Secret Combination (song)

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“Secret Combination”
“Secret Combination” cover
Single by Kalomoira
from the album Secret Combination
Released Flag of Greece 6 February 2008 (2008-02-06)
(see release history)
Format Radio Single,
Digital download,
CD single
Recorded 2007-2008
Genre Europop, R&B
Length 3:00
Label Heaven Music
Writer(s) Poseidonas Giannopoulos, Konstadinos Pantzis
Kalomoira singles chronology
"Gine Mazi Mou Paidi"
(2006)		 "Secret Combination"
(2008)
Alternate cover
Promo cover
Promo cover
Audio sample
Info "Secret Combination" (help·info)
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 entry
Country Greece
Artist(s) Kalomoira
Language English
Composer(s) Konstantinos Pantzis
Lyricist(s) Poseidonas Giannopoulos
Place 3rd
Points 218
Place in Semifinal 1st
Lyrics Lyrics

◄ Yassou Maria (2007)   

"Secret Combination" is a song and CD single by Greek singer Kalomoira. It was Greece's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and the first single released from Kalomoira's fourth studio album titled Secret Combination the Album. It earned third place in the Eurovision final, finishing behind Russia and Ukraine, despite leading early in the final vote.

Contents

[edit] About

It was officially released to the media and radios by ERT on February 6, 2008.[1] The song was Kalomoira's entry in a three way race to be Greece's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. She battled both Chrispa and Kostas Martakis for the spot. The final decision was made on February 27, 2008 - Kalomoira won, and after competing in the semi-final on 20 May 2008 she represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest final on 24 May in Belgrade, Serbia. Her song was performed 21st out of 25. Her and Kostas Martakis's songs were leaked onto the internet on February 3, three days before the official release, although the leaked versions were uncompleted demos.[2] The song was released as a digital download on February 12, 2008 and a CD single on March 28, 2008.[3] Kalomoira has stated that she plans to record a Greek language version of "Secret Combination" after the contest.[4]

[edit] Eurovision

[edit] National Final

Kalomoira singing at the Greek National final
Kalomoira singing at the Greek National final

Kalomoira appeared on stage in a short J-Lo dress,[5] accompanied by 4 male back up dancers. At the start of the show, the 4 dancers hold her up on top of themselves, while she is laying down. Later she comes down, and starts dancing with them. Each of the dancers has a letter painted under their undershirts and at the end of the song, they stand next to each other spelling the word "love". Kalomoira won the National Final with 167,000 votes and for the first time in number of years, the media didn't doubt the result of the selection.[6]

[edit] Semi-final

Kalomoira singing at the Eurovision Semi-final
Kalomoira singing at the Eurovision Semi-final

Kalomoira was scheduled to presented "Secret Combination" 19th (last) in the first semi-final on May 20, 2008. Konstantinos Pantzis, the composer, announced that there would be a few tweaks to the song for its appearance at Eurovision.[7] The changes included a new beat to the introduction and a few changes to the chorus. ERT announced that this new version would be presented to the European Broadcasting Union as the official version of the song.[8]

Kalomoira performed 19th, the last act of the night. The stage show included new choreography, as well as Victoria Halkiti and Nektarios Georgiadis as backing vocalists.[9]There was also a large book on stage that Kalomoira stepped out of when singing the lyrics "an open book". At the same moment, Kalomira changed her outfit converting it from a pink dress into a mini-silver skirt. She wore clothes exclusively by J-Lo and managed to finish first receiving 156 points.

[edit] Final

Kalomoira performed a repeat of her semi-final performance at the Eurovision Final held on May 24, 2008. She presented "Secret Combination" 21st on the night after Azerbaijan and before Spain. Having led initially in the voting, Kalomoira finished in third place behind Russia and Ukraine, receiving 218 points. The song received 12 points from United Kingdom, Germany, Albania, San Marino, Cyprus and Romania. On the other hand, Latvia, Iceland, Portugal, Finland, Norway and Lithuania were the only countries that did not vote it in their top ten, thereby giving it no points. The British LGR radio station commented "Visually, the presentation was quite addictively enticing, with a stunningly gorgeous Kalomoira, her singing/dance capabilities and her three acrobatic male dancers. The purple-heart gimmick carved out of the giant, life-sized book, proving ingenious".[10]

[edit] Music video

Kalomoira Secret Combination video
Kalomoira Secret Combination video

The shooting lasted nearly twenty consecutive hours, and it was exhausting for Kalomoira and for the team that worked under the guidance of director Costas Kapetanidi.[11] The director decided to focus on the face of the young performer and so chose to do the shoot in a studio and not outdoors. Sometimes alone, sometimes flanked by dancers, Kalomoira danced and sang while wearing clothes selected from the collection of J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez.[5][11] In some scenes of the video, impressive objects with bright colors such as a red Ducati motor bike, a huge disco ball, and big letters with the title of the song were used.[12] The choreography was by Svitailof Ivan and the styling was George Segredaki and Constantine Koutsomichou while the hair and make-up were overseen by Dimitris Giannetos.[11] Through the video clip, Kalomoira reveals another side of: sexy, feminine, charming but always innocent and sweet in a quick clip of the montage. In the video edition, the song has changed a lot. On March 14, 2008, NET exclusively aired the official Eurovision video clip of Secret combination during their evening news at 20:00 CET.[13] International fans were able to watch through a satellite broadcast on ERT World.[13] Critical reaction to the song was mostly positive.[11]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Secret Combination" (Eurovision 2008 Mix) - 3:00
  2. "Secret Combination" (Mystic Soumka Mix) - 4:06
  3. "Secret Combination" (Electropop Mix) - 3:33
  4. "Secret Combination" (Backing Track Mix) - 3:00

[edit] Release history

Region Date Label Format
Greece February 6, 2008 Heaven Radio Single
February 12, 2008 Heaven Digital download
March 28, 2008 Heaven CD Single
Worldwide (iTunes) February 26, 2008 Heaven Digital download

[edit] Reception

Critical reaction to the song was mostly positive, with the entertainment reporter from BBC News Michael Osborn describing it as "a perky pop song with a definite Greek flavour."[14] The British LGR radio station described the song as a "infectiously catchy, ethno R&B song" and it stayed 6 weeks in radio's Top 20 Chart.[15]

[edit] Chart performance

The popularity of the single leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest, and the positive critical reception received, ensured the commercial success of "Secret Combination" as a CD and radio single in Greece and Cyprus. The song topped the Greek Singles Chart and Digital Singles Chart for two weeks, before being knocked-off by Madonna’s and Justin Timberlake’s "4 Minutes" to second place. Furthermore, due to relentlessly strong airplay, both on the radio and of its promotional video, the single topped the Airplay Charts in Greece and Cyprus as well as the Greek and Cypriot music television network MAD TV’s video chart. The song is, as of June 12, 2008, number 3 in the Greek Singles Chart.

Elsewhere, "Secret Combination" was released solely as a digital download from February 26, 2008 , where the song became fairly successful in Europe considering it was never released physically nor to radio stations. On iTunes, it topped the Greek Songs Top 100 Chart on 24 May and, following the Eurovision Song Contest, it appeared in all EU Top 100 World Songs Charts, peaking at #1 in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. It also peaked at #2 in Austria, Germany and Luxembourg, at #4 in Denmark, and at #6 in France. Moreover, the "Electropop Mix" also charted in the Swedish Top 100 World Songs Charts at #2. Outside Europe, the song also managed to chart in the Australian and Canadian iTunes Top 100 World Songs Charts at #2 and #7 respectively.

On national charts, "Secret Combination" peaked in the Finish Download Chart at #29 and entered many European singles charts, despite not having a physical release in those countries, thus charting on downloads alone. On 29 May, 2008 the song debuted at #50 in the Swedish Top 60 Chart and peaked at #38 the following week. Additionally, on 30 May, 2008 the song debuted at #29 on the Danish Singles Top 40 and in the Irish Singles Chart at #46. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted on the midweek chart at #33 but by 2 June, 2008 had reached #71 in the week-end chart. Elsewhere in Europe, the song peaked at #3 in the Adria region (comprised of former Yugoslav countries), according to MTV Adria, as well as peaking at #18 in Turkey’s Billboard Top 20 Chart, at #19 in the Belgian Ultratip Chart (specifically, in Flanders), and at #67 in the European Official Top 100 - all positions attained via downloads from iTunes alone.

[edit] Charts and certifications

Chart (2008) Peak
position
MAD TV Top 50 Chart[16] 1
Adria Top 20 Chart[17] 3
Belgian (Flanders) Ultratip Chart[18] 18
Canadian Mediabase Top 40 Chart[19] 331
Cypriot Airplay Chart[20] 1
Danish Singles Chart[21] 29
European Official Top 100[22] 67
Finnish Digital Singles Chart[23] 29
Greek Singles Chart[24] 1
(2 weeks)
Greek Airplay Chart[25] 1
Greek Digital Singles Chart[26] 1
(2 weeks)
Irish Singles Chart[27] 46
Lithuanian Airplay Chart[28] 41
Swedish Singles Chart[29] 38
Swedish Digital Singles Chart[30] 29
Turkey Billboard Top 20 Singles[31] 18
UK Singles Chart[32] 71

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ ERT announces date and venue for national final. Oikotimes. Retrieved on January 23, 2008
  2. ^ Two national final songs leaked on the web. Oikotimes. Retrieved on February 11, 2008
  3. ^ Η ΚΑΛΟΜΟΙΡΑ ΕΚΠΡΟΣΩΠΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ ΣΤΗ EUROVISIOΝ 2008.(Greek) Heaven Music. Retrieved on March 28, 2008.
  4. ^ Greece: OGAE Serbia welcomes Kalomira.(Greek) ESCToday. Retrieved on April 22, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Kalomira (NF, 2008) in New York for J LO clothes. Oikotimes. Retrieved on March 22, 2008
  6. ^ High TV rates in Greece, poor televoting figures. Oikotimes. Retrieved on March 18, 2008
  7. ^ Η νέα έκδοση του Secret combination.(Greek) Eurovision-Greece. Retrieved on March 21, 2008.
  8. ^ Greece: Eurovision Version of Secret Combination.(Greek) ESCToday. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
  9. ^ Kalomoira hails 3rd in EUROVISION! Well done to Greece!. London Greek Radio. Retrieved on May 26, 2008.
  10. ^ "'Secret Combination' storms into UK TOP 40", London Greek Radio, 28 May 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 
  11. ^ a b c d Έτοιμο το videoclip!.(Greek) Eurovision-Greece. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  12. ^ Greece 2008: Kalomoira - Secret Combination.(Greek) ESCToday. Retrieved on March 22, 2008.
  13. ^ a b Official Eurovision video aired tonight. ESCToday. Retrieved on March 23, 2008
  14. ^ "Eurovision vote 2008: Top 10", BBC News, 25 May 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 
  15. ^ "'Secret Combination' storms into UK TOP 40", London Greek Radio, 28 May 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. 
  16. ^ MAD TV Top
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ 30 ULTRATIP
  19. ^ Canada - Top 40
  20. ^ Cypriot Airplay Charts
  21. ^ Danish Top 40
  22. ^ Secret Combination top40-charts.com
  23. ^ Kalomira Latauslista Official Finnish Download Chart
  24. ^ Greek Top 50 Singles IFPI. Retrieved on May 11, 2008.
  25. ^ Euro 200 Current European Union Charts Nationwide
  26. ^ Billboard.com
  27. ^ Irish Top 50
  28. ^ http://www.blogas.lt/hitfm/205871/lithuania-airplay-chart.html
  29. ^ Sweden Top 60 Singles
  30. ^ Sweden Top 60 Digital Singles
  31. ^ Billboard Türkiye Top 20 Accessed April 12, 2008
  32. ^ UK Charts
v • d • e
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Songs
Final
(by final results)
1. "Believe"  · 2. "Shady Lady"  · 3. "Secret Combination"  · 4. "Qele Qele"  · 5. "Hold On Be Strong"  · 6. "Oro"  · 7. "Deli"  · 8. "Day After Day"  · 9. "The Fire in Your Eyes"  · 10. "Pokušaj"  · 11. "Peace Will Come"  · 12. "Wolves of the Sea"  · 13. "Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas)"  · 14. "This Is My Life"  · 15. "All Night Long"  · 16. "Baila el Chiki Chiki"  · 17. "Zemrën E Lamë Peng"  · 18. "Hero"  · 19. "Divine"  · 20. "Pe-o margine de lume"  · 21. "Romanca"  · 22. "Missä miehet ratsastaa"  · 23. "Disappear"  · 24. "For Life"  · 25. "Even If"
Semi-final only
(did not qualify
for the final)
Languages