Yassou Maria

Yassou Maria (Greek: Γειά σου Μαρία) is a song recorded by Greek-British singer Sarbel. The song was written by Alex Papakonstantinou, Marcus Englöf and "Mack". It is best known as the Greek entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, held in Helsinki.

"Yassou Maria"
International cover
Single by Sarbel
from the album Sahara: Euro Edition
ReleasedMarch 7, 2007
Recorded2007
GenreLaïko, dance-pop
Length12:55
LabelSony BMG Greece/Columbia
Producer(s)Alex Papaconstantinou and Marcus Englöf
Sarbel singles chronology
"Se Pira Sovara"
(2004)		 "Yassou Maria"
(2007)
Alternate covers
Greek cover
Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Markus Sepehrmanesh
Finals performance
Final result
7th [1]
Final points
139
Entry chronology
◄ "Everything" (2006)   
"Secret Combination" (2008) ►

It was released as a CD single on March 7, 2007 by Sony BMG Greece. Yassou Maria went gold in Greece on the June 7, 2007.[2]

Before Eurovision

Before Eurovision, ERT put together a national final to pick the song and singer to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. They picked Sarbel, Tamta, and Christos Dantis.

Sarbel enlisted the help of popular Swedish-Greek composer Alex Papakonstantinou who is responsible for big hits by Elena Paparizou.

At the national final, Sarbel was accompanied on stage by four female dancers, with blue lights and fire in the background. He wore black leather pants and a silver shirt. The choreography was complex which led with some problems with his microphone.

The public chose the song as the winner voting 44.45% while the Jury also appointed him the winner giving him 17.46%. All together, he got an average of 39.69% votes.

By order performed:

National Final - February 28, 2007
№SingerSongComposer - LyricistTelevoting - SMS (50%)Jury (50%)TotalPlace
1Sarbel"Yassou Maria"Alex Papaconstantinou, Marcus Englof & Mack44.45%17.46%39.69%1
2Tamta"With Love"Nikos Terzis & Posidonas Giannopoulos23.60%17.22%29.02%3
3Christos Dantis"No Madonna"Christos Dantis & Natalia Germanou31.95%15.31%31.29%2

The CD single was released on March 7, 2007 in Greece and Cyprus by Sony BMG Greece. It includes a duet by Swedish singer Cameron, as well as a remixed song and a Greeklish Version of Yassou Maria. It reached the top position in both countries, being certified gold in Greece.

Visits

He has visited Istanbul and Sweden. In Istanbul, he visited the markets with huge success of commercial for his song. In Sweden he came bringing with him T-shirts, hats and Cd's for the Greek immigrants in Sweden. He has performed in a famous Swedish bar, and has been shown around Stockholm.

At Eurovision

The song and singer chosen competed in the Eurovision Final in Helsinki, Finland on May 12, 2007. Greece were 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 ribbons attached to the girls' skirts during the end bridge, with Sarbel 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, 1 point ahead of Armenia and 6 points behind Belarus


Track listing
  1. "Yassou Maria"
  2. "Mi Chica" (Greek/English/Spanish mix version) - [Duet with Persian singer Cameron]
  3. "Yassou Maria" (Greeklish Version)
  4. "Enas Apo Mas" (Anyone of Us-A Stupid Mistake) [Holiday Mix by Dimitris Kontopoulos]

Charts
Chart (2007) Peak
position		 Certification
UK Singles Chart[3] 74
Greek Singles Chart (IFPI) 1 Gold
Cyprus Airplay Chart 1

References
  1. "Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Final Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union (eurovision.tv). 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  2. Eurovision Song Contest Serbia 2008 | News - Greece:"Yassou Maria" goes gold
  3. UK Singles Chart
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