Greece:
Barrice – Ela
So as much as I loved Maria Elena, and was pleased to see Greece sending a melodramatic power ballad for once, by the time the Greek national selection came around I was crying out for something to dance to in a very ballad-heavy contest. Many fans thought that Shaya would be the one to deliver on this front, with the ethno-pop ‘Sunshine’ but I always found it a bit lacking and that people were saying “this will do” in times of desperation for something uptempo.
No, I was backing Barrice to grant me my Eurovision party wish, with a song that perfectly manages to blend typical Europop, contemporary radio pop and stereotypical Greek folk pop. OK so it tips the scale a little in the direction of the latter in the instrumental breakdown, when things start to go a little bit crazy, but that just endeared it to me further, although for a lot of people that did seem to be a turn-off.
