The 49th Eurovision Song Contest was a huge success in Greece. The participation of Greek star Sakis Rouvas managed to create a renewed interest in the contest, whose popularity has been steadily increasing over the last few years. The Eurovision Song Contest managed to attract an audience that summed up to the unprecedented TV rating of 86.7%!!!

The popularity of this year's Eurovision Song Contest had an impact on other sectors of the Greek economy apart from the media world. According to daily Greek newspaper TA NEA, all clubs and restaurants suffered terribly on May 15th, since most Greeks stayed home or visited friends to watch the contest. Similarly, there was an impact on the ticket sales of the epic film Troy, on the second day of its release at that time: “Even though the film made a tremendously successful opening, the ticket figures for Saturday, May 15th, were much lower than we had expected”, said the owner of a well known chain of cinema theatres.

On the contrary, the number of orders received by delivery restaurants was even higher than that received a week before, when the final of the Greek Football Cup was broadcast. “The only exception was a quarter of an hour or so, right before, during and immediately after Sakis' performance on stage. Almost no phone-calls were received during that time”, said a delivery restaurant-holder.