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Greece: Vasilis Kourtis submitted his proposal to ERT! | EXCLUSIVE

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One of the most anticipated candidates for claiming the Greek representation in Eurovision 2023, was submitted moments ago in ERT. We refer to the candidacy of the 28 year old tenor Vasilis Kourtis.

The submission of the proposal of Vasilis Kourtis for Eurovision 2023 was something that we have already inclined you towards early on. Vasilis was one of our proposals in the summer and now he takes part in ERT’s internal selection process for the artist that is going to represent us in Liverpool the coming May in the 67th Edition of Eurovision Song Contest.

 

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What does Vasilis Kourtis’s proposal include?

Vasilis Kourtis’s proposal contains one song. It is an epic, festive ballad that compliments his range and vocal abilities, that of course is one of the strong points of his candidacy.

The lyrics of the song are signed by Sharon Vaughn (Ireland 2012, Russia 2019, Greece 2021, Estonia 2021, Moldova 2021) and describe the silence that comes in a relationship after a breakup. The song is quite dark and creates a lot of feelings and pictures in your head.

It is a very carefully crafted proposal, with a song that fits perfectly, artistically, musically and aesthetically to Vasilis Kourtis and is one of the candidacies that are definitely going to concern us.

If Vasilis Kourtis gets selected as our representative, expert Fokas Evangelinos is going to take over the direction, Ilias Kokotos the general admission of the attempt and Dimitris Kontopoulos the musical revision.

 

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Who is Vasilis Kourtis?

Vasilis Kourtis chased his dream from a very young age far from his homeland Larisa, he is just at his 28 and has studies and collaborations to boast with the greatest of the genre, building with talent, hard work and planning a bright future.

His artistic plans include discography prescence and international career centered by his other passion, theater.

Vasilis Kourtis started his studies in classical singing at age 12 with the world renowned Greek soprano Katerina Oikonomou while he was attending piano lessons. In 2013 he attended classical singing masterclass at Milano, Italy with the Russian instructor Tamara Novichenko (Anna Netrebko) and later in that year – aged 19 – traveled to London in order to continue his musical studies.

More specifically, he attended acting lessons at “Giles Foreman Center for Acting”, vocal lessons with Mark Meylan and dancing lessons at “Pineapple Studios” with Maria Yacoob.

@vasiliskourtis ‘Scream’ cover #fyp #coversong #singing ♬ original sound – vasiliskourtis

A year later he continued his studies in musical theater at “Arts Educational Schools London“. He has collaborated with renowned Greek composers, songwriters and performers. He has collaborated with Orchestra Camerata “Armonia Atenea” at “The Beatles Tribute Project” and also with ERT’s Contemporary Music Orchestra.

The productions he has made are “West Side Story” at Megaron-The Athens Concert Hall (2016), “Erotokritos” at the Greek National Opera (2017) and the original musical “Moby Dick” at Pallas Theatre in which he starred as Starbuck (2020).

He has also completed two summer tours (2020-2021) in Greece and Cyprus with the world renowned tenor Marios Fragkoulis, their last destination being Odeon of Herodes Atticus for the play “Cielo Y Mar”. He has recently released his two first original songs. His ambition is to play at West End and at Broadway and this is the reason that led him back at the United Kingdom to prepeare and attend to castings in order to make his dream come true.

Would you like to see Vasilis Kourtis represent Greece in Eurovision 2023? Write in the comments below!

Don’t miss our YouTube livestream at Sunday at 00:00, after the closing of the submission window at ERT for Eurovision 2023, where we are going to discuss all the candidacies and reveal unknown details.

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

 

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

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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.

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

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!

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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!