Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, held on 9 May 1998 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest. Eight semi-finals culminated in a 7 March final round where Thalassa was selected with the song "Mia krifi evaisthisia". Performing second in the running order at the contest, they finished in 20th place out of the 25 countries competing. This marked a new record for the least successful placement of the nation.

Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Country Greece
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)7 March 1998
Selected entrantThalassa
Selected song"Mia krifi evaisthisia"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Yiannis Valvis
  • Yiannis Malachias
Finals performance
Final result20th, 12 points
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1997 • 1998 • 2001►

Background
Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) member for Greece and is responsible for selection of the nation's entry.[1][2] Prior to the 1998 contest, Greece had participated 20 times since its debut entry in 1974.[3] By 1998, its best result was fifth place which was achieved twice: in 1977 with the song "Mathima solfege" performed by the band Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy and in 1992 with "Olou tou kosmou i Elpida" performed by Cleopatra.[4] Greece's least successful result was in 1990 when it placed 19th with the song "Horis skopo" by Christos Callow and Wave, receiving only 11 points in total.[3]

Before Eurovision

National final

Before the final, eight semi-finals were held at the ERT TV Studios in Athens, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. Televoting selected the winning song in each semi-final to qualify for the final.[5][6]

Semi-finals
Semi-final 1
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Yiannis Haniotakis "Gynekes" (Γυναίκες) 1,799 3
2 Marianna Efstratiou "Ekleges gia mena" (Έκλαιγες για μένα) 3,438 2
3 Katerina Kourentzi "Na ziso to fili" (Να ζήσω το φιλί) 3,890 1
Semi-final 2
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Kostas Katsigiannis "Me ekatonpeninta" (Με εκατόν πενήντα) 2,086 3
2 Theodoros Zaharis "Tha s'agapo" (Θα σ'αγαπώ) 5,609 1
3 Dionysis Schinas "Palies agapes" (Παλιές αγάπες) 4,102 2
Semi-final 3
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Haralampos Kavalieros "Agapi pou pote" (Αγάπη που ποτέ) 3,218 2
2 Evi Dikou "San oneiro" (Σαν όνειρο) 2,156 3
3 Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa "Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία) 9,226 1
Semi-final 4
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Stamatis Papadakis "Erota sofe" (Έρωτα σοφέ) 1,423 2
2 Yiannis Haniotakis "An itan i agapi" (Αν ήταν η αγάπη) 1,382 3
3 Hara Konstantinou "Fantasia mou" (Φαντασία μου) 3,323 1
Semi-final 5
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Victor Polydorou "Melodia" (Μελωδία) 3,383 2
2 Iro Lehouriti "Tipota" (Τίποτα) 5,232 1
3 Yiannis Drakopoulos "Alexandra" (Αλεξάνδρα) 1,366 3
Semi-final 6
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Marianna Efstratiou "Opos i vrochi" (Όπως η βροχή) 3,199 2
2 Stavros Siolas "Agapi moni" (Αγάπη μόνη) 1,861 3
3 Nikos Blios "Kita to fos" (Κοίτα το φως) 3,264 1
Semi-final 7
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Nikos Katikaridis "O vasilias ton ftohon" (Ο βασιλιάς τών φτωχών) 5,614 3
2 Marianna Efstratiou "Ta hili pou filouses" (Τα χειλή που φιλούσες) 5,891 2
3 Vivetta Koursi "Se nostalgo" (Σε νοσταλγώ) 10,706 1
Semi-final 8
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Efstathia Mantzoufa "Deisdaemona" (Δεισδαίμονα) 4,677 3
2 Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa "Kosme cinema" (Κόσμε σινεμά) 7,580 1
3 Robert Williams, Konstantinos Paliatsaras and Mara Thrasivoulidou "Promitheas" (Προμηθέας) 6,299 2

Final

The final was held on 7 March 1998 at the ERT TV Studios in Athens, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. The winner was chosen by televoting.[7] At the end of the event, Dionisia Karoki and Thalassa were selected to represent Greece with the Greek-language song "Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία). Following the selection, the group did not receive promotional support for the entry and they were not signed to a record label.[8][9]

Final – 7 March 1998
DrawSingerSongTelevotePlace
1Nikos Blios"Kita to fos" (Κοίτα το φως)7,2745
2Iro Lehouriti"Tipota" (Τίποτα)19,4212
3Katerina Kourentzi"Na ziso to fili" (Να ζήσω το φιλί)8,2494
4Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Kosme cinema" (Κόσμε σινεμά)2,2957
5Hara Konstantinou"Fantasia mou" (Φαντασία μου)1,5388
6Theodoros Zaharis"Tha s'agapo" (Θα σ'αγαπώ)5,9646
7Vivetta Koursi"Se nostalgo" (Σε νοσταλγώ)17,3643
8Dionysia Karoki and Thalassa"Mia krifi evaisthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία)19,4771

At Eurovision

In the lead up to the event, the song's composer, Yiannis Valvis, was not happy with the way the group's performance was to be filmed and demanded changes. When his demands were not met, the group threatened to quit the contest on the morning of the final day of rehearsals, and on the afternoon, they pulled out. Only minutes after their withdrawal, however, the group returned to the green room, having decided to go through with the performance after all, without the composer watching them on stage. Valvis was not permitted to attend the contest, on account of his aggressive behavior. He watched the contest locked inside his hotel room with two security guards guarding his door.[10]

Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 22nd out of the 25 entries.[11] Thalassa performed 2nd on the night of the contest, following Croatia and preceding France. At the close of voting, "Mia krifi evaisthisia" received only 12 points, placing Greece 20th out of 25 entries.[12] It was the worst Greek result in the contest at the time, and would remain so until 2016. The Greek televoting awarded its 12 points to Cyprus. The Greek spokesperson was Alexis Kostalas who, with the exceptions of 1999 and 2000 in which Greece did not participate, would serve as spokesperson until 2010.

Following this result, Greece was relegated from participation in 1999 contest.[13]

Voting

References
  1. Paravantes, Maria (11 June 2005). "Joy In Greece Over Eurovision Win". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 24. p. 17. Retrieved 16 January 2009 – via Google Books.
  2. Floras, Stella (11 June 2013). "Greece shuts down public broadcaster ERT". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  3. "Countries – Greece". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  4. "46ος Πανευρωπαϊκος Διαγωνισμος-Τραγουδιου Eurovision-Κοπεγχάγη 12 Μαϊου" (in Greek). Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). 2001. Archived from the original on 30 May 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  5. "Greek Semi-finals". Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  6. "Ellinikos Telikos 1998 • semi-finals". Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. "Greek National Final 1998". Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  8. Charalambopoulos, Makis (12 January 2018). "Διονυσία Καρόκη με "κρυφή ευαισθησία" ερμηνεύει 'Ανθρωποι Μονάχοι'". Mikrofono (in Greek). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. "Διονυσία Καρόκη: «Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία» για τη Eurovision". Peloponnisos (in Greek). 21 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  10. Naked Eurovision. Birmingham, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 31 December 1998. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  11. "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  13. "Jerusalem 1999 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  14. "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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