The annual drama for the Greek participation at the Eurovision Song Contest ended today with the official announcement of the country’s hopeful! It’s the singer Yianna Terzi who will fly the Greek flag in the Portuguese capital, with the song Oneiro mou!

The Greek Eurovision entry Oneiro mou is penned by Yianna herself and Aris Kalimeris and composed by Michalis Papathanasiou and Dimitris Stamatiou. Listen to the song below:

The story so far

In early October, the Greek national broadcaster ERT had sent an open invitation to all Greek record labels in order for them to submit the candidancies of their wishing-to-partipate artists and their respective entries.

All entries had to be written in Greek language and reflect Greek elements with Greek ethno-influence and sound. Eventually, the broadcaster received a total of 20 songs from 13 record companies.

All 20 entries were evaluated by a special committee of music experts appointed by ERT, which shortlisted the 20 submitted entries to 5, all set to take part in a televised national final. However, 2 of the 5 songs were subsequently disqualified from the selection procedure, as it was decided that they do not fully meet the broadcaster’s requirements.

Therefore, the scheduled national final evening would see the following 3 acts compete for the Eurovision ticket:

• Areti Ketime – Min ksehnas ton ilio (Don’t forget the sun) – Spicy
• Chorostalites – Apo tin thraki eos tin Kriti (From Thrace to Crete) – Spider Records
• Yianna Terzi – Oniro mou (My dream) – Panik Entertainment Group

But the drama continues…

At some point, the issue seemed to have ended and the three artists were going to compete on the stage of the Greek national final on 22 February. In the sequel, ERT requested from all 3 record labels guarantee fees for their participation in the national final.

After deadline’s passing for the deposit of the guarantee amount by the record companies to ERT, only one has reportedly the required amount of money, that of Panik Entertainment Group for Yianna Terzi‘s candidancy. Hence, the broadcaster decided to disqualify the rest two competing acts and select internally the latter to defend the Greek colours in Lisbon, cancelling the national final show.

About Yianna Terzi

Yianna Terzi rose to fame in 2005 in Greece, when she released her first self-titled CD single, consisting of 3 songs. She is the daughter of very popular Greek singer of laiko Pashalis Terzis.

Following the release of her first 3 songs, she also unveiled some more songs, like Pou kai pou, An girnousa piso ton chrono, Pes mou ti na kano, Tetoia gynaika etc.

Here’s her 2008 entry An girnousa piso ton chrono (If I turned back time):

Soon afterwards, Yianna moved to the United States, claiming an international career in music. However, her plans later changed, as she mostly devoted herself in new talents’ search and worked at some of the largest record labels in the world, such as Universal Music and Interscope.

After about a 10-year stay on the other side of the Atlantic, she finally opted for returning to her homeland and continue her singing career.

2018 sees her prepare her Eurovision 2018 participation, under the Greek colours.

Greece at Eurovision

Greece joined the Eurovision family in 1974, with the singer Marinella performing her entry Krasi, thalassa kai t’ agori mou, which earned 11th place.

The country of the Balkans achieved their first and only Eurovision victory in 2005 in Kyiv, when Helena Paparizou became Europe’s Number one, like her Eurovision entry’s title, with 230 points.

Greece has been one of the most successful Eurovision countries, since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, having been absent from a Grand Final only once (in 2016) and achieved 9 Top 10 placings. Last year Greece was represented by the famous young singer Demy and the song This is love, which ended in 19th place.

Greece will be competing in the 2nd half of the first semi-final evening on 8 May. The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is going to take place on 8, 10 and 12 May at the Altice Arena in Lisbon.

Are you pleased with Greece’s selection for 2018?