inside the Top 10, except from one 17th place: in 2012 for the first time since the introduction of the semifinals failed to place in the Top 10 in Baku. In 2013 Greece was again in top 10 finishing 6th. So far Greece has not missed any finals since the introduction of semifinals in 2004.[15] They are also the second most successful country, behind Russia, in the contest between 2000 and 2009, with one win and three third places.

Contestants

The following table lists the thirty-three entries which competed for Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Table key
  Winner
  Second place
  Third place
  Last place
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points
1974 Marinella Greek "Krasi, thalassa kai t'agori mou" (Κρασί, θάλασσα και τ' αγόρι μου) 11 7 No semi-finals
1975 Did not participate
1976 Mariza Koch Greek "Panagia mou, panagia mou" (Παναγιά μου, παναγιά μου) 13 20
1977 Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy Greek "Mathima solfege" (Μάθημα σολφέζ) 5 92
1978 Tania Tsanaklidou Greek "Charlie Chaplin" (Τσάρλυ Τσάπλιν) 8 66
1979 Elpida Greek "Sokratis" (Σωκράτης) 8 69
1980 Anna Vissi & The Epikouri Greek "Autostop" (Ωτοστόπ) 13 30
1981 Yiannis Dimitras Greek "Feggari kalokerino" (Φεγγάρι καλοκαιρινό) 8 55
1982 Themis Adamantidis Greek "Sarantapente kopelies" (Σαρανταπέντε κοπελιές) Disqualified
1983 Kristi Stassinopoulou Greek "Mou les" (Μου λες) 14 32
1984 Did not participate
1985 Takis Biniaris Greek "Moiazoume" (Μοιάζουμε) 16 15
1986 Polina Greek "Wagon-lit" (Βαγκόν-λίτ) Withdrawn
1987 Bang Greek "Stop" (Στοπ) 10 64
1988 Afroditi Frida Greek "Clown" (Κλόουν) 17 10
1989 Mariana Efstratiou Greek "To diko sou asteri" (Το δικό σου αστέρι) 9 56
1990 Christos Callow & Wave Greek "Horis Skopo" (Χωρίς σκοπό) 19 11
1991 Sophia Vossou Greek "I anoixi" (Η ανοιξη) 13 36
1992 Kleopatra Greek "Olou tou kosmou i Elpida" (Όλου του κόσμου η Ελπίδα) 5 94
1993 Katy Garbi Greek "Ellada, chora tou fotos" (Ελλάδα, χώρα του φωτός) 9 64 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994 Kostas Bigalis Greek "To trehandiri" (Το τρεχαντήρι) 14 44 No semi-finals
1995 Elina Konstantopoulou Greek "Poia prosefchi" (Ποια προσευχή) 12 68
1996 Mariana Efstratiou Greek "Emeis forame to himona anoixiatika" (Εμείς φοράμε το χειμώνα ανοιξιάτικα) 14 36 12 45
1997 Marianna Zorba Greek "Horepse" (Χόρεψε) 12 39 No semi-finals
1998 Thalassa Greek "Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία) 20 12
Did not participate between 1999 and 2000
2001 Antique English, Greek "(I Would) Die for You" 3 147
2002 Michalis Rakintzis English "S.A.G.A.P.O." 17 27
2003 Mando English "Never Let You Go" 17 25
2004 Sakis Rouvas English "Shake It" 3 252 3 238
2005 Helena Paparizou English "My Number One" 1 230 Top 12 Previous Year
2006 Anna Vissi English "Everything" 9 128 Host country
2007 Sarbel English "Yassou Maria" (Γεια σου Μαρία) 7 139 Top 10 Previous Year
2008 Kalomira English "Secret Combination" 3 218 1 156
2009 Sakis Rouvas English "This Is Our Night" 7 120 4 110
2010 Giorgos Alkaios & Friends Greek1 "OPA!" (ΩΠΑ!) 8 140 2 133
2011 Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike Greek, English "Watch My Dance" 7 120 1 133
2012 Eleftheria Eleftheriou English "Aphrodisiac" 17 64 4 116
2013 Koza Mostra feat. Agathonas Iakovidis Greek, English "Alcohol Is Free" 6 152 2 121
2014 Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd English "Rise Up" 20 35 7 74
2015 Maria Elena Kyriakou English "One Last Breath" 19 23 6 81
2016

Notes

1.^ Contains one phrase in English.

NOTE: If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.

Voting history

As of 2015, Greece's voting history is as follows:

Hostings

Year Location Venue Presenters
2006 Athens Olympic Indoor Hall Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas

Marcel Bezençon Awards

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Further information: Marcel Bezençon Awards

Press Award

Year Song Performer Final Result Points Host city
2005 "My Number One" Helena Paparizou 1st 230 Kiev

Commentators and spokespersons

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Year(s) Commentator Spokesperson Channel Radio commentator
1971 Mako Georgiadou Greece did not participate EIRT No radio broadcast
1972
1973
1974 TBC
1975 Greece did not participate ERT
1976 TBC
1977 Naki Agathou Dimitris Konstantaras
1978 Irini Gavala
1979
1980
1981 Fotini Giannoulatou
1982 Greece did not participate No radio broadcast
1983 TBC Dimitris Konstantaras
1984 No broadcast Greece did not participate No radio broadcast
1985 Mako Georgiadou TBC Dimitris Konstantaras
1986 Greece did not participate No radio broadcast
1987 Dafni Bokota TBC Dimitris Konstantaras
1988 Fotini Giannoulatou
1989
1990
1991 Giorgos Mitropoulos
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996 Niki Venega
1997
1998 Giorgos Mitropoulos Alexis Kostalas Dimitris Konstantaras
1999 Dafni Bokota Greece did not participate No radio broadcast
2000
2001 Alexis Kostalas Giorgos Mitropoulos
2002
2003
2004 No radio broadcast
2005 Alexandra Pascalidou
2006 Giorgos Kapoutzidis and Zeta Makrypoulia
2007 Maria Bakodimou and Fotis Sergoulopoulos
2008 Maggira Sisters
2009
2010 Rika Vagiani
2011 Maria Kozakou Lena Aroni
2012 Andrianna Maggania
2013 Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
2014 NERIT
2015 Helena Paparizou Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
2016 TBA TBA ERT TBA

NOTE: In 2014, Maria Kozakou was the commendator for all shows (Semi-finals & final). Giorgos Kapoutzidis, was the commendator only for the final, along with Maria Kozakou.

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

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Further information: Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
Table key
  Winner
  Second place
  Third place
  Last place
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points Place (2005) Points (2005)
2005 Helena Paparizou English "My Number One" 4 245 4 167 1 230

Photogallery

  1. ↑ The "Big Five" (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Germany) are not counted in this list since they receive automatic qualification to the final. Neither is Azerbaijan who qualified every year, but debuted in 2008. Also Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine are not counted because they skipped the contests from 2013 to 2015 and in 2015 respectively.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://oikotimes.com/2015/09/22/exclusive-this-is-how-greece-will-decide-for-stockholm/
  2. ↑ Paravantes, Maria. (2005-06-11). Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win. Billboard 117(24), 17-17. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ TV.com - Eurovision 1982
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=1593#Scoreboard
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Eurovision sites

The Greek Eurovision Official profile on Facebook

The Greek Eurovision Official profile on YouTube

The Greek Eurovision Official profile on Twitter

External links

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