Two weeks ago, it emerged that Dutch-Greek singer Stefania Liberakakis was being rumoured as Greece’s entrant for Eurovision 2020. Note, this rumour that not been confirmed by ERT, so should be taken with a pinch of salt. Now, it is also being rumoured that ERT are already assessing songs for their yet-to-be-announced artist…
Last month, ERT announced that they had selected a five-member committee panel to work on selecting the Greek act for Rotterdam. The job of the panel members is to deliver their opinions and proposals on who should represent Greece in Eurovision to ERT’s board of directors. The five members who make up the panel are:
- Dimitris Papadimitriou – Composer and Member of the ERT SA Board of Directors (chairperson)
- Petros Adam – Music producer
- George Markakis – Journalist
- Giannis Petridis – Music producer
- Maria Koufopoulou – International Relations Manager for ERT SA
According to EurovisionFun, the committee have been hard at work, spending this week whittling down submissions. The site claims that the committee are due to make their final decision in the next few days! Their recommendations will be brought back to ERT for their board to approve.
Three contenders?
The actual announcement of the Greek entry itself isn’t due until early February, so there is still some time to wait. To whet our appetites, EurovisionFun reported some details about Stefania’s alleged submissions for ERT. She remains the most-rumoured choice for the broadcaster, and has allegedly submitted three songs to the broadcaster.
Two of these songs were apparently composed by Dimitris Kontopoulou and ARCADE, while the third is by an entirely Dutch team. The genres of these three songs are described as:
- “Pop midtempo” (song one)
- “Dance reggae” (song two)
- “Ethnic pop banger” (song three)
According to members of the focus group, two of the three songs could bring Greece a strong result in Rotterdam…
Greece in Eurovision Song Contest
Previously, Greece had been one of the most successful and consistent countries at the contest. Between 2001 and 2013, Greece achieved ten top-ten results. These include third-place finishes for Antique (2001), Sakis Rouvas (2004) and Kalomira (2008). Of course, Greece’s Helena Paparizou won the contest in 2005 with “My Number One”.
However, Greece’s success at the contest has been inconsistent in the past couple of years. Over the past five years, the country has failed to qualify to the final twice (2016 and 2018). Their non-qualification in 2016 marked the first time the country had failed to reach the final in the history of its participation since the introduction of the semi-finals format.
Katerine Duska brought the country back to the final this year when the contest was hosted in Tel Aviv. She finished 5th in her semi final, and went on to finish in 21st place with 74 points in the Grand Final
Katerine Duska brought the country back to the final this year when the contest was hosted in Tel Aviv. She finished 5th in her semi final, and went on to finish in 21st place with 74 points in the Grand Final.
Which of those songs do you think ERT should select? Who would you like to see represent Greece at the contest next year? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates!
