Dafni Bokota (Greek : Δάφνη Μπόκοτα; born 1960) is a Greek singer, presenter and former spokesperson for the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).
Dafni Bokota was born in Koukaki, Athens, Greece in 1960. She studied English and French literature and while working in ERT and released an LP with her own compositions. The title of the record was Dafni Bokota kai Saboter and the singles "Diva" and "Viper Nora" were hits. She had tried to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 with her song "Juliet". Bokota is best known for presenting for ERT the Jeux Sans Frontières and the Eurovision Song Contest, the latter for eighteen years from 1987 until 2004. [1] In 2005, she was fired and replaced by Swedish born reporter Alexandra Pascalidou to present the 2005 contest. [2] After the event, she published a book with her memories of the Contest, which was published in two editions. [1]
Bokota is married and has a son.[ citation needed ] She is involved in the politics, while in 2003-04 she was a judge in the Greek reality TV show Fame Story .
The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the 2002 contest with the song "I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), the contest was held at the Skonto Hall on 24 May 2003. The contest was presented by last year's winner Marie N and former contestant Renārs Kaupers.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the 2005 contest with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the contest was held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, and consisted of a semi-final on 18 May, and a final on 20 May 2006. The two live shows were presented by American television personality Maria Menounos and Greek former contestant Sakis Rouvas.
Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Why Angels Cry" written by Peter Yiannakis and performed by Annet Artani. The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the national final A Song for Europe to select the Cypriot entry for the 2006 contest, which took place in Athens, Greece. The selection event saw 20 candidate entries compete over two semi-finals, leading to a 10-participant final round on 22 February 2006. Despite the event experiencing controversy due to a perceived lack of transparency, the results were upheld.
Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, which was held in Athens, Greece following the nation's win at the previous year's contest. The Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Anna Vissi to represent the country. Her song "Everything" was determined on 14 March 2006 during a four-song national final titled Feel the Party. "Everything" was composed by Nikos Karvelas and written by Vissi.
Iceland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Congratulations" written by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir and Gaukur Úlfarsson. The song was performed by Silvía Night. The Icelandic entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece was selected through the national final Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2006, organised by the Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV). The selection consisted of three semi-finals and a final, held on 21 January, 28 January, 4 February and 18 February 2006, respectively. Eight songs competed in each semi-final with the top four as selected by a public televote alongside two jury wildcards advancing to the final. In the final, "Til hamingju Ísland" performed by Silvía Nótt emerged as the winner exclusively through public televoting. The song was later translated from Icelandic to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Congratulations", while her stage name was changed to Silvía Night.
Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Together We Are One" written by Orly Burg, Osnat Zabag and Eddie Butler. The song was performed by Eddie Butler, who had previously represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1999 as part of the band Eden where they placed fifth with the song "Yom Huledet". The Israeli entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece was selected through the national final Kdam Eurovision 2006, organised by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The competition took place on 15 March 2006 and featured eleven entries. "Ze Hazman" performed by Eddie Butler emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from four regional juries and a public vote. The song title was later translated from Hebrew to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Together We Are One".
Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Ela Ela ", which was written and performed by Constantinos Christoforou. Christoforou was internally selected by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in November 2004 to represent the nation at the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. His song was selected through a national final, which was organised by CyBC and took place on 1 February 2005. The national final featured four songs performed by Christoforou and resulted in the selection of "Ela Ela " through a combination of public televote and jury deliberation.
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.
Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, held at the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Sakis Rouvas with the song "Shake It", written by Nikos Terzis and Nektarios Tyrakis, to represent the nation. Prior to Rouvas' selection, the broadcaster had organised a public selection process entitled Eurostar, consisting of live semi-final heats, leading to a three-participant national final to select their entrant. While the event did take place and Apostolos Psichramis was selected as the Greek entrant, the song selection portion did not materialize after the Rouvas announcement and Psichramis instead joined Rouvas as a backing vocalist.
"Congratulations" was the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in English by Silvía Night.
Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Comme ci, comme ça" written by Dimitris Korgialas and Poseidonas Yiannopoulos. The song was performed by Evridiki, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in January 2007 to represent Cyprus at the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. Evridiki had previously represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 and 1994 where she both placed 11th. The Cypriot song, "Comme ci, comme ça", was presented to the public on 23 February 2007 during the special show Cyprus 12 Points, Chypre 12 Points. This was the first time that Cyprus was represented with a song performed entirely in the French language at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Greece participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Yassou Maria", written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Marcus Englöf and Markus Sepehrmanesh. The song was performed by Sarbel. To select their entry for the 2007 contest, which took place in Helsinki, Finland, Greek national television broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised the national final Eurovision 2007 which took place on 28 February 2007. The event saw three acts—Sarbel, Tamta and Christos Dantis—compete to be the Greek representative.
Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. The song was written by Mike Connaris, who had twice written a runner up in Eurovision selection process for the United Kingdom.
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.
Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, held on 24 May 2003 at the Skonto Hall in Riga, Latvia. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process entitled Ena tragoudi gia tin Evropi to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 26 February 2003 in Athens, the event saw 10 songs compete to be the Greek entry; the results were determined by a combination of jury, SMS and televoting. Singer Mando with the song "Never Let You Go" received the most votes and was selected to represent the nation. The song was written by Mando and Terry Siganos.
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.
Greece and Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) chose to host a national selection with the winner being chosen an "expert" jury. Mariana Efstratiou was chosen with "To diko sou asteri" and placed 9th at Eurovision.
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.