Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

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

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

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:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Cyprus 215 2  Spain 137 3  France 126 4  Ireland 99 5  United Kingdom 85 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Cyprus 300 2  Spain 125 3  United Kingdom 120 4  Albania 119 5  Romania 106

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Cyprus 275 2  Albania 148 3  Spain 137 4  France 126 5  Russia 109 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Cyprus 336 2  Albania 193 3  Spain 172 4  Romania 165 5  Germany 148

Hostings

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Press Award

Commentators and spokespersons

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

Table key

Photogallery

• 

  Sakis Rouvas in Istanbul (2004)

• 

  Helena Paparizou receiving her prize after her win in Kiev (2005)

• 

  Sarbel in Helsinki (2007)

• 

  Kalomira in Belgrade (2008)

• 

  Sakis Rouvas in Moscow (2009)

• 

  Giorgos Alkaios and Friends in Bærum (2010)

• 

  Koza Mostra and Agathonas Iakovidis in Malmö (2013)

• 

  Freaky Fortune and Riskykidd in Copenhagen (2014)

• 

  Maria Elena Kyriakou in Vienna (2015)

See also

• Ellinikós Telikós
• Eurosong - A MAD Show

References

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

• Points to and from Greece eurovisioncovers.co.uk

Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 to 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1970s Marinella 1975 Mariza Koch Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy Tania Tsanaklidou Elpida 1980s Anna Vissi Yiannis Dimitras 1982 Kristi Stassinopoulou 1984 Takis Biniaris 1986 Bang Afroditi Frida Mariana Efstratiou 1990s Christos Callow & Wave Sophia Vossou Kleopatra Katerina Garbi Kostas Bigalis Elina Konstantopoulou Mariana Efstratiou Marianna Zorba Thalassa 1999 2000s 2000 Antique Michalis Rakintzis Mando Sakis Rouvas Helena Paparizou Anna Vissi Sarbel Kalomira Sakis Rouvas 2010s Giorgos Alkaios & Friends Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike Eleftheria Eleftheriou Koza Mostra feat. Agathonas Iakovidis Freaky Fortune feat. Riskykidd Maria Elena Kyriakou Argo   Songs 1970s "Krasi, Thalassa Kai T' Agori Mou" 1975 "Panayia Mou, Panayia Mou" "Mathima Solfege" "Charlie Chaplin" "Sokrati" 1980s "Autostop" "Feggari Kalokerino" 1982 "Mou Les" 1984 "Miazoume" 1986 "Stop" "Clown" "To Diko Sou Asteri" 1990s "Horis Skopo" "I Anixi" "Olou Tou Kosmou I Elpida" "Ellada, Chora Tou Fotos" "To Trehandiri" "Pia Prosefhi" "Emeis Forame to Himona Anixiatika" "Horepse" "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" 1999 2000s 2000 "(I Would) Die for You" "S.A.G.A.P.O." "Never Let You Go" "Shake It" "My Number One" "Everything" "Yassou Maria" "Secret Combination" "This Is Our Night" 2010s "OPA" "Watch My Dance" "Aphrodisiac" "Alcohol Is Free" "Rise Up" "One Last Breath" (Note: Entries scored out are when Greece did not compete)