Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, held between 6 and 10 May 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their entry was selected through Eurosong 2014 - a MAD show.[1]

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country Greece
National selection
Selection processEurosong 2014 – a MAD show
Selection date(s)11 March 2014
Selected entrantFreaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd
Selected song"Rise Up"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Freaky Fortune
  • RiskyKidd
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (7th, 74 points)
Final result20th, 35 points
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Background
Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

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]

Before Eurovision

Eurosong 2014 – a MAD show
The Eurosong 2014 logo.

Eurosong 2014 - a MAD show was the Greek national final developed by DT (the interim broadcasting channel prior to the launch of NERIT) to select the Greek entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Organized and produced by private music channel MAD TV, the competition took place on 11 March 2014 at the Acro Music Hall in Athens, hosted by Despina Vandi and Giorgos Kapoutzidis.[10] The show was televised on DT as well as online via the DT website hprt.gr and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[11] The national final simultaneously celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first Greek participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Competing entries

Four artists, all signed to record labels Panik Records or its imprint Platinum Records, were invited by DT to participate in the national final. The four acts: Crystallia, Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd, Kostas Martakis and Mark F. Angelo feat. Josephine were announced on 11 February 2014.[12] Preview videos of the competing songs were presented on 5 March 2014 during a public news program on DT.[13]

Artist Label Song Songwriter(s)
Crystallia Platinum Records "Petalouda stin Athina" Nikos Antypas, Aris Davarakis
Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd Panik Records "Rise Up" Freaky Fortune, RiskyKidd
Kostas Martakis Platinum Records "Kanenas de me stamata" Elias Kozas
Mark Angelo feat. Josephine Panik Records "Dancing Night" Mark Angelo, Thomas Karlsson, Fast Lane, Josephine Wendel, Melina Makris

Final

The final took place on 11 March 2014. Four songs competed and the winner, "Rise Up" performed by Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd, was selected by a 50/50 combination of public voting and jury voting. The jury consisted of Dimitris Kontopoulos (producer), Elpida (singer), Themis Georgantas (television producer and radio host), Areti Kalesaki (DT Public Relations representative) and Reggina Kouri (Head of Public Relations for MAD TV).[14][15] Public voting was conducted through telephone or SMS.

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured guest performances by singers Paschalis Arvanitidis, Marianna Toli, Robert Williams, Bessy Argyraki, Melisses, Elpida, Tamta, Sophia Vossou, Demy, Katy Garbi, Vegas, Kalomira and Claydee.[14]

Final – 11 March 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Crystallia "Petalouda stin Athina" 12.35 9.72 22.07 3
2 Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd "Rise Up" 14.51 22.33 36.83 1
3 Kostas Martakis "Kanenas de me stamata" 13.89 14.20 28.09 2
4 Mark Angelo feat. Josephine "Dancing Night" 9.26 3.75 13.01 4

At Eurovision
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 to Greece
Points awarded to Greece (semi-final 2)
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

Points awarded by Greece

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Greek jury:[18]

  • Vasilios Apergis – Chairperson – music producer
  • Konstantinos Pantzoglou – radio music producer, journalist
  • Rodanthi Papadea – lyricist
  • Aggelos Makris – music producer, composer
  • Maria Sinatsaki – DJ, television presenter

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

See also

References
  1. Xifaras, Billy (11 February 2014). "IT'S OFFICIAL: HERE ARE THE FOUR EUROVISION HOPEFULS IN GREECE". Wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. Staff. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  3. Staff (21 May 2005). "Eurovision win for Greek singer". BBC Online. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  4. "History by Country: Greece". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  5. Paravantes, Maria. (11 June 2005). Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win. Billboard 117(24), 17-17. Retrieved on 16 January 2009.
  6. 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.
  7. Floras, Stella (11 June 2013). "Greece shuts down public broadcaster ERT". ESCToday. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  8. Vranis, Michalis (4 October 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Greek participation in focus". Esctoday.
  9. Kon/Poulos, Fotis (5 November 2013). "NERIT CONFIRMS GREEK PARTICIPATION". Oikotimes.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. Jiandani, Sanjay (28 February 2014). "Greece: National final on 11 March". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  11. Weaver, Jessica (11 March 2014). "Watch now: Greece to select their entry". Esctoday.
  12. Juhász, Ervin (11 February 2014). "Greece: National final in March". escXtra.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  13. Roxburgh, Gordon (5 March 2014). "Songs in Greek EuroSong revealed". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  14. Roxburgh, Gordon (11 March 2014). "Watch the Greek EuroSong tonight". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  15. Fisher, Luke (11 March 2014). "Greece: Jury for tonight's show". escXtra.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  16. Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  17. Brey, Marco (8 May 2014). "Second Semi-Final: The Winners' Press Conference". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  18. Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  19. "Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Second Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  20. "Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
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