Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Prior to the 2014 contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-four times since its first entry in 1974,[2] winning it in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou,[3] 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 in 2008 with "Secret Combination" performed by Kalomoira. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece has had a top ten placing each year (except on 2012). Its 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.[4]

The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), was in charge of Greece's participation each year, including the selection process for its entry.[5][6] 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. One of the more unusual methods was a reality television talent competition format inspired by the Idol series that ran for many months in 2004, ultimately being scrapped. 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.

In August 2013, the Greek government shut down the radio and TV services of the state broadcaster ERT, leaving Greece's future contest participation in question.[7] The event supervisor of the Contest said regarding Greece's participation: "EBU will do its best to have Greece on board, given the fact of the special occasion". It was also said that the Greek government has to form the new broadcaster, NERIT, so it would be eligible to participate.[8] On 5 November 2013, NERIT confirmed the participation of the country.[9]

Freaky Fortune and Riskykidd at the second semi-final dress rehearsal

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Greece was drawn to compete in the second half of the second semi-final on 8 May 2014. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Greece would perform 13th, following Switzerland and preceding Slovenia. Greece qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final on 10 May 2014.[16] During the winner's press conference for the second semi-final qualifiers, Greece was allocated to compete in the first half of the final. The result was the 20th place for the Greek delegation, which equalled their worst placing in the history of the country in the Contest.[17]

Points awarded by Greece

Semi-final 2 Points awarded in second semi-final: 12 points  Austria 10 points  Romania 8 points  Belarus 7 points  Norway 6 points  Israel 5 points   Switzerland 4 points  Finland 3 points  Poland 2 points  Ireland 1 point  Georgia

Final Points awarded in the final: 12 points  Austria 10 points  Russia 8 points  Netherlands 7 points  Armenia 6 points  Hungary 5 points  Ukraine 4 points   Switzerland 3 points  Norway 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Poland

Semi-final 2

The Greek votes in the second semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[19]

Semi-final 2 – Greek Results
Draw	Country	V. Apergis	K. Pantzoglou	R. Papadea	A. Makris	M. Sinatsaki	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Malta	7	7	9	5	10	7	12	11
02	Israel	9	2	1	2	7	3	9	5	6
03	Norway	4	1	3	1	1	1	10	4	7
04	Georgia	13	8	13	8	8	12	4	10	1
05	Poland	14	14	10	3	3	9	6	8	3
06	Austria	1	4	6	6	2	2	1	1	12
07	Lithuania	8	13	12	12	14	13	13	14
08	Finland	3	3	5	11	12	6	8	7	4
09	Ireland	5	11	7	4	11	8	7	9	2
10	Belarus	10	6	4	7	4	4	5	3	8
11	Macedonia	2	10	14	13	6	11	14	13
12	Switzerland	12	9	8	10	5	10	3	6	5
13	Greece
14	Slovenia	11	12	11	14	13	14	11	12
15	Romania	6	5	2	9	9	5	2	2	10

Final

The Greek votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[20]

Final – Greek Results
Draw	Country	V. Apergis	K. Pantzoglou	R. Papadea	A. Makris	M. Sinatsaki	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Ukraine	16	3	5	4	5	5	10	6	5
02	Belarus	7	16	8	10	8	10	12	11
03	Azerbaijan	13	9	6	6	9	6	25	17
04	Iceland	4	10	7	14	22	11	20	15
05	Norway	9	6	3	2	1	4	14	8	3
06	Romania	21	14	18	24	13	18	9	13
07	Armenia	17	13	15	8	6	12	1	4	7
08	Montenegro	14	23	24	13	24	21	21	24
09	Poland	25	15	23	15	7	17	5	10	1
10	Greece
11	Austria	1	2	4	5	3	1	2	1	12
12	Germany	11	19	20	12	18	16	24	22
13	Sweden	19	8	16	17	10	14	6	9	2
14	France	22	17	19	16	19	20	19	21
15	Russia	10	5	2	1	2	3	3	2	10
16	Italy	23	25	22	22	21	25	17	23
17	Slovenia	20	24	17	23	15	22	23	25
18	Finland	2	7	9	11	16	7	16	12
19	Spain	24	20	21	18	23	23	11	18
20	Switzerland	6	12	13	19	14	13	4	7	4
21	Hungary	5	1	11	20	11	8	7	5	6
22	Malta	8	11	10	7	12	9	22	16
23	Denmark	15	22	12	25	17	19	18	19
24	Netherlands	3	4	1	3	4	2	8	3	8
25	San Marino	18	21	25	21	25	24	15	20
26	United Kingdom	12	18	14	9	20	15	13	14

• Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2014