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Greece: These are the results of the vote of the Audience Jury!

Yesterday, Wednesday 28/12, the 70 members of the Audience Jury heard for the first time the 7 candidate songs of ERT for Eurovision 2023. In a well-organized process by all accounts, we also have a first fairly reliable picture of the voting results. Eurovisionfun having contacted many of the committee members, but also from social media posts, related forums and groups dealing with the Eurovision contest, we are able to reveal to you the results of the voting.

So, based on all the above, the three songs that are leading in the Audience Jury’s rating are the following:

  • Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar
  • Klavdia – Holy Water
  • Victor Vernicos – What they say

We may not know the exact order of the above three songs, but without any doubt they are the three songs that the Audience Committee singled out and were first in their preferences.

On the other hand, the three songs that seem to be in the last three places of preference of the Audience Committee are the following:

  • Monika – I’m Proud
  • Konstantina Iosifidou – We’re young
  • Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragou – Shout out

Right in the middle of the preferences, it seems, is the participation of Leon of Athens – Somewhere to go.

Η επιτροπή κοινού κατά τη διάρκεια της ακρόασης των 7 τραγουδιών

Similar results to those of the Audience Committee were also given by our readers, where with more than 2,000 different votes, they have approximately the same ranking in their preferences. You can see the results of our Poll HERE.

We remind you that the vote of the Audience Jury constitutes 50.6% of the final result, with 49.4% determined by the seven-member jury of ERT.

Immediately after the New Year, the artists and their groups will meet the artistic committee and the management of ERT in separate appointments, in order to present their plans for the stage appearance, the promotion of the song, etc., if they are selected. The artistic committee will then give their own score, where combined with the score of the Audience Committee, they will determine the artist and the song that will represent Greece in Liverpool. The announcement is expected by mid-January.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Greece: These are the titles of the 7 shortlisted songs for Eurovision 2023!

The titles of the 7 shortlisted songs have been announced today by the Greek Public Broadcaster ERT. One of these will represent Greece at Eurovision 2023.

The titles are:

  • Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragkou – Shout Out! 
  • Konstantina Iosifidou – We are Young
  • Klavdia – Holy Water
  • Leon of Athens – Somewhere to Go
  • Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar
  • Monika – I’ m Proud
  • Victor Vernicos – What They Say

The Greek entry for Eurovision 2023 will be selected by a combined vote of a demoscopic jury counting for 50,6% and a professional jury counting for 49,4%, a voting pattern similar to the new system which was announced a few months ago by EBU, to be used at the Grand Final of Eurovision 2023.


Don’t miss our YouTube live at 20.00 Greek Time, where we’ll be talking all about everything, commenting on today’s announcements and the voting process of the public committee!

 

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on the Greek entry and more!

source: ΕΡΤ

Greece: The 7 artists of ERT’s shortlist have been revealed!

After the completion of the voting of the public committee – demoscopic jury, the names of the seven artists who remain in the running to represent Greece at Eurovision 2023 were revealed! These are four female and two male solo artists as well as a female duet!

Who are the 7  shortlisted artists?

ERT’s seven-member panel of experts selected the seven songs which were evaluated today by the 70-member demoscopic jury. The lucky eurofans, who were randomly selected by an electronic draw among approximately 3,000 applicants, had the opportunity to listen to the seven songs, one of which is the 43rd Greek entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Immediately after the voting was over, ERT, in order to prevent any leaks, revealed the names of the seven artists who are in the final phase of the selection process.

But let’s see in detail who are the seven artists who are still hoping to represent Greece in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool next May!

(The names are in alphabetical order)

Konstantina Iosifidou

The young singer-songwriter Konstantina Iosifidou, who is part of the Final Touch record label (label of Walnut entertainment), submitted her proposal for Greece’s participation in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest to ERT. Her song is an English pop-rock ballad with lyrics and music by her. It is an anthem for the joy of life, love and freedom of youth.

Konstantina Iosifidou is 22 years old and became known through her participation in The Voice of Greece in 2018 in the team of Panos Mouzourakis. In 2022, the young and talented Konstantina made her recording debut with the song ‘Let you go‘.

Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragkou

One of the surprises of this year’s shortlist is the female duo of Antonia Kaouri and Maria Maragkou. Apart from her solo entry, Antonia Kaouri also submitted a duet with Maria Maragou, which managed to make it to the final selection phase.

You have been reading about Antonia Kaouri for quite some time on Eurovisionfun, and she was one of our suggestions this summer. Antonia has released two singles since her participation in The Voice of Greece. Kostis Maraveyas described her as one of the best young pop artists of Greece. Antonia is signed by MINOS EMI.

Maria Maragkou is an actress, but she loves singing just as much. Her origin is from the island of Syros, and as you will see, apart from a very beautiful voice, she has a unique look. Undoubtedly, this is a female duet that would not remain unnoticed.

Klavdia

Klavdia Papadopoulou is yet another artist who gained recognition in The Voice of Greece. Klavdia’s submission, with her very special voice and the signature of the ARCADE songwriting and production team, managed to qualify for the final selection phase.

The song she submitted to ERT is an English melodic slow ballad with a build-up, adressing important social issues. The song showcases the young singer’s powerful voice and features emotional explosions. Klavdia is one of PANIK Records‘ proposals.

Leon of Athens

Another one of our summer proposals that shows up in the final shortlist of ERT is Timoleon Veremis aka Leon of Athens. The successful songwriter, who already has Eurovision experience, since he is one of the creators of Greece’s 2019 entry with Katerine Douska, wants to return as a performer this time around.

The creator of the song is himself, together with David Sneddon, and if we could describe his entry we would say that it is a happy uptempo song, with 80s vibes, reminiscent of Harry Styles’ latest releases. The lyrics of the song are in English. Leon of Athens is the proposal of Cobalt Music.

Melissa Mantzoukis

The finalist of German Pop Idol, Melissa Mantzoukis was another one of Eurovisionfun’s suggestions last summer for the Greek representation at Eurovision 2023.

Melissa’s proposal includes a song, written by a team of Greek and Dutch songwriters. Melissa recorded it this summer in Greece during her summer holidays. It is a modern pop dance track, which could easily be played in all the clubs. The song is a female emprowerment anthem, adressing the issue of how each modern woman has to find the confidence and protect herself from all the toxic and offensive behaviors she faces.

Monika

One of the surprises of this year’s Greek Eurovision selection process was the participation of Monika. Monica Christodoulou aka Monica or Monika is undoubtedly one of the biggest names taking part.

She and her team put a lot of thought into the song they submitted. It wasn’t the only one, as they submitted a total of three songs, one of which made it to the final shortlist. Her entry is a mid tempo track in her unique musical style and has English lyrics. Royal Music is the record label that signs her entry.

Victor Vernicos

Victor Vernicos Jorgensen is the youngest participant of this year’s selection process, as he is only 16 years old. Despite his young age, his remarkable talent led him to the final shortlist.

Victor writes, arranges and produces his songs himself.  That was the case with the song he submitted to ERT. His song is an English ballad and can be described as very emotional and powerful. It’s a song that wouldn’t be out of place in a Scandinavian National Final, which is not surprising considering Victor also has Danish roots. Victor Vernicos is a proposal of PANIK Records.

What’s next?

After the completion of the voting by the demoscopic jury, the shortlisted artists will meet privately with the 7-member panel of experts and the ERT management.

The artists and their teams will get to present their plans and vision for their participation, if they are selected. The professional team who will accompany them in Liverpool, their plans for directing and staging, promotion etc will be discussed. These meetings are very important, as last year they played a pivotal role in the selection of Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord and Die Together.

After the completion of the meetings, the ERT panel – expert’s jury will convene again to give their own rating. The final result will be decided by the public – demoscopic jury’s rating (50.6%) and the expert jury’s rating (49.4%), the same way the results of Eurovision 2023 final will be determined.

A final decision and announcement of the artist and the song that will represent Greece in the upcoming song contest is expected by mid-January.

Who will get to fly the Greek flag in Liverpool? Tell us in the comments below!


We would like to wish all 7 (+1, as we have a duet) artists good luck! May the best song win and he, she or they bring us the best result in Liverpool!

Congratulations to each and every one the artists who continue to hope for the Greek representation, and to all those who submitted entries but weren’t chosen to be in the shortlist.


Don’t miss our YouTube live at 20.00 CET, where we’ll be talking all about everything, commenting on today’s announcements and the voting process of the public committee!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for real-time developments about Greece in Eurovision 2023!

Greece: Leon of Athens submitted his proposal to ERT!

Leon of Athens has submitted his complete proposal to ERT, in order to bid for the Greek representation in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, fully confirming our coverage earlier this summer, which had the artist interested in flying the Greek flag at Eurovision 2023.

What does Leon of Athens’ proposal include?

His proposal includes a happy, up-tempo track with a retro mood. We’d say that as a genre it belongs to British pop, and could be a Harry Styles song.

The creation of the track belongs to him, and to David Sneddon, both creators of Katerina Duska‘s Better Love.

If Leon of Athens is chosen as the Greek representative, the master of the genre Fokas Evagelinos will take over the direction, Ilias Kokotos the general management of the project and Dimitris Kontopoulos will be the sound manager during the rehearsals, just as happened with Amanda.

Who is Leon of Athens?

Leon of Athens is 35 years old. Besides being a performer, he is a composer and lyricist. In 2019, he was among the creators of Better Love, the song with which Katerina Douska represented Greece at Eurovision that year.

He started playing classical guitar at the age of 6 and at the age of 15 he created his first band “The Secret Show”. Although he was born and raised in Athens, he has spent a lot of time between America and London over the last 10 years, with Greece remaining his great love.

Timoleon Veremis was born in London and studied at one of the best music schools of Los Angeles. Another greek nominee with a solid education.

Leon of Athens is owned by the Cobalt record label. Below you can listen to one of his latest songs:

Would you like to see Leon of Athens representing Greece at Eurovision 2023? Let us know in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest news regarding the Greek participation in Eurovision 2023!

 

Greece: More than 20 songs have already been submitted | EXCLUSIVE

While there are still three weeks before the expiration of the deadline (set out by ERT) for record labels and production companies to submit their proposals for Eurovision 2023, the songs submitted so far amount to more than 20!

We can exclusively reveal that submitted entries have exceeded 20, while not a single song had been received at the same time last year! As we pointed out before, the 43 songs that took part in last year’s selection procedure is going to be easily surpassed. This highlights the impact of ERT’s good choices in recent years.

What is also surprising is that we now have artists, representing various music genres; this involves genres that the public is not used to see representing Greece in ESC.

The ERT’s shift to more western-style entries has aroused the interest of several artists who, until a few years ago, did not even consider Eurovision as an option.

The names that have, in one way or another, expressed their intention to submit a proposal to ERT for Eurovision 2023 are the following:

  • Antonia Kaouri
  • Aretha
  • Artemis Matafia
  • Cynthia Verazie
  • Evangelia
  • Joanne
  • Klavdia
  • Leon of Athens
  • Melissa Mantzoukis
  • Operatical
  • Vasilis Kourtis

Of course, as we move towards the end of the deadline on October 9, others will be added to list above. Eurovisionfun will follow the developments closely, and inform you of everything that comes up.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Everything we know so far about the candidates interested in representing Greece at Eurovision 2023!

Three weeks are left for those interested in representing Greece at Eurovision 2023. During this period more names will be published, in order for the candidate puzzle regarding ERT‘s internal selection process for the song and artist that will represent Greece in the upcoming contest to be complete.

The process followed by ERT

The deadline that ERT gave to artists, production companies and record labels in order to submit their proposals for a chance to claim the Greek representation at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, is closing at October 9th.

Subsequently, the members from an artistic committee, headed by songwriter and board of directors member  Dimitris Papadimitriou, will be individually called for listening to the submitted songs and reviewing them. A small number of songs that has gained the committee members’ approval will progress to the second and final phase (last year it was five songs).

The performing artists of these songs will be called to ERT’s headquarters at Agia Paraskevi along with their teams, in order to present their plans for the contest (staging, promotion plan) in front of ERT’s management and the committee members and to answer any possible questions.

Subsequently, if the artists have progressed to the second phase of the process and have appeared at ERT’s broadcasts, the lucky one that will wave the Greek flag at the United Kingdom in May will be announced.

The candidates

Plenty of artists have confirmed their participation in the internal selection process, either publicly or through information that arrived at Eurovisionfun.

Antonia Kaouri

The talented performer from MINOS EMI that last year was a Greek jury member for Eurovision 2022, is intensively prepearing for the proposal she is about to submit at ERT. Her striking appearance and her unique voice tone are her greatest weapons. Antonia Kaouri will enter the studio very soon and we will reveal to you more information regarding her proposal.

Vasilis Kourtis

The announcement of his candidacy through Eurovisionfun since the summer, received an especially positive feedback. It will be the first time that Greece will be represented by a tenor, of course if he gets selected by ERT for Eurovision 2023. Having done some incredible collaborations and theatrical and musical studies that a very select few have in our country, Vasilis Kourtis looks like the perfect representative to many, and not unfairly. Vasilis has already recorded the song he is going to submit to ERT. His song bears Dimitris Kontopoulos’s signature, something that makes his candidacy a whole lotta interesting.

Areti Kosmidou (Aretha)

The runner-up from the first season of The Voice of Greece returned to Greece after years of living abroad. In a television interview Areti Kosmidou has revealed that one of the reasons she returned, is a proposal’s sumbission to ERT for Eurovision 2023. She revealed that she has already completed two songs. It’s about one electro pop song more mainstream than the indie pop style she was following at the dawn of her career.

Evangelia

One more candidacy that became known since early on was the one from Evangelia. The young artist that has recently released a duet with our last representative Amanda, since the end of the previous contest has announced that is going to submit songs to ERT for Eurovision 2023. She was among the last year’s candidates too, but she couldn’t manage to be in the top five. Evangelia hasn’t submitted her proposal yet, but according to what she revealed recently, she is at the last phase of her preperation.

Artemis Matafia

One more artist that was among the candidates for Eurovision 2022. She will submit two songs to ERT, just like she did last year.

Joanne

The winner of The Voice of Greece, Joanne, as we were informed during the summer by her recording label MINOS EMI, will attempt claiming the Greek representation in Eurovision 2023 for a second year in a row. Like Evangelia, Joanne also couldn’t manage to be in the top five, something that she thinks she will overturn this year. More information about the personnel of her proposal have not been published yet.

Klavdia

Klavdia is well known through The Voice of Greece, too. Exclusively collaborating with ARCADE, Klavdia is more than possible going to submit a song of theirs to ERT. A very promising collaboration, that creates great anticipation for the result.

Melissa Mantzoukis

19-year-old Melissa Mantzoukis, some months ago, achieved finishing at the third place of German Idol, having won over both the juries and the TV viewers. In the summer, as you have been informed through Eurovisionfun, she was in Greece to record two songs that is about to submit to ERT within the next period. We will reveal to you more information regarding Melissa’s proposal just as it gets submitted to ERT. One more candidacy that is being prepared for months and deserves our attention.

Leon of Athens

Leon of Athens is one of the creators of our 2019 participation. Towards the end of summer, he was at England recording the song he and his record label COBALT are about to submit to ERT. In his proposal Dream Team is also going to be involved, something practically meaning that the dreamy team will be in more than one proposals from the selection process.

Cynthia Verazie

Supported by Mike Connaris that represented Cyprus twice in the contest, Cynthia Verazie of polish decent that became known to our country through Rising Star and has been living in Norway for the last few years, making a career there, has already submitted her proposal to ERT.

To the aforementioned names, of course, as we move on to the end of the deadline, more will be added, with the number surpassing the 43 that were submitted last year. As you may have guessed, Eurovisionfun is tracking the news very closely and is informing you for any news available.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news!

 

Greece: Leon of Athens’ proposal for Eurovision 2023 in collaboration with Dream Team | EXCLUSIVE

You were already informed – for months now – through Eurovsionfun that Leon of Athens is about to sumbit a proposal to ERT for Eurovision 2023. However, today we are going to reveal one more hint that will bring his candidacy at the center of attention even more.

According to our exclusive information, both the artist and people from the recording label COBALT, have come into contact with the very well known and successful team in the contest – Dream Team (Fokas Evangelinos, Ilias Kokotos, Dimitris Kontopoulos) – in order to take over the project together, if the proposal they submit to ERT gets selected.

This practically means that Fokas Evangelinos will take over the direction, Ilias Kokotos will be in charge of general management for the project and Dimitris Kontopoulos will most probably be involved in the final production of the song and be resposible for the sound engineering during rehearsals, just as it happened with Amanda earlier this year.

We remind you that the song Leon of Athens is going to submit has already been written during his stay in London at the end of August. It is expected to be at Leon’s usual style. So far, he hasn’t sumbitted his proposal to ERT, but this is going to happen in the following days until October 9th, the deadline for song submissions.

Dream Team has collaborated with COBALT last year too, because they would have taken over Good Job Nicky if he was selected by ERT. Last year, both MINOS and PANIK had adressed a similar suggestion to Dream Team for taking over their artists.

It remains to be seen how many proposals Dream Team is involved into in this year’s greek participation selection process.

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the latest news!