Ellinikós Telikós

Ellinikós Telikós
Created byERT
Country of originGreece
Original languageGreek
Production
ProducerERT
Original release
NetworkERT
Release5 February 1979 (1979-02-05) –
6 March 2017 (2017-03-06)

Ellinikós Telikós (Greek: Ελληνικός Τελικός, lit.'Greek Final') is a song contest which takes place every year in Athens, Greece to decide the artist who would represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest.[1] The contest started in 1979, when Elpida took the title. Over the years, the contest took place in various venues, from TV studios to concert halls. The most famous winners include Helena Paparizou, Kalomira, Sakis Rouvas, Anna Vissi, and Katy Garbi.

In 2018, two of the top three competing artists were disqualified because their recording labels refused to pay a €20,000 fee to the Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). Yianna Terzi, the only remaining artist, was chosen for Eurovision 2018 and the future of Ellinikós Telikós became uncertain.[2]

History

[edit]

ERT, the Greek public broadcaster was the first member of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950 and because it was a state with Military junta, Greece wasn't able to enter the contest. After the Athens Polytechnic uprising and the fall of junta, Greece was again a democratic state and the first attempt to enter the contest was in 1974 with Marinella and her song "Krasi, thalassa kai t' agori mou". Greece did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 for "unknown reasons" according to the EBU, but it was discovered that the withdrawal was in protest of Turkey's debut and its invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing "Sarantapente Kopelies" (Σαρανταπέντε Κοπελιές), a previously released song. After returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of "low quality" and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. Greece returned once again to the Contest in 1985, and Polina was picked in the 1986 national selection to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 in Bergen, Norway, but ERT pulled out of the Contest unexpectedly. Polina stated that it was due to political troubles in Greece at the time, but she noted that a Eurovision website had learned that the real reason was that the Contest was to be held the night before Orthodox Easter. Greece returned to the Contest in 1987 and performed each year until the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, when it was not allowed to participate because of its low five-year points average. The following year ERT announced that it would not return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 due to financial reasons.

Winners

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Table key
1
Winner
2
Second place
3
Third place
X
Entry selected but did not compete
Upcoming
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1979 Elpida "Sokrati" (Σωκράτη) Greek 8 69 No semi-finals
1980 Anna Vissi and The Epikouri "Autostop" (Ωτοστόπ) Greek 13 30
1983 Kristi Stassinopoulou "Mou les" (Μου λες) Greek 14 32
1986 Polina "Wagon-lit" (Βαγκόν λι) Greek Withdrew X
1987 Bang "Stop" [el] (Στοπ) Greek 10 64
1988 Afroditi Frida "Clown" [el] (Κλόουν) Greek 17 10
1989 Mariana Efstratiou "To diko sou asteri" (Το δικό σου αστέρι) Greek 9 56
1990 Christos Callow and Wave "Horis skopo" (Χωρίς σκοπό) Greek 19 11
1991 Sophia Vossou "I anixi" (Η άνοιξη) Greek 13 36
1998 Thalassa "Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία) Greek 20 12
2001 Antique "Die for You" English, Greek 3 147
2002 Michalis Rakintzis "S.A.G.A.P.O." English 17 27
2003 Mando "Never Let You Go" English 17 25
2005 Helena Paparizou "My Number One" English 1 230 Top 12 previous year[a]
2006 Anna Vissi "Everything" English 9 128 Host country[b]
2007 Sarbel "Yassou Maria" (Γεια σου Μαρία) English 7 139 Top 10 previous year[a]
2008 Kalomira "Secret Combination" English 3 218 1 156
2009 Sakis Rouvas "This Is Our Night" English 7 120 4 110
2010 Giorgos Alkaios and Friends "Opa" (Ώπα) Greek[c] 8 140 2 133
2011 Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike "Watch My Dance" Greek, English 7 120 1 133
2012 Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Aphrodisiac" English 17 64 4 116
2017 Demy "This Is Love" English 19 77 10 115

Host venues and presenters

[edit]
Year Location Venue Presenter(s)
1979 Piraeus Piraeus Municipal Theatre Vasilis Tsivilikas
1980 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Vasilis Tsivilikas
1983 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Mako Georgiadou
1986 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Mako Georgiadou
1987 Piraeus Piraeus Municipal Theatre Dafni Bokota
1988 Piraeus Piraeus Municipal Theatre Kostas Karras
1989 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Dafni Bokota
1990 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Olina Xenopoulou
1991 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Dafni Bokota
1998 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Giorgos Marinos [el] and Evi Papadaki
2001 Piraeus REX Music Hall Dafni Bokota
2002 Piraeus REX Music Hall Dafni Bokota
2003 Kerameikos Cine Kerameikos Dafni Bokota, Rika Vagiani and Popi Tsapanidou
2005 Kallithea Fever Music Hall Alexandra Pascalidou
2006 Votanikos Votanikos Music Hall Giorgos Kapoutzidis and Zeta Makrypoulia
2007 Athens Athinon Arena Fotis Sergoulopoulos and Maria Bakodimou
2008 Athens Athinon Arena Betty Maggira and Mathilde Maggira
2009 Athens Athinon Arena Betty Maggira and Mathilde Maggira
2010 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Rika Vagianni and Jenny Balatsinou
2011 Kantza Alpha Studios Lena Aroni
2012 Egaleo River West Giorgos Fratzeskakis and Maria Kozakou
2017 Agia Paraskevi ERT Studios Elena Bouzala and Antonis Loudaros

Notes

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  1. ^ a b According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
  2. ^ If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year.
  3. ^ Contains one phrase in English.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Eurovision 2017: Στις 6 Μαρτίου ο ελληνικός τελικός". www.naftemporiki.gr (in Greek). 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  2. ^ Argyriou, Giannis (8 November 2017). "Eurovision ΕΡΤ: Αυτοί είναι οι πέντε φιναλίστ του ελληνικού τελικού!". infegreece.com (in Greek). INFEGreece. Retrieved 8 November 2017.