Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country  Greece
National selection
Selection process Internal selection
Selection date(s) Artist: 9 February 2016
Song: 27 February 2016
Selected entrant Argo
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016

Greece will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The song will be performed by the band Argo, which was internally selected by the Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) in February 2016 to represent Greece at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden.

Background

Prior to the 2016 contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-six times since their debut in 1974.[1] The nation has won the contest on one occasion in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Helena Paparizou. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece has managed to thus far qualify to the final with each of their entries. Between 2004 to 2011, the nation achieved eight consecutive top ten placements in the final. To this point, Greece's least successful result in the final was twentieth place, which they achieved in 1998 with the song "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" by Thalassa and in 2014 with the song "Rise Up" by Freaky Fortune and RiskyKidd. In 2015, Greece placed nineteenth in the final with the song "One Last Breath" performed by Maria Elena Kyriakou.

The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), broadcasts the event within Greece and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERT had been in charge of Greece's participation in the contest since their debut in 1974 until 2013 when the broadcaster was shutdown by a government directive and replaced firstly with the interim Dimosia Tileorasi (DT) and then later by the New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) broadcaster.[2][3] Following the victory of the SYRIZA party at the January 2015 Greek legislative election, a draft proposal was initiated to re-instate ERT as the public Greek broadcaster. On 28 April 2015, the draft was approved and signed into law by the Hellenic Parliament, resulting in the renaming of NERIT to ERT; ERT began broadcasting once again on 11 June 2015.[4][5] ERT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 28 August 2015.[6] The Greek broadcaster has used various methods to select the Greek entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. Since 2010, the Greek entry has been selected via a national final that featured a competition among several artists and songs with the votes of an expert jury and a public televote deciding the Greek Eurovision entry.

Before Eurovision

Selection process

On 2 February 2016, the Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) announced that they would be selecting their act and song internally. This was the first time since 2004 that Greece did not use a national final to select their artist and/or song.[7] On 9 February 2016, ERT issued a press release that confirmed the band Argo (formerly known as Europond) as the Greek representatives for the 2016 contest.[8] In regards to the entry, ERT director Dionisis Tsaknis stated: "The song has strong ethnic and Balkan sounds, but not in a traditional way. It's an exciting song in Greek, bringing the country's own identity to the contest. The lyrics will refer to the refugee crisis and the financial difficulties we are facing, but the song is really happy and upbeat."[9]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[10] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Greece was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Greece | Country profile | Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Savaricas, Nathalie (11 July 2013). "Greece's state-run TV service resumes with a blast from the past". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Greece's replacement public broadcaster launched". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Maltezou, Renee (28 April 2015). "In symbolic move, Greece to reopen shuttered state broadcaster". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Greece's state broadcaster ERT back on air after two years". bbc.com. BBC News. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Συμφωνία ΕΡΤ - Forthnet για τα στιγμιότυπα της Super League". enimerosi24.gr (in Greek). Enimerosi24. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Granger, Anthony (2 Feb 2016). "Greece: Song Details Revealed". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix.
  8. ↑ Vranis, Michalis (9 February 2016). "Greece: With Argo to Eurovision!". esctoday.com. ESCToday.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Xifaras, Billy (2 February 2016). "Greece: song details revealed - a Balkan-ethnic entry". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

External links

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