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.

Sweden: The first names of Melodifestivalen 2022!

Aftonbladet today reveals the first artists to take part in Melodifestivalen 2022. This year, it has managed to predict 26 of the 28 names that took part in Sweden’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. So the first two candidates are two veterans of the competition, they are Robin Bengtsson and Liamoo.

Following the announcement of the change of regulations in the upcoming Melodifestivalen, we now have the first names of Sweden’s prospective representatives in the competition.

Robin Benggtson

Robin Bengtsson is now 31 years old. Won the Melodifestivalen τ0 2017 with the song I Can’t Go On, occupying the fifth place in the Eurovision contest. In Melodifestivalen he has competed a total of three times (2016, 2017, 2020)

At Melodifestivalen 2022 he returns with a pop song, in his familiar style. In fact, Aftonbladet states that this is a strong participation, which will bring him back to the final.

Liamoo

Liamoo has won Idol in 2016, while he participated twice in the Melodifestivalen, but so far he has not managed to win.

For his participation in Melodifestivalen 2022 he has collaborated with many songwriters, who have experience in the competition, in order to record his song.

Melodifestivalen 2002 kicks off on February 5 in Malmo, hosted by Oscar Zia.

Sweden was represented this year by Tusse, with the song Voices, occupying the 14th place in the final:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyJRyif6_kk

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Melodifestivalen 2022!

Source: Aftonbladet

Cyprus: The scenario “Kalomira” seems to fade out!

As it has already become known in the last few days, Kalomira did not submit to ERT the long-awaited participation for the Eurovision 2022 competition! However, according to recent reports, Kalomira’s team was considering the scenario of the favorite singer being on the stage of the competition with the colors of Cyprus for the second time.

 

However, according to today’s report of SKAI‘s morning show “Love it”, this scenario seems to be moving away. Specifically, a journalist of the show stated:

Kalomira approached  RIK, to give there the song she prepared with Mohombi and Claydee! However, RIK decided after years to put a Cypriot color in their participation and to have a Cypriot artist as a composer! In recent years, foreign composers have been participating with Cyprus and the artists have come from Greece and this has created reactions.

According to this information, Kalomira does not seem to have agreed with RIK, refuting the reports that have been circulating on the internet in recent days.

Finally, in the show they mentioned the fact that it will not be a surprise to see Cypriot artists of great scope undertake the composition of the Cypriot participation!

It seems that this year we will be late to find out who will be the 38th representative of the island of Aphrodite, in contrast to previous years. What do you think? Will we see a Cypriot artist representing Cyprus this year?

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun.com to learn all the news about Cyprus and other countries on the trip to Turin!

Czech Republic: Mikolas Josef submitted a song for ESCZ 2022! EXCLUSIVE

Mikolas Josef, who holds the record for the best place of the Czech Republic in the competition, is claiming another participation in Eurovision, since according to our exclusive information, the 26-year-old singer submitted a participation in the national final of the country ESCZ 2022!

In 2018 Mikolas Josef took sixth place in the final of the competition with the song Lie To Me. Since then, his career has been on the rise, achieving even No. 1 in the domestic charts with the song Acapella.

After four years, Mikolas Josef is preparing to return to the competition, having already submitted a song for ESCZ 2022, the online national final of the Czech Republic for the selection of its representative in the next contest.

About 150 entries were sent to ESCZ 2022, six to eight of which will take part in the show, which will take place in December. Each candidate must submit a recorded live version of the song, which will be used as a basis for voting on the show. The finalists of the national final, are going to be presented at the beginning of December! ESCZ 2022 will be the first national final of the season, since according to what was announced on Czech public television, it will take place in December.

What remains to be seen is whether Mikolas Josef’s song is selected among the finalists of ESCZ 2022 and whether, of course, he manages to win the Czech ticket again for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Until then, however, let us enjoy once again his previous entry:

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

Spain: Jorge Gonzalez in the studio of Dimitris Kontopoulos to record his song for Benidorm! EXCLUSIVE

Jorge Gonzalez is in Athens where in the coming days, according to our safe and exclusive information, he will record in the studio of Dimitris Kontopoulos, the song that he will submit to the Spanish public television for Benidorm, the festival through which the representative of the country will emerge at Eurovision 2022.

The 33-year-old singer became famous in Spain through his participation in Operacion Triunfo in 2006. Although he failed to be the winner of the talent show, he gained great popularity, which gave him the opportunity to sign a record deal with Universal Vale Music.

In 2009 she participated in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Si yo vengo a enamorarte, occupying the ninth place.

Since 2006 he has released two complete albums and several singles. This year he participated in the New Wave Festival, finishing in third place, but receiving very positive reviews.

Jorge Gonzalez will be in Athens in the coming days in order to work with Dimitris Kontopoulos on the song, with which he hopes to be in Turin in May!

The Benidorm Song Festival is expected to feature 12 artists with 12 separate songs. The system provides for the existence of two semifinals, in which 6 songs will take part respectively. Three artists from each semifinal will advance to the Benidorm Grand Final.

The big winner and representative of Spain in Eurovision 2022 will be selected by 50% by the preference of two juries and by 50% by the will of the Spanish viewers. Both juries will be composed of professionals in the field, with one consisting only of natives and the other being an international one. The results of the juries will come from 60% of the Spanish jury and 40% of the international ones.

Would you like to see Jorge Gonzalez represent Spain in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest?

Sweden: End of the “Anda Chansen” heat – an extra semifinal for Melodifestivalen 2022!

We will have a general lifting at the Melodifestivalen, which is now moving into the post-Bjorkman era, as the producer who led the festival in recent decades is now on the other side of the Atlantic, having organized the American Song Contest. One of the biggest changes we will see in Melodifestivalen 2022 is the abolition of the second chance round and the well-known duels that existed in them.

An extra semifinal

In statements to Aftonbladet, the new producer of Melodifestivalen, Anette Brattström, reveals that the Andra Chansen round will no longer be in the program of the competition. There will be a fifth semifinal instead.

In the first four semifinals, the two songs with the most votes will advance directly to the final. The songs that will occupy the third and fourth place will compete in the fifth semifinal, but not with the process of duels, as has happened so far.

In the fifth semifinal, the eight songs will be divided into two groups of four and the two songs that manage to collect the most votes in each group will advance to the final.

Melodifestivalen 2022 kicks off on February 5 in Malmo, hosted by Oscar Zia.

Sweden was represented this year by Tusse, with the song Voices, occupying the 14th place in the final:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyJRyif6_kk

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Melodifestivalen 2022!

Source: Aftonblatet

Malta: Submissions open for Eurovision 2022!

“Malta Eurovision Song Contest” is back for 2022 and the submissions are already open and it will be until the 15th of December. Artists can find the proclamation here.

TVM has announced that the country will use MESC for 2022 edition and not X-Factor, as they did the previous years. The winners of X-Factor, Micaela and Destiny, however, have accomplished both a good result for the country.

As you can read in the official channel’s annoucement, MESC will have a semifinal with 22 songs and 16 of them will compete in the big grand final.

Malta has achieved the seventh place in Eurovision 2021 with Destiny and “Je Me Casse” bringing the country in the top ten after eight years.

Do you think that MESC is a better choice than X-Factor? Tell us your opinion in the comments below!

Greece: Artemis Matafia: Kostas Karafotis embraced our effort!

Artemis Matafia gave an interview to the greek TV-show “Super Katerina”, regarding her effort to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin saying that she submitted two songs to ERT with English lyrics. She specifically stated:

We have submitted two songs to ERT for Eurovision 2022 in Italy. We made the decision when the announcement came out from ERT, that it accepts songs from artists for the contest . The songs are written in English but both of them have a small Greek element, which is goint to be a surprise.

At the same time, she talked about the involvement of the greek singer Kostas Karafotis.

I was looking for a production company to support our songs, as I did not have any. When Kostas listened to our songs, he really supported our efforts. Kostas leads the representation of our effort.

Kostas himself confirmed that in his interview to the same show:

I am really interested in Eurovision and helping Artemis with the submission of the song. The moment I found out which is the team behind the song, I immediately thought, “I am in”.[…] I can’t say too many things, but it’s not a ballad. The lyrics of the song send a really nice message though.

Regarding the other entries and specifically the good job nicky’s one, he stated:

Why not? I am fan of his music and the way he approaches things. What I am most interested in however, is for a good song to represent Greece.

Greece: The ERT committee will start its meetings next week!

We are now entering the final stretch for the selection of the artist and the song that will represent Greece in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. After the completion of the submission of proposals for the claim of the Greek representation in Eurovision 2022, the competent committee of ERT, which will have the final say, is ready to start work and thoroughly examine all the songs submitted, as well as the other details, from each proposal.

Larger than in previous years, it is expected to be the competent artistic committee of ERT, which will make the final decision for Stefania’s successor in the Eurovision stage. With renowned people of music and led for another year by Dimitris Papadimitriou, the committee will be invited to choose the song and the proposal that will bring the country as high as possible in the Eurovision 2022 standings. The atmosphere at ERT is something more than positive, something that was reflected not only in our articles, but also in the entire electronic and print press, where the increase of interest was commented extensively, after the successful presence in this year’s competition.

According to our information, ERT is oriented to complete the selection in two phases:

  • Select a small number of songs (3-4) that will distinguish the committee from the approximately 40 submitted.
  • To meet with the artists of these songs, to discuss with them the rest of the details of their proposal.
  • To make the final decision taking into account all the above.

In contrast to what happened in previous years, ERT wishes to have reached both the artist and the song before the end of the year. This will give extra time to better prepare, but also to promote its entry. The goal as we wrote in our previous articles is clear, a better placement from this year’s tenth place, something completely possible as the members of the Greek delegation believe.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding the Greek participation in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!