Greece: Constantinos Christoforou speaks to Europhoria, about his song for Eurovision 2022!

Last Saturday, Constantinos Christoforou was a guest on CyBC’s radio show Europhoria, hosted by Melina Karageorgiou. Among other things, he gave more details about the song with which he claims the Greek representation for Eurovision 2022!

Memories of the previous three entries

Constantinos Christoforou, who twice represented as a solo (1996 and 2005) and once with the band ONE (2002) his homeland, talked about all three of his previous participations, while of course he commented on his effort this year to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest for a fourth time, this time with the Greek colors.

About 1996 and “Mono Yia Emas“, which he described it as his favorite of his three entries, he stated that it was essentially the occasion for the beginning of his career, since he had the opportunity to introduce himself to such a large audience.

1996 was followed by “Gimme” and the participation with ONE in 2002. Constantinos reveals that the second candidate song was “Matia Mou“, with English lyrics, which was included in their album that was released later. He considers the sixth place an injustice one, since everyone believed that they would be at least in the Top 3.

Making his self-criticism for 2005, Constantinos Christoforou comments that perhaps the choice of “Ela Ela” was wrong, since in now he believes that the song She’s No Fool, written by Mike Connaris, would have achieved a better result, as it was very ahead of its time.

In fact, Constantinos Christoforou does not hesitate to say that RIK should have made an internal choice then and chosen this song, without holding a national final with the participation of the public, who voted in the vast majority of “Ela Ela“.

The song he submitted to ERT for Eurovision 2022

Melina Karageorgiou asked Constantinos Christoforou about the song he submitted to ERT, for the internal selection of the Greek entry in Eurovision 2022.

It’s a song I love very much. It is a ballad. A Mediterranean ballad, not ethnic, Mediterranean… There are two versions. One in Greek and English and one in Italian, which I love as a language despite not speaking it. The Greek lyrics are by Gioula Georgiou, the English are by Stefanos, my brother, the Italian ones are a surprise, you will see it when I release it.

Constantinos Christoforou states that it was a decision of his record label (MINOS EMI), to send the song to ERT for Eurovision, something of course that he immediately agreed with. All he asked was that they not bother him about anything other than telling him the result of the internal choice.

The above practically means that Constantinos Christoforou was not positive either in the participation in a national final, fully confirming everything we told you, for the refusal of most of the 25 artists participating in the ERT process to compete in an open television national final.

Concluding his interview with Europhoria, Constantinos Christoforou states that he will not speak publicly again about the effort to claim Greek participation in Eurovision 2022, since his decision is to keep a low profile, simply talking with his work, when and if needed.

You can listen the interview HERE (In Greek).

Would you like to see Konstantinos Christophorou representing Greece in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest?

Ilias Kozas: “Last year I was in talks about a Eurovision return – This year I sent three songs to ERT”

Ilias Kozas confirmed what was written during last year’s Eurovision Song Contest about RIK’s proposal in his person for the representation of Cyprus in Eurovision 2021. The experienced singer referred, also, to all three songs he submitted to ERT in view of the internal selection for Eurovision 2022.

The 37-year-old singer was in contact with RIK last year, discussing his return to the competition as a solo artist and without his band, the Koza Mostra. Kozas together with his band and Agathon in 2013 brought Greece for the last time in the top 10 of the final ranking, with the song of Alcohol Is Free, until last May and the 10th place of Stefania.

In an interview on Katerina Karavatou’s show on Mega, he spoke about RIK’s approach, his desire to try out a solo career and his effort this year:

In general, with all the quarantine and everything we experience, I cleared my mind and began to expand on other sounds. I decided to do something solo. On this solo that has nothing to do with KOZA MOSTRA, I said why not?

A proposal was made to me last year but I was hesitant. I did not feel like going again and in the middle of covid. For those who have experienced it, Eurovision is a party. It is a pity to go and have quarantines, masks, vaccines.

I submitted three songs that were ready in advance, I did not write them for Eurovision, and they were not written exclusively for Eurovision.

We remind you that Ilias Kozas is one of the candidates to represent Greece at Eurovision 2022 next May in Turin.

It comes out as a surprise the fact that Ilias Kozas has submitted three songs, all of them with English lyrics and not with Greek. His proposed entries are of rock style, a genre he has served in his recent work both as solo artist and together with Koza Mostra band.

Romania: Everything that was discussed on the special show about the analysis of the bad results!

As we informed you in our previous article, the Romanian public television (TVR) organized on July 5 in prime time, a special show, where the series of bad results of the country in the contest were discussed, while solutions were also sought.

Wrong choice of artists and lack of direction the two big thorns

The show presented by the journalist and former head of the Romanian mission in the competition, Marina Almăşan, and participated many people from the music industry, but also former eurostars, such as The Humans, Ovi, Paula Seling, but also Mihai Traistariu , focused mainly on this year ‘s failure of Roxen.

Most of the panel members criticized Roxen for her choice, both on TVR and on the record label Global Music, as they mentioned her complete lack of experience, but also her mediocre vocal skills did not help her to stand out and qualify for final.

Almost everyone agreed that it was wrong for TVR to leave the project entirely to the record company, since while both the guy and the fans pointed out the mistakes, the record company did nothing to correct them (I do not know if this reminds you of something…) .

The other big problem that many were left with was the issue of directing. Mihai Traistariu stated that unfortunately TVR does not seem to be able to successfully undertake the staging of the Romanian entries. What has been suggested by many is the collaboration with foreign directors, something that many countries are already doing. In fact, it is worth noting at this point that the names of Sacha Jean Baptiste were mentioned, but also of Fokas Evangelinos.

Romania will be present in 2022

It seems that Romania will be present in Italy next year, at least that is what was said on the show. The most probable scenario is the return to the national final, the well-known Selectia Nationala and the subsequent support of the song that will be selected by TVR, so that at least in the next competition the country will return to the final. The format supported for the Selectia Nationala is 50% audience – 50% juries.

The observations of the Romanians are correct and we are happy because they largely agree with what we proposed and wrote in our relevant editorial. If the respective national public broadcaster is not interested and does not deal, no external partner and no record company can bring a good result. The examples are endless.

See the case of France. From the moment the external partner they had for both the Junior Eurovision and the regular Eurovision contest left, they won and took second place respectively. See the case of Switzerland, which with a stable team in recent years manages to star. On the other hand, see what happened in the United Kingdom, the BBC’s complete indifference, brought BMG to things as a machine god…. The result is one last place with an absolute 0 in the audience and juries! Of course, there is also the example of ERT, which since 2019 has taken the project in its hands and has literally achieved leaps in relation to the recent past.

The secret recipe for success by Christer Bjorkman

This is the solution for Romania and for all the other countries that have bad results. A conscious group, which will aim not just to participate, but the good result and which of course will methodize and organize everything related to the selection of the song, whether it is through a national final or through an assignment, aiming at its 3 minutes May and nothing else. Far from meaningless comments and complaints of the fans, without looking at bets and without being influenced by record and external factors.

In this year’s interview, Christer Bjorkman “revealed” the secret for a successful participation in the competition:

“Three things must have a participation to go well. A good song, a bright and good performer and a careful stage presence. The first is the hardest to find. But if you have the other two, then you can do very well. ”

So the choice of the right artist, as well as the careful stage presence, are two elements that every broadcaster can work and carefully build, so that it has more chances of success in the competition. ERT has understood it very well and the Romanians probably seemed to understand it. What do you say, will they go better next year?

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Armenia: “Great news soon”, said the head of the delegation!

Armenian head of delegation, David Tserunyan, noted a possible return of the country to the next Eurovision Song Contest and most probably Junior Eurovision too, in 2022, after their withdrawal this year.

David Tserunyan, who is also an elected member of the Reference Group, took part in the group’s first meeting with RAI lately. The Italian broadcaster, has already started setting up the forecoming contest of 2022.

Publishing the photo from the conference of the Reference Group, Tserunyan expressed his gratitude for his reelection and concluded that soon we will have some wonderful news, sparking hopes for the return of Armenia to the contest.

Armenian prime minister got a vote of confidence, not more than two days ago, which is a first step towards the recovery of the country, after their conflicts with Azerbaijan with regards to Artsakh.

We really hope that Armenia makes a return in 2022, along with other numerous withdrawn countries!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to our favorite contest!

Greece: Listen to a teaser from Stefania’s “Mucho Calor”!

Shortly before its official release on June 25, Stefania presents a 30-second teaser of her new single entitled, Mucho Calor. The song will be presented for the first time on the stage of MAD VMA 2021!

You also read about the history of the song in our previous article. Mucho Calor has karmic relation to the contest, since three times in the past it came close to representing either Greece or Cyprus, but the final choice was always different.

Mucho Calor was originally submitted to ERT for Eurovision 2020. Although the song was first in the focus group voting that dream team held that year, SUPERG! RL was finally chosen, as a song that Stefania could better support.

Then the composers of the song suggested it to Sandro, who even recorded it and it was one of the songs that RIK had on the table, for the Cypriot representation at Eurovision 2020. But Sandro wanted a song that would have his personal of touch and so the song did not end there either.

With some changes, Mucho Calor, but also with a different title (Inferno), the song was submitted in 2021 to ERT. In fact, the artistic committee of the Greek public television initially wanted this to be the song with which Stefania would represent Greece in Rotterdam. Finally, considering the scenarios for the stage presentation, but also other factors, such as the voting of the juries, Last Dance was chosen.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Stefania (@stefania_)

We remind you that Mucho Calor is signed by Dimitris Kontopoulos and ARCADE and will be released on June 25.

What are your first impressions of the song? Tell us in the comments below!

France: Barbara Pravi would not accept victory if Maneskin were canceled!

An interesting interview was given by the runner-up of this year’s Eurovision, Barbara Pravi, to the Belgian newspaper Sudinfo. Among the things she mentioned, she stated that in no case would she accept the victory in the contest, if the Maneskin were canceled due to the alleged incident with the drugs in the green room.

Following a video that quickly circulated on social media, Damiano, the Maneskin lead singer, was accused of crouching while he was in the green room. What was said was that he was currently using drugs. This question was asked at the press conference following their victory at the Ahoy Arena. As soon as the band returned to Italy, they tested for toxicological substances, which turned out to be negative, so the EBU considered the matter over, after its own research in the area, but also through the cameras that were there.

Of course, if the allegations were substantiated then Maneskin’s victory would automatically be called into question. Barbara Pravi, who was second behind the Italian band, clarified that there was no way to accept such a victory, even if the entry of Italy was canceled.

If they were eliminated, I would never accept first place. The Måneskin were chosen by the public, they are well known and that what they do is very nice, so it is normal in my opinion that they won. I learned about what they were accused of and I was really sorry. The Italians never asked us for anything!

Barbara Pravi

In the interview, Pravi also talks about her experience at Eurovision, her ambitions and her upcoming album, which will be released on August 18. You can read the whole interview here.

Barbara Pravi with Voila took second place with 499 points at Eurovision 2021. This was the first time since 2002 that France was in the top 5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unj9WbeLzRU

Source: Sudinfo

Moldova: Dream Team’s response to accusations about the result of televoting!

In response to the Aftonbladet article, which was republished on various websites, Dream Team responded. Dream Team’s spokesman referred to all the allegations in the article, such as manipulating the outcome of televoting in small countries so that Natalia Gordienko could get as many votes as possible and avoid a bad outcome, as betting companies had predicted.

We have proved our love for this competition for many years. Why would we suddenly start handling telephone lines only in the semifinals and not in the finals? These categories are outrageous. In Portugal, for example, there is a large diaspora from Moldova. Greece usually supports our entries.

By no means are countries like France or the Czech Republic small enough to influence televoting. Natalia Gordienko’s song became a hit in Russia and was played on Russian radio channels throughout Europe.

We should not be surprised if the Russian Diaspora, for example, in Latvia and Estonia voted for it in the semifinals when there was no Russian artist to vote for.

Dream Team

We remind you that Natalia Gordienko’s Sugar took 13th place in the grand final, but took 12th place in the televoting, adding another entry to those of Dream Team, which go better in the public vote than the juries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I_1GTehgkI

Source: Aftonbladet, Dream Team

Greece: Last Dance in the global charts of Spotify!

Stefania with Last Dance managed to bring Greece to the 10th place in the Grand Final of Eurovision, winning the 10th place both in the voting of the juries and in the audience!

This great success of Last Dance, composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos, Arcade and Sharon Vaughn was captured commercially with its entry in the official Top 50 and Viral 50 lists of Spotify in many European countries, even entering the World Viral 50. Last Dance has already exceeded 2,800,000 streams!

Detailed today 24/5 is in the following charts:

Top 50

Cyprus (13)
Iceland (15)
Finland (18)
Netherlands (23)
Greece (25)
Lithuania (27)
Estonia (30)
Sweden (31)
Belgium (39)

Viral 50

Worldwide (40)Greece (10)
Cyprus (13)
Iceland (21)
Finland (22)
United Kingdom (30)
Denmark (31)
Sweden (33)
Norway (34)
Switzerland (35)
Israel (38)
Spain (40)
Ireland (40)
Belgium (42)
Germany (42)
Estonia (43)
Netherlands (44)
Czech Republic (47)
Russia (48)
Latvia (50)

Viral 50 playlists differ from the Top 50 playlists in that they take into account not only which songs are being listened to the most, but also other factors, such as sudden mass streams and sudden mass notifications on major social media, collecting relevant data.

These statistics prove in practice that Last Dance, with its modern European sound, had an impact and even managed to extract points from countries of the North and the West, which rarely vote for Greece in Eurovision.

We wish Last Dance, but also Stefania to continue their successful course in Greece and Europe!

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Greece: Watch the live perfomance of “Last Dance” by Stefania on Greek Your Face Sounds Familiar!

A few minutes ago greek viewers had the opportunity to watch Stefania perform “Last Dance” on the Eurovision episode of the greek Your Face Sounds Familiar.

She perfomed an acoustic ballad version with the company of Dimitris Kontopoulos on the piano.

Watch the live session in the following video:

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Greece: Watch the very first live performance of “Last Dance” by Stefania! (Video)

Stefania‘s very first live performance has just been completed. This year’s representative of Greece has performed her entrty, “Last Dance“, for the very first time live, accompanied by a piano.

This performance took place within the show Our Best Easter, this year’s Easter show on the Greek public broadcaster, ERT, where Stefania was invited.

This live performance of “Last Dance” will be immediately uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Contest, as a part of the acoustic performances of this year’s entries. Another live performance is going to take place in the Eurovision episode of Your Face Sounds Familiar next Sunday, May 9th.

Enjoy Stefania‘s first live performance of “Last Dance” in the video below: