Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Greece is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, having internally selected Amanda Tenfjord to represent the country with the song "Die Together".[1]

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country Greece
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 15 December 2021
Song: 10 March 2022
Selected entrantAmanda Tenfjord
Selected song"Die Together"
Selected songwriter(s)
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022

Background
Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2022 contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-one times since their debut in 1974.[2] The nation has won the contest on one occasion in 2005 with the song "My Number One" performed by Helena Paparizou. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Greece managed to qualify for the grand final with each of their entries for several years. Between 2004 and 2013, the nation achieved nine top ten placements in the final. To this point, Greece in 2016 with Argo's "Utopian Land" failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever, being absent from the grand final for the first time since 2000 and marking Greece's worst result at the contest. In the 2018 contest, Greece failed to qualify for the second time with Yianna Terzi and the song "Oniro mou" finishing 14th in the semi-final. Greece returned to qualifying for the grand final every year since 2019, including the 2021 contest where Stefania and the song "Last Dance" placed 10th with 170 points.[3]

The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), broadcasts the event within Greece and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. ERT had been in charge of Greece's participation in the contest since their debut in 1974 until 2013 when the broadcaster was shutdown by a government directive and replaced firstly with the interim Dimosia Tileorasi (DT) and then later by the New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) broadcaster.[4][5] Following the victory of the Syriza party at the January 2015 Greek legislative election, a draft proposal was initiated to re-instate ERT as the public Greek broadcaster. On 28 April 2015, the draft was approved and signed into law by the Hellenic Parliament, resulting in the renaming of NERIT to ERT; ERT began broadcasting once again on 11 June 2015.[6][7] ERT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 6 September 2021.[8] The Greek broadcaster has used various methods to select the Greek entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. Since 2018, the Greek entry has been chosen via an internal selection.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 7 September 2021, ERT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit up to three songs each until 10 October 2021. Artists were required to be signed to record labels and to indicate the accompanying artistic group as well as the ideas or concept for the song promotion and presentation as part of their proposal.[9][10] Following the deadline, 25 artists were reported to have submitted a total of more than 40 entries, including Constantinos Christophorou (1996, 2002 and 2005 Eurovision entrant for Cyprus), Ilias Kozas (2013 Eurovision entrant for Greece), Joanne (Ioanna Georgakopoulou, winner of The Voice of Greece 7), Jimmy Sion (runner-up of House of Fame), as well as singers Amanda Tenfjord, Artemis Matafia, Evangelia Psarakis, Good Job Nicky, Kianna, Marseaux, Nikos Ganos, and band Mobvibe.[10][11]

A seven-member jury panel – chaired by music composer and ERT board member Dimitris Papadimitriou and also including ERT key figures Maria Kozakou, Fotis Apergis and Konstantinos Bourounis, alongside music producers Petros Adam and Giannis Petridis – shortlisted five entrants in late October 2021, following this procedure: each member could pick between 5 and 10 entries, and the ones among these that obtained the majority of the preferences were selected to the following phase.[12] The committee then proceeded to discuss with the acts the details of their potential participation at the ERT headquarters, planning to make their final decision by the end of December 2021.[13][14][15] On 17 November 2021, Nancy Zampetoglou and Thanasis Anagnostopoulos announced the shortlisted acts on their ERT program Studio 4. These were: Good Job Nicky, Joanna Drigo, Ilias Kozas, Lou Is (stage name of Louiza Sofianopoulou) and Amanda Tenfjord.[16]

The latter was ultimately announced as the selected entrant on 15 December 2021,[17] with the entry to be revealed on the first week of March 2022. The related music video was filmed in early February on the island of Symi.[18] In late February 2022, a demo was leaked of the entry, which is reported to be titled "Die Together".[19] The official reveal of the song took place on 10 March.[20]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2022, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Greece has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[21]

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Greece was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Norway.[22]

References
  1. Popescu, David (10 March 2022). "Greece: Amanda will sing "Die Together" in Turin". ESCUnited. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  2. "Greece | Country profile | Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. "Countries – Greece". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  4. Savaricas, Nathalie (11 July 2013). "Greece's state-run TV service resumes with a blast from the past". The Independent. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. "Greece's replacement public broadcaster launched". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. Maltezou, Renee (28 April 2015). "In symbolic move, Greece to reopen shuttered state broadcaster". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. "Greece's state broadcaster ERT back on air after two years". bbc.com. BBC News. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. Granger, Anthony (6 September 2021). "🇬🇷 Greece: ERT Formally Submits Application to Compete in Eurovision 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  9. Granger, Anthony (7 September 2021). "🇬🇷 Greece: ERT Opens Call For Eurovision 2022 Submissions". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  10. Argyriou, Giannis (11 October 2021). Ελλάδα: 25 προτάσεις με περισσότερα από 40 τραγούδια υποβλήθηκαν στην ΕΡΤ! ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΟ. Eurovision Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  11. Argyriou, Giannis (11 November 2021). Ελλάδα: Την δική τους πρόταση κατέθεσαν για την Eurovision 2022 στην ΕΡΤ, οι Mobvibe!. Eurovision Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  12. Argyriou, Giannis (23 November 2021). Ελλάδα: Εκτός top20 της διαδικασίας το τραγούδι του Νίκου Γκάνου | ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΟ. Eurovision Fun (in Greek).
  13. Argyriou, Giannis (13 October 2021). Ελλάδα: Την ερχόμενη εβδομάδα θα ξεκινήσει τις συνεδριάσεις της η επιτροπή της ΕΡΤ!. Eurovision Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  14. Argyriou, Giannis (18 August 2021). "All the information about the Greek entry in Eurovision 2022 so far!". Eurovision Fun. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  15. Argyriou, Giannis (21 November 2021). Ελλάδα: Οι πέντε "φιναλίστ" στο ραδιομέγαρο της ΕΡΤ για την παρουσίαση των προτάσεων τους!. Eurovision Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  16. Adams, William Lee (17 November 2021). "Greece: 5 finalists for Eurovision 2022 internal selection include Amanda Tenfjord, Good Job Nicky and Ilias Kozas". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  17. Farren, Neil (15 December 2021). "🇬🇷 Greece: Amanda Tenfjord to Eurovision 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  18. Ampatzidis, Ioannis (10 February 2022). Amanda: "Σε τρεις εβδομάδες θα κυκλοφορήσει το τραγούδι"!. Eurovision Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  19. Eurovision 2022 | 🇬🇷 Greece 🇬🇷 | Amanda Tenfjord - Die Together (Demo) - Official Audio. La Eurozona. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022 – via YouTube.
  20. Argyriou, Giannis (2 March 2022). "Greece: On March 10, through the main news bulletin of ERT, the revelation of Amanda's song!". Eurovision Fun. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  21. "Eurovision 2022: Which Semi-Final is your country performing in? 🇮🇹". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  22. "Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
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