Greece: Government proposal to ERT for a national final in Eurovision 2025

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According to one of the oldest and most valid journalistic columns in Greece, BIMAtodotis in the Vima newspaper, the goverment, disturbed by what happened again this year at the Eurovision contest, have suggested to ERT that the selection of the next Greek representative be made through public voting, i.e. national final.

The issue with Marina Satti’s behavior at Eurovision with her fake yawns while the Israeli singer was speaking, seems not to have ended.

As BIMAtodotis writes, the matter now moves to another level and becomes political. It is impressive that the opposition parties were not involved, but only the goverment.

So the Prime Minister’s office (as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is deeply disturbed by Marina Satti who wanted to make her own foreign policy, with the government representative Pavlos Marinakis returning to the issue and stating directly among other things: “what I want to say as a personal comment, when someone – and this has nothing to do with political positions – represents a country, even in a music competition, travels at the expense of the Greek taxpayer, she must watch her behavior. Her public image and her behavior in general.”

According to sources, the goverment does not let the matter be forgotten. In addition to transferring their discomfort to the management of ERT, they intends to suggest that the institution of approving the song should now be done by public voting and not by… direct assignment which ERT does now (that is, it does whatever it wants).

BIMAtodotis

As we also mentioned here through Eurovisionfun in 2025, ERT has the ideal opportunity to organize a national final. With the popularity of Eurovision soaring, the commercial success of the contest in recent years, and the launch of Marina Satti’s career with her participation in Malmö, the Greek representation in Switzerland is expected to be contested by many important artists.

Everything will of course depend on the new management of ERT, since both the position of the ceo and that of the president will be announced through.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: Vima

ERT and RIK do not support the anonymous statement about Eurovision 2024!

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For the past hours, an anonymous statement has been circulating the internet according which delegation members and participants of Eurovision 2024 submitted their complaints about Israel’s participation in this year’s contest. According to our exclusive information, neither ERT nor RIK have signed the following statement.

The following statement as published by ESC Gabe on their X account does not name the delegation members and artists alleged to have signed it, as they want to remain anonymous at the moment:

In recent days, we have seen a number of inaccurate reports about what happened backstage during the Eurovision 2024 contest, the alleged behaviour of artists towards the Israeli delegation, and the events surrounding EBU’s decision to move the Israeli delegation to a location backstage. 

We are concerned about the inaccuracies being reported. During the Eurovision 2024 contest, several artists and national delegations submitted complaints to the EBU for inappropriate behaviour and breach of rules from members of the Israeli delegation.

We are engaging with the EBU and expect these complaints to be duly considered, as per the commitment of EBU’s officials. While there is an ongoing process, it would be inappropriate for us to publicly comment on specific facts, but we will do so, in due course. 

Artists and members of national delegations who participated in the Eurovision 2024 contest

We are now waiting to see whether the statement that is currently circulating the internet will be disputed by other delegations this time, as it has happened before, or delegations and artists will confirm that they have signed the aforementioned statement.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

What happened at the dress rehearsal before the flag parade and almost blew up the contest!

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About the incident that happened shortly before the flag parade of the last general rehearsal and resulted in Marina Satti, Nemo and Bambie Thug not appearing in it, the head of the Israeli delegation spoke, naturally giving his own version of the events . But for the first time we have a public position on the incident in question, even from one side of those involved.

According to Yoav Tsafir, head of the Israeli delegation to Eurovision 2024, the incident in question happened shortly before the start of the flag parade, at the midday general rehearsal of the final. While all the artists were backstage waiting to come out for the flag parade the following happened:

The singers are standing in line before the parade of flags, Eden was also standing there, next to her was her stylist, preparing her for the performance – and right next to her was the Greek representative, crying: “The Israelis are harassing me, these bastards are writing horrible things about me on social media for what I did (yawn)” and everyone comforted her. For a moment the stylist looked at her and smiled, then Marina Satti raised her middle finger to him. The stylist kept smiling, took out a camera and took a picture of her. Then Bambie Thug lost it and started screaming loudly at the Israeli delegation: “We want peace and you’re bothering us”!

We remind you that subsequently the artists from Greece, Ireland and Switzerland did not appear in the flag parade, while Bambie Thug from Ireland did not sing at all, instead broadcasting a video of her performance in the semi-final.

As we point out at the beginning of the article, this is the first public statement about what happened in the disputed incident. Of course, we will await the placement of the other side with interest.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: Switzerland Calling

Greece: ERT denies reports regarding Greece’s intentions to withdraw just before the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024!

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As we informed you earlier and according to a publication by the Norwegian newspaper VK, which was also republished by the Swedish Aftonbladet, six countries – among them Greece – threatened to withdraw from the Grand Final of Eurovision. This scenario was avoided just 25 minutes before the start of the show, as an agreement was made.

Six delegations threatened to withdraw from Eurovision 2024

According to VK, the delegations from Norway, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal and Greece were negotiating with EBU threatening to withdraw from the competition. The reason behind their potential withdrawal was Israel’s participation along with Joost Klein’s disqualification. Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision 2024 participants’ list, the security measures and the behavior of members from the Israeli delegation were the main causes of the frictions that arose during the week in Malmö.

Specifically, Magnus Børmark, a member of the Norwegian band Gåte, stated that:

We were considering withdrawing until the last moment. Many of us reacted to the fact that Israel had the opportunity to use Eurovision as its own political tool. Our common point was that we did not want to participate in Eurovision to be used and stigmatized in a war propaganda machine in Israel. We participated to create a space where we can unite in music – in a political situation where everyone chooses sides and hates each other.

Ultimately, the six delegations were persuaded to compete as usual, according to VK’s article, just twenty five minutes before the Grand Final began.

ERT never considered withdrawing

According EurovisionFun’s information gathered during our stay in Malmö and today, following the publication of VK’s controversial article, ERT categorically denies the article in question.

We never discussed or considered withdrawing from the competition for any reason. The publication is inadequate at least when it comes to Greece.

Additionally, they made it clear to us that ERT receives significant financial support each year from Greek citizens for both Greece’s exclusive television rights and participation in the Eurovision Contest. As a result, they would be unable to manage our nation’s participation in the contest with the same carelessness and frivolity, just moments before the show.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Eurovision 2024: Six countries wanted to withdraw 25 minutes before the Grand Final!

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Two weeks after the Grand Final of Eurovision 2024, it became known from the Norwegian newspaper VG that six countries participating in the Saturday’s show wanted to withdraw up to twenty-five minutes before the start of the final.

The 11th of May was crucial for the contest, as reported by the newspaper, the EBU and SVT found themselves in a major critical meeting as six countries wanted to withdraw until they decided to participate.

The six countries that wanted to withdraw were the winning Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Greece and the United Kingdom.

Specifically, Magnus Børmark, a member of the Norwegian band Gåte, stated that:

We were considering withdrawing until the last moment. Many of us reacted to the fact that Israel had the opportunity to use Eurovision as its own political tool.

The reason the six countries wanted to withdraw was the participation of Israel and the exclusion of Joost Klein. VG writes that Israel’s participation, the extensive security measures, and the behavior of the Israeli delegation during the week were reasons for the protests,” adds Børmark:

Our common point was that we did not want to participate in Eurovision to be used and stigmatized in a war propaganda machine in Israel. We participated to create a space where we can unite in music – in a political situation where everyone chooses sides and hates each other.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Eurovision Song Contest 2025!

Source: VG

Eurovision 2024: Switzerland is the big winner of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest!

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The 68th Eurovision Song Contest has been history for a few minutes now, with the big winner being Switzerland represented by Nemo and the song “The Code“.

In a contest marked by drama and a lot of backstory, Swittzerland emerged as the winner with 591 points.

Twenty-six countries took part in tonight’s show, aiming to succeed Loreen and Sweden as the reigning Eurovision Song Contest champions.

The show

Malmö Arena was the venue for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in the Swedish city of Malmö.

The presenters of tonight’s show, as of all the shows, were Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman.

The 25 participating countries that took part in the Grand Final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest were:

 

R/O COUNTRY ARTIST SONG
1 Sweden Marcus & Martinus “Unforgettable”
2 Ukraine alyona alyona & Jerry Heil “Teresa & Maria”
3 Germany Isaak “Always on the Run”
4 Luxembourg Tali “Fighter”
6 Israel Eden Golan “Hurricane”
7 Lithuania Silvester Belt “Luktelk”
8 Spain Nebulossa “Zorra”
9 Estonia 5miinust & Puuluup “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
10 Ireland Bambie Thug “Doomsday Blue”
11 Latvia Dons “Hollow”
12 Greece Marina Satti “Zari”
13 United Kingdom Olly Alexander “Dizzy”
14 Norway Gåte “Ulveham”
15 Italy Angelina Mango “La noia”
16 Serbia Teya Dora “Ramonda”
17 Finland Windows95man “No Rules!”
18 Portugal Iolanda “Grito”
19 Armenia Ladaniva “Jako”
20 Cyprus Silia Kapsis “Liar”
21 Switzerland Nemo “The Code”
22 Slovenia Raiven “Veronika”
23 Croatia Baby Lasagna “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”
24 Georgia Nutsa Buzaladze “Firefighter”
25 France Slimane “Mon amour”
26 Austria Kaleen “We Will Rave​”

Results

The final ranking of the 25 finalists of Eurovision 2024 was as follows:

The vote of the juries was as follows:

The votes of the public were as follow:

  1. Croatia 337
  2. Israel 327
  3. Ukraine 307
  4. France 227
  5. Switzerland 226
  6. Ireland 136
  7. Italy 104
  8. Greece 85
  9. Armenia 82
  10. Lithuania 58
  11. Sweden 49
  12. Cyprus 44
  13. Estonia 33
  14. Serbia 32
  15. Finland 31
  16. Latvia 28
  17. Luxembourg 20
  18. Georgia 19
  19. Germany 18
  20. Portugal 13
  21. Slovenia 12
  22. Spain 11
  23. Austria 5
  24. Norway 4
  25. United Kingdom 0

Half of the final result came from the votes of the juries who voted last night and half from the TV audiences across Europe who voted for their favourite songs a few hours ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO_qJf-nW0k

What did you think of the final results of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest?

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Bets: The latest odds before the Grand Final!

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The 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which has been marred by drama like no other, will conclude in a few hours from now, culminating in the elimination of the Netherlands from the Grand Final this morning.

Amidst an atmosphere of tension and unprecedented toxicity, we take a look at the betting companies’ odds regarding each country’s chances of winning this year’s contest, as well as their chances of being in the Top 10.

Croatia in pole position

With Croatia as the early favourites, the Eurovision 2024 final will take place this evening. The country that has been in first place more than any other has the best chance of winning just hours before the curtain falls on this year’s contest. The supersonic Baby Lasagna is very close to giving Croatia their first win as an independent nation in their Eurovision appearance. Right now, you can place bets on the Croats’ maiden victory at odds between 1.83 and 2.25.

Second is Israel, which is right on Croatia’s heels and sees its odds of victory remain largely unchanged from our analysis yesterday. Thus, Israel’s Eurovision 2024 win is being played at odds between 2.8 and 4.

In third place, gaining ground after last night’s performance, are Nemo and Switzerland. Switzerland and Nemo‘s victory is now being bet at odds between 4.5 and 5.5, up from 6 to 9 at the time of writing our analysis yesterday.

Up two places for Ireland and down one for France, who complete the top five. The possibility of Ireland winning is now offered between 17 and 23. On the other hand, France‘s odds of victory have risen compared to yesterday, now offered between 15 and 26.

Ukraine has dropped to sixth place, having lost three places in the last two days. With the odds on offer having risen significantly, currently as much as 34 times the stake is returned on a Ukrainian victory in Malmo.

In seventh place is Italy, who lost even more ground after last night’s performance at Jury Rehearsal. Between 21 and 51 is being played on the possibility of Angelina Mango winning.

A one place rise for Greece, which moved up one place compared to our analysis yesterday, “taking advantage” of the exclusion of the Netherlands. A possible victory of “ZARI” and Marina Satti is currently being played at odds between 81 and 251, with no change at all compared to yesterday.

Finland has moved up to ninth place, while Sweden completes the top ten, returning inside the Top 10 for the first time in many months. Both Finland and Sweden are both playing at a maximum odds of 251, exactly the same as ninth-placed Greece as well as the UK and Armenia, who are in 11th and 12th place.

Top 10

Of particular interest is one of the most popular markets for betting companies, that of entering the Top 10. Looking at the table below, it can be seen that bookers largely consider entry into the top 10 to be assured for a large proportion of the countries involved in the Grand Final.

The presence of four countries in the top 10 is considered a given. Croatia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Israel are “given a place” in the top 10, with bookies offering this possibility at odds of under 1.10.

France and Italy are almost taken for granted that they too will have a place in the top 10 at Eurovision 2024, with this possibility returning between 1.14 and 1.20 times the stake.

With the six spots in the Top 10 looking largely taken, four spots remain, with Ireland considered the seventh most likely to take a spot in the top ten at odds of 1.57.

Greece also has a very strong chance of a place inside the Top 10, being eighth in the table below and also the last country to offer odds of less than 2. In fact, a place inside the Top 10 for Marina Satti returns up to 1.91 times the stake.

Beyond that, the Netherlands‘ elimination from the grand final “opens up a spot” within the Top 10 that was considered by many to be a lock. Automatically, it opens the way for two more spots for the top 10 of the ranking. Thus, Sweden is considered the ninth most likely to make the top ten and Armenia the tenth most likely. Both are being played at odds close to 2.5.

Conclusions

We are only a few hours away from the most dramatic final in Eurovision history, which has been tainted by the events of the last few days in Malmö. Leaving aside everything that has marked the contest so far, tonight’s final is the most controversial of all time, where no one can accurately predict what will happen. All possibilities are open and no outcome will come as a surprise.

Which country do you think will win the 68th Eurovision Song Contest?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Eurovision 2024: How to vote for Greece in the Grand Final!

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The Grand Final of the 68th Eurovision Contest is up upon and that’s the way to vote Greece and Marina Satti.

The voting process this year starts from the beginning of the first participating country, so viewers will have much time to vote for their favorite song.

Greece and Marina Satti need your support and your vote and that’s how you can vote for her!


Marina Satti will perform “Zari” in the 12th place of the Grand Final.

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the upcoming news of the contest.!

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Eurovision 2024: Family Show of the Grand Final- Live Commentary (Updated Live)

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The family show of the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 has just begun. The family show is the afternoon show before the live broadcast that starts at 21:00 CET, where the artists perform once again their entries. The Family Show is more financially convenient, identical to the live one for families and takes place earlier on the same day of the Grand Final.

EurovisionFun will be watching all the shows live both at the on-site press centre in Malmö and at the online press centre and will be commenting on the full performances of the 26 participating countries.

This article gets updated in real time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!

So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all the details, preparing you for what you will see in tonight’s Final, at 21:00 CEST.

The competition part

Sweden

Another professional performance by Marcus & Martinus. They are superstars and we can all tell! I can see a top ten coming for Sweden.

Ukraine

A touching performance by Jerry Heil and Alyona Alyona. They are contenders to win the contest and every performance of them is magical.

Germany

Amazing vocals and a fiery performance, but they are not enough. The song feels bland.

Luxembourg

A great comeback for Luxembourg. Tali looks and sounds amazing. We hope all the best for the Duchy!

Israel

Another touching performance by Eden. This is how a ballad can be performed in a modern way. Eden is not separated by her dancers, they are all a part of the same “symphony”.

Lithuania

Love the performance. No one in the audience can stay still when Silvester performs and his energy is haunting.

Spain

The crowd goes crazy for “ZORRA”. The fans love it and every performance is stunning.

Estonia

Not a fan of this entry but the crowd also loves it.

Ireland

Bambie did not take the stage today as an incident happened. Another performance of Bambie was played instead.

Latvia

Another good performance by Dons, no changes in this rehearsal.

Greece

Marina sounded and looked great today. Despite having a cold, her vocals were on point.

United Kingdom

Olly gave a great performance and despite a minor mistake in the shots, this looked great.

Norway

Gåte never fail to deliver a great performance, and so they did during this rehearsal. Big applause at the Arena!

Italy

Angelina and her dancers are wearing the black outfits and honestly this looks great. Bravo Italia!

Serbia

Vocally on point, Teya gave another great performance.

Finland

This entry might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the crowd in the arena seems to love it!

Portugal

Minimalistic perfection. Great vocals by Iolanda and an applause at the Press Centre!

Armenia

Such a catchy entry. Audience was singing along! Armenia bringing the great vibes that we need.

Cyprus

Only 17 years old and such a class act. Silia gave -another- great performance!

Switzerland

Nemo is just incredible. This performance is just breathtaking. Definitely a contender for the victory.

Slovenia

A solid performance by Raiven. Vocally on point.

Croatia

In every single performance, Baby Lasagna nailed it. Is this the Eurovision 2024 winner? We will find out tonight!

Georgia

Vocals? On point. Visuals? On point. Georgia is deservingly back in the Grand Final.

France

In the middle of the performance, Slimane stopped singing and gave a message of peace and unity. Big applause at the Press Centre.

Austria

Kaleen sounded and looked great. A great entry to close the Grand Final.

Interval Acts

Abba appeared via holograms leading to Charlotte Perrelli, Carola and Conchita singing “Waterloo”!

The results 

These results are neither valid nor real, but they come about in order to serve the rehearsal’s purposes, but the winner was Estonia.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the XX participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

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Eurovision 2024: Tonight the Grand Final!

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The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is being completed today in Malmo with the Grand Final.

Twenty six countries will participate in tonight’s show, aiming to be the winner of Eurovision 2024 that will be crowned in a few hours from now.

The presenters for tonight’s event, as well as all shows until Saturday, will be Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman.

The 26 participating countries in tonight’s Grand Final are:

R/O COUNTRY ARTIST SONG
1 Sweden Marcus & Martinus “Unforgettable”
2 Ukraine alyona alyona & Jerry Heil “Teresa & Maria”
3 Germany Isaak “Always on the Run”
4 Luxembourg Tali “Fighter”
5 Netherlands Joost Klein “Europapa”
6 Israel Eden Golan “Hurricane”
7 Lithuania Silvester Belt “Luktelk”
8 Spain Nebulossa “Zorra”
9 Estonia 5miinust & Puuluup “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”
10 Ireland Bambie Thug “Doomsday Blue”
11 Latvia Dons “Hollow”
12 Greece Marina Satti “Zari”
13 United Kingdom Olly Alexander “Dizzy”
14 Norway Gåte “Ulveham”
15 Italy Angelina Mango “La noia”
16 Serbia Teya Dora “Ramonda”
17 Finland Windows95man “No Rules!”
18 Portugal Iolanda “Grito”
19 Armenia Ladaniva “Jako”
20 Cyprus Silia Kapsis “Liar”
21 Switzerland Nemo “The Code”
22 Slovenia Raiven “Veronika”
23 Croatia Baby Lasagna “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”
24 Georgia Nutsa Buzaladze “Firefighter”
25 France Slimane “Mon amour”
26 Austria Kaleen “We Will Rave​”

Tonight 50% of the final result is decided, after last night’s jury show that the remaining 50% was voted.

The Grand Final kicks off at 21:00 CET, and you can watch it live on the official Eurovision YouTube channel, as well as on various public broadcaster across Europe.

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