Last Minute U-turn? Preparations for the Greek Eurovision national final continue, and while Greece promises prominent guests will attend the final, it is now reported that Greece’s Eurovision 2024 representative, Marina Satti, will take an active part in the broadcast selecting the singer who will replace her.
Preparations for Greece’s first open national final in 22 years, scheduled for January 30th, are reaching their peak. This event will determine Greece’s representative and song for Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. Despite earlier reports suggesting that last year’s Greek representative, Marina Satti, would be absent from the broadcast, a last-minute change seems to have occurred. According to numerous reports, the singer who represented Greece at Eurovision 2024 will be present at the national final. Marina, it appears, will pass the torch to the winner of the final, who will take on the Greek representation for Eurovision 2025.
Unexpected Turn of Events
Previously, it was reported that Sakis Rouvas and Helena Paparizou would host the grand final’s evening, while Marina Satti’s appearance was considered problematic. Many claimed that last year’s Greek representative would not be present at the Greek final, while others wanted her to be in discussions and negotiations with the national broadcaster, ERT, to decide if she would appear at all. Now it is reported that the singer will indeed appear at the Greek final and perform her song “Zari”, with which she represented Greece at Eurovision last year, finishing in 11th place.
Controversy and Public Reaction
It’s worth noting that Greece was not pleased with the childish behavior of the 36-year-old singer. Last May, at the press conference following the semi-final, Satti caused a stir when she pretended to be asleep and appeared bored while Israel’s representative Eden Golan was speaking. The Greek government condemned the incident and responded: “Eurovision is not a political program, and a certain country’s foreign policy is not embodied through a music competition. The behavior was individual and has nothing to do with the political positions of the Greek government. When a representative represents a country in a music competition and flies at the expense of the Greek taxpayer, they must be responsible for their behavior and public representation of their country. The purpose of Eurovision is to unite through music.”
The embarrassment for Satti did not end there: upon her return to Greece, she was announced as a candidate for the MAD Best Pop Artist Award, but not everyone was pleased with the choice. When announced as the winner, TV host Athinais Nega, known for her uncompromising support for Israel, did not hold back and declared:
“I am here to award the best pop artist. I could choke and not mention her name but I will not do that, as I appreciate her as a singer, even though I disagree with her on many things. Marina Satti, come to the stage.”
Satti’s audience seemingly disagreed with her opinions, as during a performance in September, eggs were thrown at her by the crowd. Satti has become a controversial figure in Greek culture, and even if she were absent from the local final, she wouldn’t be missed by many people in choosing the new Greek representative.
Greek National Final: What to Expect
The Greek national final will include 12 songs, selected by a special committee from ERT, out of a total of 187 songs from different genres submitted to the selection process. The voting format in the final will include a combination of Greek juries and international professional juries, to create a balanced result and representation of experts from around the world. Each group of juries will determine 25% of the final result, while the public vote will determine the remaining 50%. The competition is expected to take place at the Christmas Theater in Athens.
List of National Final Participants
Here are the participants in the Greek Eurovision national final:
- Claudia – “Starry Eyes”
- Evangelia – “Vale”
- Thanos Lambrou – “Free Love”
- Konstantinos Christoforou & Kostas Karafotis – “Paradise”
- Xannova Xan (Kalli Georgelli) – “Play It!”
- Andy Nicolas (Andreas Koutsonicolas) – “Lost My Way”
- BARBZ (Varvara Argyrou) – “Sirens”
- Dynamiss – “Odyssey”
- Kostas Ageris – “My Land”
- Nafsika – “Unhurt me”
- Ricky – “Elevator”
- Georgina Calais – “High Road”
All songs can be listened to on ERT’s radio website.
Greece in Eurovision 2024
“Zari” is the title of the song performed by singer Marina Satti, who was selected through an internal selection process by the Greek national broadcaster. Greece qualified for the final after placing fifth in the second semi-final with 86 points, and in the grand final, they finished in 11th place with 126 points.
Source: tlife.gr
Eurovision 2025: This will mark Greece’s 45th participation in Eurovision. Greece joined the competition in 1974 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2005 when singer Helena Paparizou won first place with the song “My Number One”.