Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Greece, in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, selected the song "Opa" sung by Giorgos Alkaios & Friends as their entry, by a national selection on 12 March 2010.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country Greece
National selection
Selection processEllinikós Telikós 2010
Selection date(s)12 March 2010
Selected entrantGiorgos Alkaios & Friends
Selected song"OPA"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 133 points)
Final result8th, 140 points
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Background
Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2010 Contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty times since its first entry in 1974,[1] winning it in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou,[2] and having placed third three times: in 2001 with the song "Die for You" performed by the duo Antique; in 2004 with "Shake It" performed by Sakis Rouvas; and the 2008 entry "Secret Combination" performed by Kalomoira. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece has had a top ten placing each year. The least successful result was in 1998 when with the song "Mia Krifi Evesthisia" by Thalassa placing twentieth, receiving only twelve points in total, all from Cyprus.[3]

The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), is in charge of Greece's participation each year, including the selection process for its entry.[4][5] Although its selection techniques have varied over the decades, the most common has been a national final in which various acts compete against each other with pre-selected songs, voted on by a jury, televoters, or both. In most cases, internal selections have been reserved for high-profile acts, with the song either being selected internally or with multiple songs —by one or multiple composers— performed by the artist during a televised final. A departure from this method was a reality television talent competition format inspired by the Idol series that ran for many months in 2004, ultimately being scrapped.[6] The notability of the participants has also varied, from previously unsigned acts to established music superstars. Since the 2010s ERT has used national finals with generally less-established acts.

Before Eurovision

Ellinikós Telikós 2010

Ellinikós Telikós 2010 was the Greek national final developed by ERT to select the Greek entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The competition took place on 12 March 2010 at the Alpha TV Studio in Athens, hosted by Rika Vaggiani and Jenny Balatsinou and artistically headed by Fokas Evangelinos.[5][7] The show was televised on NET, ERT World, in Cyprus via the channel RIK 1 as well as online via the ERT website ert.gr and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[8]

Competing entries

After requesting proposals from record labels, ten artists, all newcomers to the Greek music scene, were selected by ERT to participate in the national final. The ten acts were announced on 18 December 2009.[9][10] On 12 January 2010, Despina Ricci announced her withdrawal due to prior commitments.[11] On 9 February 2010, Katerine Avgoustakis was disqualified as her song "Enjoy the Day" had been made available on YouTube on 5 November 2009, a violation of ERT's rules which stated that a competing song can only be made available after 5 March 2010.[12][13][14][15] On 25 February 2010, Eleftheria Eleftheriou was disqualified as her song "Tables Are Turning" had been leaked to the internet before 5 March 2010.[16][17] The remaining seven competing songs were made available by ERT website on 26 February 2010, while their accompanying music videos were presented on 5 March 2010 during a special program, hosted by Dimitra Agkriotou and Despina Fagkra and televised on NET and ERT World.[18][19][20]

Artist LabelSong Songwriter(s)
Christos Hatzinasios Symphony Records "Illusion" Christos Hatzinasios, Panos Nikolakopoulos, Gale Petrou
Despina Ricci Minos EMI N/A N/A
Eleftheria Eleftheriou Sony Music Greece "Tables Are Turning" Leonidas Chantzaras, Patric Sarin, Ali Tennant
Émigré Universal Music Greece "Touch Me Deep Inside" Yannis Chaniotaki, Nektarios Tyrakis
Giorgos Alkaios & Friends Friends Music Factory "OPA" Giorgos Alkaios, Giannis Antoniou, Friends
Giorgos Karadimos Universal Music Greece "Polemao" Giorgos Karadimos, Vasilis Gavriilides
Katerine Avgoustakis Minos EMI "Enjoy the Day" Katerine Avgoustakis, Yves Gaillard
Manos Pyrovolakis feat. Eleni Foureira & Don't Ask Universal Music Greece "Kivotos tou Noe" Manos Pyrovolakis, Yannis Stigka
Melisses Universal Music Greece "Kinezos" Melisses
Sunny Baltzi & Second Skin Minos EMI "Game of Life" Sunny Baltzi

Final

The final was scheduled to take place on 10 February 2010, however it was later changed to 12 March 2010.[11] Seven songs competed and the winner, "OPA" performed by Giorgos Alkaios & Friends, was selected by a 50/50 combination of public voting and jury voting.[5] The jury consisted of Mimis Plessas (composer and conductor), Antonis Andrikakis (lyricist and General Manager of ERT Radio), Andreas Pylarinos (conductor), Christiana Stamatelou (journalist) and Poseidonas Yiannopoulos (producer and songwriter). Public voting was conducted through telephone or SMS.[21] As there was a tie for the first place, the results of the public vote took precedence and led to the victory of Giorgos Alkaios & Friends.[22]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured guest performances by 2010 Bulgarian Eurovision entrant Miroslav Kostadinov and 2010 Cypriot Eurovision entrants Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders. Katerine Avgoustakis was also present at the show, performing a piano ballad version of "Treat Me Like Lady" and "Enjoy the Day".

Final – 12 March 2010
DrawArtistSongJuryTelevote TotalPlace
1 Christos Hatzinasios "Illusion" — — — —
2 Sunny Baltzi & Second Skin "Game of Life" — — — —
3 Manos Pyrovolakis feat. Eleni Foureira & Don't Ask "Kivotos tou Noe" 10 10 20 2
4 Giorgos Alkaios & Friends "OPA" 8 12 20 1
5 Giorgos Karadimos "Polemao" 12 8 20 3
6 Melisses "Kinezos" — — — —
7 Katerine Avgoustakis "Enjoy the Day" — — — —
7 Émigré "Touch Me Deep Inside" — — — —
8 Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Tables Are Turning" — — — —

Promotion

Due to financial constraints facing ERT, the winning entry had a limited budget compared to past years, with ERT only paying for the music video and a very limited promotional tour.[9]

At Eurovision
Alkaios attending an event for the contest in Oslo.

Greece competed in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest on 25 May.[23] It qualified for the final, and came 8th with 140 points.

Split Results
  • In the Semi-final 1 Greece came 2nd with 133 points: the public awarded Greece 1st place with 151 points and the jury awarded 3rd place with 99 points.
  • In the Final Greece came 8th with 140 points: the public awarded Greece 7th place with 152 points and the jury awarded 11th place with 110 points.

Points Awarded by Greece[24]
Points Awarded to Greece (Semi-Final 1)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Macedonia
Points Awarded to Greece (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

See also

References
  1. Staff. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – Year page – Eurovision Song Contest - Moscow 2009". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  2. Staff (21 May 2005). "Eurovision win for Greek singer". BBC Online. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  3. Staff. "History by Country: Greece". EBU. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  4. Paravantes, Maria. (11 June 2005). Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win. Billboard 117(24), 17-17. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  5. Staff (18 December 2009). "Eurovision 2010: Οι 10 ελληνικές υποψηφιότητες" (in Greek). ERT. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  6. van Gorp, Edwin (15 March 2004). "Sakis Rouvas will represent Greece". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  7. Floras, Stella (22 January 2010). "Greece: National final on 12th March". ESC Today. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  8. Klier, Marcus (12 March 2010). "Tonight: National final in Greece". Esctoday.
  9. Floras, Stella (18 December 2009). "Greece announces 2010 Eurovision hopefuls". ESC Today. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  10. Escudero, Victor (18 December 2009). "Greece: the 10 participants revealed". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  11. Floras, Stella (12 January 2010). "Greece: Despina Ricci withdraws from Greek final". ESC Today. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  12. Siim, Jarmo (9 February 2010). "Greece: They compete to follow Sakis". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  13. Floras, Stella (8 February 2010). "Greece: Katerine Avgoustakis' song leaked?". ESC Today. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  14. Staff (8 February 2010). "Archived copy" Τα τραγούδια του ελληνικού τελικού- Ακυρώθηκε ένα (in Greek). ERT. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. Floras, Stella (9 February 2010). "Greece: Katerine Avgoustakis disqualified". ESC Today. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  16. Staff (25 February 2010). Εκτός ελληνικού τελικού το τραγούδι της Ελευθερίας Ελευθερίου (in Greek). ERT. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  17. Floras, Stella (25 February 2010). "Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou disqualified". ESC Today. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  18. Floras, Stella (26 February 2010). "Greece: Final songs online ahead of schedule". ESC Today. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  19. Staff (26 February 2010). "Archived copy" Η επίσημη παρουσίαση των ελληνικών συμμετοχών (in Greek). ERT. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. Floras, Stella (5 March 2010). "Greece: Official song presentation tonight". ESC Today. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  21. Staff (12 March 2010). "Και το τραγούδι είναι το... "OPA"!" (in Greek). ERT. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  22. Al Kaziri, Ghassan (15 March 2010). "60,000 votes cast; three songs tied". Oikotimes.coom. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  23. Klier, Marcus (7 February 2010). "Semi final allocation for Oslo determined". ESC Today. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  24. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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