Tonight, Greece decides who will follow the legendary Anna Vissi as their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. The winner will have much to live up to, Greece is the most successful Eurovision Song Contest country in recent times, finishing in the top ten for the last three years, with a third place in 2004, a win in 2005 and 9th place last year on home ground. This year, Tamta, Sarbel and Christos Dantis will battle it out to become the next representative for Greece. esctoday.com are covering the rehearsals and will continue to provide you with all the latest information as Greece decides! There will be video interviews and rehearsal footage coming up later today.
So far today, guest performers have been performing on stage. DJ BoBO from Switzerland is still preparing his act for tonight's performance of Vampires are alive, but the choreography is striking, well prepared, fits the song very well and is providing some excitement. This will not be the final performance for Helsinki but it gives an idea of what we can expect from a Swiss entry that is rising in fans expectations.
Elitsa & Stoyan rehearsed their rendition of Voda. The act involves the drums and some great dynamic movements on the stage. Synchronised drumming is back at Eurovision if this performance turns out to be the one used for Helsinki. The song is strong and like DJ BoBo, is picking up increasing support as fans get used to the sound.
Mihai rehearsed next, performing Tornero, Why and Dimmi si o no. Although he is not participating at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, he remains the hottest man on the national final circuit after last year's hugely popular fourth placed entry for Romania.
Next on stage is Evridiki, A striking performance with an 80s retro feel and outfit that brings back memories of Robert Palmer's Addicted to love video with red and black outfit and straightened long hair.With sharp crisp movements on stage. Evridiki is fighting to become the first French speaking entrant to qualify from the semi final, and if the rehearsals for tonight are anything to go by, she has an excellent chance of success. You can catch our video interview with Evridiki later today.
Dima Koldun will be performing tonight with two female backing dancers.There is good movement around the stage and like Evridiki, there is plenty of sharp movements. Is this theyear of martial arts at Eurovision? You can catch our video interview with Dima Koldun later today.
Stay tuned to esctoday.com for all the latest information on the Greek final as we update live from the Athinon Arena throughout the day.
The greek national final airs tonight at 21:00 CET, 22:00 local time.