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
◄2006 • 2007 • 2008►

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:

National Final - February 28, 2007
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 at Eurovision 2007 Final in Helsinki, Finland

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 to Greece(Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
  •  Bulgaria
  •  Cyprus
  •  Germany
  •  Romania
  •  United Kingdom
  •  Armenia
  •  Belgium
  •  Albania
  •  Hungary
  •  Moldova
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Iceland
  •  Netherlands
  •  Georgia
  •  Serbia
  •  Sweden
  •   Switzerland
  •  Turkey
  •  Belarus
  •  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  •  Czech Republic
  •  France
  •  Macedonia
  •  Spain
  •  Denmark
  •  Israel

Points Awarded by Greece

Semi final

12 points Cyprus
10 points Bulgaria
8 points Albania
7 points Belarus
6 points Georgia
5 points Serbia
4 points Andorra
3 points Moldova
2 points  Switzerland
1 point Latvia

Final

12 points Bulgaria
10 points Moldova
8 points Russia
7 points Ukraine
6 points Armenia
5 points Belarus
4 points Serbia
3 points Georgia
2 points Romania
1 point Spain

See also

References

  1. "Information on the National Selection and singers". ERT (English)
  2. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". www.eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  3. "Eurovision win for Greek singer". news.bbc.co.uk. 2005-05-21. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  4. Klier, Marcus (2009-03-30). "Introducing the 2009 entries: Greece". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  5. "History by Country: Greece". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  6. Paravantes, Maria. (2005-06-11). Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win. Billboard 117(24), 17-17. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
  7. Aziz Night Show. TV2. Airdate: 8 April 2009
  8. "Greece: Hosts decided". ESCToday. 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  9. "Information on guests at the National Selection". Oikotimes (English)
  10. "Information on Elena Paparizou and Sakis Rouvas being involved in the National Final". Oikotimes (English)
  11. "Information on the broadcast". Oikotimes (English)
  12. 1 2 3 Floras, Stella (2007-03-25). "The Greek finalists speak to esctoday!". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  13. "Information on Tamta's song from Oikotimes". Oikotimes.
  14. "Stop the press! H Madonna είναι και στη...eurovision!" (in Greek). MAD TV. 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  15. "Information on the style of Christos Dantis' song". Oikotimes (Greek)
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