Antique is a Greek singing duo consisting of Helena Paparizou and Nikos Panagiotidis, originating from Sweden and combining Greek popular music and lyrics with a Nordic dance-pop beat. Both Paparizou and Panagiotidis were born and raised in Sweden by Greek parents. They were the first ever to be nominated for a Swedish Grammis in the category modern dance with a Greek song. In 2001, Antique were selected to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with the song "Die for You", sung in a blend of English and Greek, ending with a third place – only behind Estonia and hosts Denmark. This group is famous in Scandinavian countries, Cyprus, Greece, Germany and Italy. After 19 years of hiatus the group reunited in March 2022 in Greece releasing a cover hit song from 90's meant to be their comeback in music industry.
Helena Paparizou is a Greek singer, songwriter and television personality. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, she enrolled in various arts schools before launching a career in Sweden in 1999 as a member of the laïko and Eurodance duo Antique, who participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 and afterwards became popular.
"My Number One" is a song recorded by Greek-Swedish singer Helena Paparizou with music composed by Manolis Psaltakis and Christos Dantis, lyrics written by Dantis and Natalia Germanou, and produced by Dantis. It represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, held in Kyiv, resulting in the country's only ever victory in the contest.
Giorgos Alkaios is a Greek recording artist. His career began in 1989 after appearing on a Greek reality show. Following a brief period of stage acting, Alkaios dedicated himself to music. His first single, "Ti Ti", made him popular in Greece. His distinctive musical style fuses Greek and Oriental elements with modern pop music. To date he has been certified with 5 platinum and 9 gold albums. Alkaios represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "OPA", and placed 8th in the Final.
Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 44 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time. Greece's first win came in 2005 with "My Number One", sung by Helena Paparizou. The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), broadcasts the event each year and organises the process for the selection of the Greek entry. Greece has never finished last in the contest.
Greece won the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, its first Eurovision Song Contest victory. Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Helena Paparizou who sang "My Number One" in Kyiv, winning the competition with 230 points. The song is written by Manos Psaltakis, Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou. "My Number One" was selected through a national final on 2 March 2005, where the public and a professional jury chose it over three other candidate songs.
"Yassou Maria" is a song recorded by Cypriot-British singer Sarbel, with music composed by Alex Papakonstantinou and Marcus Englöf and lyrics written by Markus Sepehrmanesh. It represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, held in Helsinki, placing seventh.
Greece entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Secret Combination", written by Konstantinos Pantzis with lyrics by Poseidonas Giannopoulos. The song was performed by Kalomira, an American singer of Greek descent who had previously won a Greek talent show. In February 2008, as part of Ellinikós Telikós 2008, the selection process organized by the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), three competing artists—Chrispa, Kostas Martakis, and Kalomira—performed their prospective entries live during a televised broadcast watched by nearly two million viewers. "Secret Combination" was selected to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest by a combination of a public televote and panel of judges.
"Secret Combination" is a song by Greek-American singer Kalomira. Described as an American production of "perky pop" and R&B, the track was composed by Poseidonas Giannopoulos with lyrics by Konstantinos Pantzis. It was released on 26 February 2008 by Heaven Music and served as the first single released from Kalomira's fourth studio album, Secret Combination: The Album. The song was the Greek entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Belgrade, where it placed third behind Russia and Ukraine.
Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, held on 12 May 2001 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process entitled Ellinikós Telikós 2001 to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 6 March 2001 in Athens, the event saw nine songs compete to be the Greek entry; the results were determined by a combination of jury and televoting. The song "Die for You", written by Nikos Terzis and Antonis Pappas, and performed by Antique received the most votes and was selected to represent the nation. Greece performed 22nd out of the 23 countries competing in the contest and placed third with 147 points, marking their highest placement in the annual event to this point.
To Party Arhizei is the first official large-scale concert tour by Greek contemporary laïka and pop singer Helena Paparizou and her first tour of Greece as a solo artist. The tour took place during the summer of 2008, and kicked off at the National Stadium in Kalamata on July 2, 2008, ending in Athens on September 19, 2008. The final concert at Theatro Vrahon in Athens was recorded, and released as a bonus DVD on Vrisko To Logo Na Zo: Deluxe Edition titled Live in Concert. Overall, the concert tour was a moderate success for Paparizou, with an audience total of approximately 192,000 over 29 concerts and one sold-out venue. Alpha TV broadcast the concert on television on December 30, 2008 as part of their holiday music schedule.
Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "This Is Our Night" written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, Craig Porteils and Cameron Giles-Webb and performed by Sakis Rouvas. To select their entry for the 2009 contest, which was held in Moscow, Russia, the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Rouvas, while his song was chosen through the televised national final Ellinikós Telikós 2009, which consisted of three candidate songs voted upon by the public and a jury.
Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, held on 25 May 2002 at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process entitled Ellinikós Telikós 2002 to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 26 February 2002 in Athens, the event saw 10 entries compete to be the Greek entry; the results were determined by a combination of jury, SMS and televoting. The song "S.A.G.A.P.O.", written and performed by Michalis Rakintzis received the most votes and was selected to represent the nation. Greece performed fourth out of the 24 countries competing in the contest and placed 17th with 27 points.
Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Opa", written by Giorgos Alkaios, Giannis Antoniou and Friends Music Factory. The song was performed by Alkaios and Friends. To select their entry for the 2010 contest, which took place in Oslo, Norway, Greek national television broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised the national final Ellinikós Telikós 2010 which took place on 12 March 2010. The event was initially to include 10 songs, however there was one withdrawal and two disqualifications prior to the night of the competition.
Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Their selected song "Aphrodisiac" was written by Dimitri Stassos, Mikaela Stenström and Dajana Lööf, and was performed by Eleftheria Eleftheriou, who had previously attempted to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The entry was selected through the televised national final Ellinikós Telikós, organised by the country's public broadcasting service Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and held on 12 March 2012 at the River West shopping mall in Athens. Due to the debt crisis facing Greece at the time, the record label of the entry was expected to take on the costs of recording and producing the candidate songs. Universal Music Greece was the only label to accept these terms and put forth four competing acts for consideration. The winning act was selected using a combination of jury and televoting. Following the national final, Eleftheriou embarked on a promotional campaign visiting Turkey and the Netherlands.
The discography of Antique, a Swedish-Greek laïko and Eurodance musical duo, consists of three studio albums, two hybrid albums, two extended plays (EP), three compilation albums, nine singles, four promotional singles, and 12 music videos and 50 recorded songs. In 1999 Helena Paparizou and Nikos Panagiotidis, two Swedes born to Greek immigrant parents, recorded a demo of the Notis Sfakianakis hit "Opa Opa", leading to the formation of Antique and a contract with the newly formed Swedish indie label Bonnier Music. "Opa Opa" was released as a single in August. Becoming popular with the diaspora initially, it became a top ten hit across Scandinavia, while also charting in Romania, Germany, and Switzerland. It was the first Greek-language song to reach the Swedish top five and was certified platinum and Antique were the first act to be nominated at the Grammis with a Greek-language song. The follow-up single "Dinata Dinata" also reached the top ten and was certified gold. Their debut album, Mera Me Ti Mera, was released later that year, infusing Greek laïko music with Eurodance beats in a blend of both Greek and English lyrics. The album peaked at number 27 on the Swedish Albums Chart and spawned a further single, the title track. They released a self-titled EP of remixes of their first two hits in 2000.
Despina Olympiou, also known as Dena Olympiou, is a Greek-Cypriot singer, famous in her homeland as well as in Greece. She represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden.
Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Undo" written by Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger and Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah. The song was performed by Sanna Nielsen. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2014 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Undo" performed by Sanna Nielsen emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.
Ellinikós Telikós is a song contest which takes place every year in Athens, Greece to decide the artist who would represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest started in 1979, when Elpida took the title. Over the years, the contest took place in various venues, from TV studios to concert halls. The most famous winners include Helena Paparizou, Kalomira, Sakis Rouvas, Anna Vissi, and Katy Garbi.
"Oniro mou" is a song performed by Greek singer Yianna Terzi. The song was released as a CD single and digital download on 15 February 2018 through Panik Records, and was written by Terzi along with Aris Kalimeris, Dimitris Stamatiou, and Mihalis Papathanasiou. It represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
