Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

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Eurovision Song Contest 1998
CountryFlag of Greece.svg  Greece
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)7 March 1998
Selected entrantThalassa
Selected song"Mia krifi evaisthisia"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Yiannis Valvis
  • Yiannis Malachias
Finals performance
Final result20th, 12 points
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1997 •1998• 2001►

Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, held on 9 May 1998 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest. Eight semi-finals culminated in a 7 March final round where Thalassa was selected with the song "Mia krifi evaisthisia". Performing second in the running order at the contest, they finished in 20th place out of the 25 countries competing. This marked a new record for the least successful placement of the nation.

Contents

Background

The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) member for Greece and is responsible for selection of the nation's entry. [1] [2] Prior to the 1998 contest, Greece had participated 20 times since its debut entry in 1974. [3] By 1998, its best result was fifth place which was achieved twice: in 1977 with the song "Mathima solfege" performed by the band Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy and in 1992 with "Olou tou kosmou i Elpida" performed by Cleopatra. [4] Greece's least successful result was in 1990 when it placed 19th with the song "Horis skopo" by Christos Callow and Wave, receiving only 11 points in total. [3]

Before Eurovision

National final

Before the final, eight semi-finals were held at the ERT TV Studios in Athens, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. Televoting selected the winning song in each semi-final to qualify for the final. [5] [6]

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Yiannis Haniotakis"Gynekes" (Γυναίκες)1,7993
2 Marianna Efstratiou "Ekleges gia mena" (Έκλαιγες για μένα)3,4382
3Katerina Kourentzi"Na ziso to fili" (Να ζήσω το φιλί)3,8901
Semi-final 2
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Kostas Katsigiannis"Me ekatonpeninta" (Με εκατόν πενήντα)2,0863
2Theodoros Zaharis"Tha s'agapo" (Θα σ'αγαπώ)5,6091
3Dionysis Schinas"Palies agapes" (Παλιές αγάπες)4,1022
Semi-final 3
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Haralampos Kavalieros"Agapi pou pote" (Αγάπη που ποτέ)3,2182
2Evi Dikou"San oneiro" (Σαν όνειρο)2,1563
3Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία)9,2261
Semi-final 4
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Stamatis Papadakis"Erota sofe" (Έρωτα σοφέ)1,4232
2Yiannis Haniotakis"An itan i agapi" (Αν ήταν η αγάπη)1,3823
3 Hara Konstantinou "Fantasia mou" (Φαντασία μου)3,3231
Semi-final 5
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Victor Polydorou"Melodia" (Μελωδία)3,3832
2Iro Lehouriti"Tipota" (Τίποτα)5,2321
3Yiannis Drakopoulos"Alexandra" (Αλεξάνδρα)1,3663
Semi-final 6
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1 Marianna Efstratiou "Opos i vrochi" (Όπως η βροχή)3,1992
2Stavros Siolas"Agapi moni" (Αγάπη μόνη)1,8613
3Nikos Blios"Kita to fos" (Κοίτα το φως)3,2641
Semi-final 7
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Nikos Katikaridis"O vasilias ton ftohon" (Ο βασιλιάς τών φτωχών)5,6143
2 Marianna Efstratiou "Ta hili pou filouses" (Τα χειλή που φιλούσες)5,8912
3Vivetta Koursi"Se nostalgo" (Σε νοσταλγώ)10,7061
Semi-final 8
DrawArtistSongTelevotePlace
1Efstathia Mantzoufa"Deisdaemona" (Δεισδαίμονα)4,6773
2Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Kosme cinema" (Κόσμε σινεμά)7,5801
3Robert Williams, Konstantinos Paliatsaras and Mara Thrasivoulidou"Promitheas" (Προμηθέας)6,2992

Final

The final was held on 7 March 1998 at the ERT TV Studios in Athens, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. The winner was chosen by televoting. [7] At the end of the event, Dionisia Karoki and Thalassa were selected to represent Greece with the Greek-language song "Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία). Following the selection, the group did not receive promotional support for the entry and they were not signed to a record label. [8] [9]

Final – 7 March 1998
DrawSingerSongTelevotePlace
1Nikos Blios"Kita to fos" (Κοίτα το φως)7,2745
2Iro Lehouriti"Tipota" (Τίποτα)19,4212
3Katerina Kourentzi"Na ziso to fili" (Να ζήσω το φιλί)8,2494
4Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Kosme cinema" (Κόσμε σινεμά)2,2957
5 Hara Konstantinou "Fantasia mou" (Φαντασία μου)1,5388
6Theodoros Zaharis"Tha s'agapo" (Θα σ'αγαπώ)5,9646
7Vivetta Koursi"Se nostalgo" (Σε νοσταλγώ)17,3643
8Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία)19,4771

At Eurovision

In the lead up to the event, the song's composer, Yiannis Valvis, was not happy with the way the group's performance was to be filmed and demanded changes. When his demands were not met, the group threatened to quit the contest on the morning of the final day of rehearsals, and on the afternoon, they pulled out. Only minutes after their withdrawal, however, the group returned to the green room, having decided to go through with the performance after all, without the composer watching them on stage. Valvis was not permitted to attend the contest, on account of his aggressive behavior. He watched the contest locked inside his hotel room with two security guards guarding his door. [10]

Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 22nd out of the 25 entries. [11] Thalassa performed 2nd on the night of the contest, following Croatia and preceding France. At the close of voting, "Mia krifi evaisthisia" received only 12 points, placing Greece 20th out of 25 entries. [12] It was the worst Greek result in the contest at the time, and would remain so until 2016. The Greek televoting awarded its 12 points to Cyprus. The Greek spokesperson was Alexis Kostalas who, with the exceptions of 1999 and 2000 in which Greece did not participate, would serve as spokesperson until 2010.

Following this result, Greece was relegated from participation in 1999 contest. [13]

Voting

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References

  1. ↑ Paravantes, Maria (11 June 2005). "Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win". Billboard . Vol. 117, no. 24. p. 17. Retrieved 16 January 2009– via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Floras, Stella (11 June 2013). "Greece shuts down public broadcaster ERT". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Countries – Greece". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  4. ↑ "46ος Πανευρωπαϊκος Διαγωνισμος-Τραγουδιου Eurovision-Κοπεγχάγη 12 Μαϊου" (in Greek). Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). 2001. Archived from the original on 30 May 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "Greek Semi-finals" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Ellinikos Telikos 1998 • semi-finals" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Greek National Final 1998" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Charalambopoulos, Makis (12 January 2018). "Διονυσία Καρόκη με "κρυφή ευαισθησία" ερμηνεύει 'Ανθρωποι Μονάχοι'". Mikrofono (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Διονυσία Καρόκη: «Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία» για τη Eurovision". Peloponnisos (in Greek). 21 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  10. ↑ Naked Eurovision. Birmingham, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 31 December 1998. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  11. ↑ "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Jerusalem 1999 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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