Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007
| Eurovision Song Contest 2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Greece | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process |
National Final 50% Tele-Voting/SMS 50% Judging panel | |||
| Selection date(s) | February 28, 2007 | |||
| Selected entrant | Sarbel | |||
| Selected song | "Yassou Maria" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 7th, 139 points | |||
| Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Greece and Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) chose to hold a national final this year after efforts to find a big name artist for an internal selection failed. The artists involved were Sarbel, Christos Dantis, and Tamta. The national final took place February 28, 2007, and was called "Eurovision 2007". Each artist choose a song, and performed it in their own way. The winner was Sarbel with the song "Yassou Maria" which was chosen via 50% Tele-voting/SMS Messaging and 50% internal jury.[1]
Background
Prior to the 2007 Contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-seven times since its first entry in 1974,[2] winning in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou,[3] and being placed third twice: in 2001 with the song "Die for You" performed by the duo Antique and in 2004 with "Shake It" performed by Sakis Rouvas. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece has had a top ten placing each year.[4] Greece's least successful result was in 1998 when it placed twentieth with the song "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" by Thalassa, receiving only twelve points in total, all from Cyprus.[5]
The Greek national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) broadcasts the event in Greece each year and organizes the selection process for its entry.[6] From 2004 to 2006, ERT had selected high-profile artists internally and set up national finals to choose the song, while for 2007 it held a televised national final to choose both the song and performer. As every other year since his first participation in the 2004 contest, ERT asked Sakis Rouvas to represent Greece but he did not accept.[7]
National final
The national final took place on February 28, 2007 at the Athinon Arena, at 9:00 PM CET with hosts Fotis Sergoulopoulos and Maria Bakodimou.[8] The artists involved in the national final were Sarbel, Christos Dantis, and Tamta. The winner was chosen via 50% Tele-voting/SMS Messaging and 50% internal jury. Similar to the previous year's show, there was also entertainment in the show. Some of the international guests included Swiss participant DJ Bobo, Cypriot participants Evridiki and Dimitris Korgialas, Belarus participant Dmitry Koldun, and Bulgarian participants Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov.[9] Greek entertainment included Natasa Theodoridou, Michalis Hatzigiannis, and Despina Olympiou. Elena Paparizou and Sakis Rouvas were also guest at the show but did not sing.[10] The hosts also provided comedy skits, an award show to past entries, and information on past acts. It was broadcast live by ERT, ERT World, and a webcast via their site www.ERT.gr. It was also broadcast live by 8 other countries.[11] The winner of the selection was Sarbel with the song "Yassou Maria".
The songs
Sarbel
Sarbel chose to sing the song "Yassou Maria" with lyrics by Mack and composed by popular Greek-Swedish composer team Alex Papaconstantinou and Marcus Englof who had previously written music for 2005 winner Elena Paparizou. Sarbel described the song as "a whole new style within itself" because of its Pop, Latin, and touch of ethnic Greek sounds.[12] Sarbel was accompanied on stage by four female dancers. He wore black leather pants, and a silver shirt. There were blue lights and fire in the background. The choreography was complex which led to some problems with his microphone.
Tamta
Tamta chose to sing the ballad "With Love" composed by Eurovision veteran Nikos Terzis.[13] Lyrics were by Posidonas Giannopoulos. The ballad included ethnic Balkan sounds in addition to the main melody and a part of the song was in Greek.[12] Tamta went on stage with 2 male dancers and had a stage act with pyrotechnics. She wore a white dress with while glove and a white hood. The background was orange-yellow. The male dancers used red ribbon-flags on stage. The video wall in the background showed the words "love" and "happiness" in different languages. The song had a microphone glitch in it mid-way when one of the dancers stepped on a wire.
Christos Dantis
Christos Dantis chose "No Madonna", a song composed by himself with lyrics by Natalia Germanou.[14] Together in 2005, they also composed the winning Eurovision song "My Number One" for Elena Paparizou. The song was rock-dance with an ethnic Greek twist.[12][15] Christos Dantis was accompanied by 5 female dancers with blond wigs made to resemble Madonna. The stage show included a fog machine and the songs lyrics written on the video wall talking to the audience. He wore a black suite on stage, then later a shiny black jacket. The female dancers mid-way in the song removed their skirts. The song also had a microphone glitch in it.
Result of National Final
By order performed:
| № | Singer | Song | Composer - Lyricist | Televoting - SMS (50%) | Jury (50%) | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarbel | "Yassou Maria" | Alex Papaconstantinou, Marcus Englof & Mack | 44.45% | 17.46% | 39.69% | 1 |
| 2 | Tamta | "With Love" | Nikos Terzis & Posidonas Giannopoulos | 23.60% | 17.22% | 29.02% | 3 |
| 3 | Christos Dantis | "No Madonna" | Christos Dantis & Natalia Germanou | 31.95% | 15.31% | 31.29% | 2 |
At Eurovision
Sarbel competed with Yassou Maria in the Eurovision Final in Helsinki, Finland on May 12, 2007. Greece was not required to sing in the semi-final as Anna Vissi, Greece's entry at the 2006 contest, reached ninth place.
During a draw, Greece was assigned a running order of 10 in the contest. Sarbel appeared after 4 ballads, and before 1 disco song. He went on stage with 4 girls with short dresses. They used the same dance routine as the Greek National Final, but with minor changes. Those changes included the end part, which used ribons attached to the girls skirts during the end bridge, with Sarbel acting as sort of a puppeteer. Later the ribbons were used to make a heart around Sarbel and the girls at the very end.
Greece's entry for the 2007 contest finished in 7th place with 139 points, 1 point ahead of Armenia and 6 points behind Belarus.
Points Awarded to Greece
Points Awarded by Greece
See alsoReferences
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