Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Greece and Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) originally chose to host a National Selection, but then decided on an Internal Selection. Sakis Rouvas was chosen with "Shake It" and placed 3rd at Eurovision.

Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country Greece
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 15 March 2004
Song: 20 March 2004
Selected entrantSakis Rouvas
Selected song"Shake It"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Nikos Terzis
  • Nektarios Tyrakis
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (3rd, 238 points)
Final result3rd, 252 points
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Initially, talent show Eurostar 2004 was developed by ERT as the Greek national final to select the Greek representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. 36 contestants were selected by a jury consisting of Dafni Bokota (singer and television presenter), Artemis Gounaki (vocal teacher) and Andreas Roditis (composer and television presenter) to participate in the show, which commenced on 5 December 2003 and concluded with the final on 12 March 2004.[1] In the final, the remaining three contestants competed and the winner, Apostolos Psichramis, was selected by a combination of public voting (40%) and jury voting (60%).[2] Psichramis was then scheduled to perform three songs, all written by Nikos Terzis, during an additional song selection show, however, on 15 March 2004, ERT confirmed Sakis Rouvas as the Greek representative for the 2004 contest.[3] The song that Rouvas participated with in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, "Shake It", was presented on 20 March 2004 during a special ERT program. It was also announced during the program that the three finalists of Eurostar: Apostolos Psichramis, Antonis Dominos and Gianna Fafaliou would join Rouvas as on-stage backing vocalists.[4]

Eurostar 2004 – 12 March 2004
Draw Artist Song (Original artists) Jury
(60%)		 Televote
(40%)		 Total Place
1 Antonis Dominos "Take On Me" (A-ha) 21% 13.2% 34.2% 2
2 Gianna Fafaliou "2 Be Together" (Maria-Louiza & Not 4 Sale) 20.2% 7.7% 27.9% 3
3 Apostolos Psichramis "Conga" (Miami Sound Machine) 18.8% 19.1% 37.9% 1

At Eurovision

Semi-final
Rouvas speaking at a press conference after the Eurovision 2004 Semi-Final. Also featured are North Macedonia's Toše Proeski and Cyprus' Lisa Andreas.

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, a semi-final round was introduced in order to accommodate the influx of nations that wanted to compete in the contest. As Greece had not finished in the top 11 at the 2003 Contest, the song was first performed in the semi-final. It was performed tenth following Monaco's Märyon with "Notre Planète" and preceding Ukraine's Ruslana with "Wild Dances". At the close of voting, it had received 238 points, placing 3rd in the 22-strong field and qualifying for the final.

Final
Rouvas representing Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul on May 15, 2004.
Rouvas and his dancers performed a traditional Greek syrtaki combining Greek and Western culture.

In the final, it was performed sixteenth following Macedonia's Toše Proeski with "Life" and preceding Iceland's Jónsi with "Heaven".

Sakis Rouvas performed with two dancers with his back-up vocals to the side. During the performance Sakis ripped off the white suits his dancers were wearing to reveal sparkling tassel attire. The dancers later ripped off Sakis' jacket. At the close of voting, it had received 252 points, placing 3rd in a field of 24. It was succeeded as Greek representative at the 2005 Contest by Elena Paparizou with "My Number One".This guaranteed Greece automatic qualification to the final of the 2005 Contest.

Points awarded by Greece[5]
Points awarded to Greece (semi-final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
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

Records

Rouvas' entry "Shake It" broke and still maintains a number of records, both for Greece and abroad. With 252 points, "Shake It" is the highest-scoring third place entrant in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. This record was previously held by Malta's 1998 performance by Chiara Siracusa with "The One That I Love" that earned 166 points. Although there were only 25 countries voting in 1998 and 36 in 2004, the Greek point average is higher. The current runner-up is Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2006 "Lejla" by Hari Mata Hari with 229 points. Meanwhile, it received 238 points in the semi-final (where it also placed third), becoming the highest-scoring third place in the semi-final as well, and also having the highest point average of a third place for both events.

"Shake It" is by far Greece's most successful entrant in cumulative points. It received 252 points from 35 other countries, making it the highest-scoring Greek entrant to date. While it is arguable that in 2004 and beyond there have been more countries participating than in the past, the song achieved a point average of 7.2, also becoming the highest point average of a Greek entrant, a record that has yet to be broken. Both of these records were previously held by Antique with "(I Would) Die For You" in 2001, having scored 147 from 22 countries and having an average of 6.68.

Rouvas' effort is only the second entrant of Greece that was awarded points by every other country in a single contest, the other year being in 2001 with Antique. However, in 2001, only 23 countries voted, while in 2004, 36 countries voted, making it difficult to compare the two years.

The entry also received five sets of 12 points, the maximum number of points that can be awarded, which was the highest number of sets of 12 points Greece had ever received in a single contest, up until that point. However, the record was broken the following year.

Finally, "Shake It" is by far the most successful Greek Eurovision entrant in charts and sales. It peaked at number one for an extended number of weeks in both Greece and Cyprus. It charted for nearly one year on the Greek Singles Chart. The song also topped both countries' airplay charts and entered the top 40 of the Swedish Singles chart. It was certified 4× platinum in Greece and 3× platinum in Cyprus, becoming the best-selling single of the year. The high sales of the record helped earn Rouvas his first World Music Award. It has since become one of the best-selling CD singles of all time in Greece.

After Eurovision

Rouvas' enjoyed a boost in his career after returning to Greece. His single "Shake It" had debuted on the Greek Singles Chart at number 2, climbing up to number 1 in its second week, where it remained for eight straight weeks. The single also peaked at number 1 on the Radio Airplay Chart for months at a time. The success helped Rouvas win at the Arion Music Awards in April, 2005 where he won the award for "Highest Greek Single Sales of 2004." The single went platinum in its first week and was certified double platinum by September 2004, finally achieving 4x platinum status in Greece in 2005. Rouvas' ninth studio album To Hrono Stamatao was re-released with "Shake It" and became double platinum, becoming his third multi-platinum album. While in the three years prior to Eurovision he had entered the international music scene, the Eurovision further fueled his success abroad. His English album Ola Kala was re-released in many parts of Europe to contain the Eurovision entrant and newer tracks.

In 2006, Rouvas presented the 2006 contest alongside Greek-American presenter Maria Menounos, while since his performance, he has been approached multiple times to represent Greece once again in the contest, with the artist denying these proposals. On July 15, 2008, however, Rouvas was confirmed as Greece's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.

See also

References
  1. "Παρασκήνια 2004: Από το τάλεντ σώου στην ανάθεση κι από το "Cheek to cheek" στο "Shake it". Σάκηηηηηη!". INFE Greece (in Greek). 27 February 2017.
  2. "Greece 2004".
  3. van Gorp, Edwin (15 March 2004). "Sakis Rouvas will represent Greece". Esctoday.
  4. Vatmanidis, Theo (20 March 2004). "Presentation of Greek entry broadcasted tonight". Esctoday.
  5. Eurovision Song Contest 2004
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