| Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) | |||
| Country |  Greece | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date |
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| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Zari" | |||
| Artist | Marina Satti | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (5th, 86 points) | |||
| Final result | 11th, 126 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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Greece was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Zari", written byMarina Satti, Gino "the Ghost" Borri, Jay Lewitt Stolar, Jordan Richard Palmer, Konstantin Plamenov Beshkov, Manolis "Solmeister" Solidakis, Nick Kodonas, Oge andVlospa, and performed by Satti herself. The Greek participating broadcaster, theHellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), internally selected its entry for the contest. Satti was announced as the Greek representative on 24 October 2023, whilst the selected song was presented on 7 March 2024.
Amusic video for the song was created to promote "Zari" as the Greek Eurovision entry, and the year's participation was sponsored byEurojackpot through the local gambling operatorOPAP. Greece was drawn to compete in thesecond semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2024; it was later selected to perform in the third position. At the end of the show, "Zari" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Greece placed fifth out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 86 points. In the final, Greece performed in position 12 and placed 11th out of the 25 performing countries, scoring a total of 126 points.
Prior to the 2024 contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 43 times since its debut in1974.[1] The nation has won the contest once at that point, in2005 with the song "My Number One" performed byHelena Paparizou. Following theintroduction of semi-finals for the2004 contest, Greece managed to qualify for the final with each of its entries for several years. Between 2004 and 2013, the nation achieved nine top ten placements in the finals. The first entry to not qualify to the final was "Utopian Land" performed byArgo in2016; its 16th-place finish in the semi-final marked Greece's worst placing and led to its absence from the final for the first time since 2000, when it did not send an entry. In the2018 contest, Greece failed to qualify for the second time with theYianna Terzi song "Oniro mou", finishing 14th in the semi-final. After three consecutive contests when it qualified for the final,Victor Vernicos with "What They Say" failed to qualify to the2023 final, finishing 13th in the semi-final.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster,Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organises the selection of its entry contestants in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country.[2] ERT predecessor,National Radio Television Foundation (EIRT), debuted as an organizer in 1974, and then ERT took its place from 1975 until 2013, when the broadcaster was shut down by a government directive. It was replaced firstly with the interimDimosia Tileorasi (DT) and later by theNew Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) broadcaster,[2][3][4][5] before reverting to the ERT name by the new government in June 2015.[6][7] The Greek broadcaster had selected its entries in the past both internally and through the national final formatEllinikós Telikós (most recently held in2017). ERT confirmed its intention to participate in the 2024 contest on 15 September 2023.[8]
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On 24 October 2023, ERT announced on the TV showStudio 4 that they had carried out an internal selection for its entry and settled onMarina Satti.[9][10] To determine Satti's song the record labels, Golden Records andMinos EMI, opened a submission window for interested composers. It was opened on 25 October 2023,[9] and closed on 1 December 2023, accumulating 150 song submissions.[11] Satti's record label Minos EMI revealed shortly after that they had already started preparations alongside ERT and Golden Records.[12]
The chosen song, titled "Zari", was released on 7 March 2024 during the special presentation showEurovisionse eidon ("Eurovision in sight"), which aired onERT1 and was hosted byFotis Sergoulopoulos [el] and Jenny Melita.[13][14][15] "Zari" was composed by Gino the Ghost, Jay Stolar, Jordan Palmer, Kay Be, Nick Kodonas, OGE and Satti, with lyrics by OGE, Satti, Solmeister andVlospa.[16]
The song's release was accompanied by amusic video filmed in various landmarks around Greece, including theAcropolis,Plaka,Monastiraki, theOdeon of Herodes Atticus,Omonoia,Mount Lycabettus,Rafina and theAthens International Airport.[17][18] It features Satti along with "Scott the American", a longtime American fan of Satti who had previously appeared in several tourism advertisements for Greece.[19][20] In the video, Scott acts as an Australian tourist[21] while Satti represents a Greek tour guide.[22]
The Greek participation in the contest was sponsored byEurojackpot through the local gambling operatorOPAP.[23][24] The company organised a public "farewell party" inVoula on 24 April 2024, where Satti met with fans prior to her departure for Eurovision 2024 inMalmö.[25]
In mid-April 2024, Greek newspaperTa Nea reported that as early as 22 February theCypriot ambassador to Greece, Stavros Avgoustidis, had been informed that ERT prepared to assignCyprus a predetermined low score in the jury voting of the Eurovision final; this was before the release of "Liar" (Eurovision 2024 entry from Cyprus) and reportedly before the Greek jury was established.[26][27] In response, ERT president Konstantinos Zoulas denied any involvement of his broadcasting company in the jury vote,[26][28] while Cypriot broadcasterCyBC's head of press for the contest, Andreas Anastasiou, addressed the matter on a TV broadcast on 15 April, denouncing that the alleged behaviour would constitute a breach of the contest's rules and announcing that theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) had been informed of the controversy.[26][27][29] The Greek jury ultimately ranked Cyprus at the second place in the final, awarding it ten points.[30]
TheEurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at theMalmö Arena inMalmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France,Germany,Italy,Spain and theUnited Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the EBU split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[31] Greece was scheduled for the first half of the second semi-final.[32] The draw, broadcast live on the official Eurovision Song ContestYouTube channel, was also aired by ERT via its streaming platform ERTflix.[33] The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Greece was set to perform in position 3.[34]
In Greece, all shows were aired on ERT 1, with commentary provided byThanasis Alevras [el] andJérôme Kaluta [el], as well as on the radio stationSecond Programme, with commentary provided by Dimitris Meidanis.[35][36] The televised shows are preceded by a specialEurovision Night broadcast, hosted by Jenny Melita.[37]
Satti took part in technical rehearsals on 29 April and 2 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May.[38] Her performance of "Zari" at the contest is staged byFokas Evangelinos (who has worked on various entries in previous contests, including the winning performances ofGreece in 2005 andRussia in 2008) and choreographed by Mecnun Giasar. She is accompanied on stage by four dancers, namely Hüseyin "Hüso" Çetintaş, Yasin "Yasin AO" Ametoglou, Vasilis Karayiannis and Eirini Damianidou, and backing vocals are provided by Erasmia Markidi.[39][40][41] Notably, the first two minutes of the performance are a single continuous shot.
Greece performed in position 3, following the entry fromAlbania and before the entry fromSwitzerland.[34] At the end of the show, the country was announced as a qualifier for the final. It was later revealed that Greece placed fifth out of the sixteen participating countries in the second semi-final with 86 points.
Following the semi-final, Greece was drawn to perform in the first half of the final.[42] Greece will perform in position 12, following the entry fromLatvia and before the entry from theUnited Kingdom.[43] Marina Satti once again took part in dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show on 11 May. She performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 11 May. Greece placed eleventh in the final, scoring 126 points; 85 points from the public televoting and 41 points from the juries.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to and by Greece in the second semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points ranging from 1 to 12, excluding 9 and 11. In the finals voting, one set of points was given by the country's jury and another by televoting, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the public vote.[44] The Greek jury consisted of Panagiotis Biniaris, Georgia Fotou, Vasiliki Karatzoglou, Stamatina Kostiani, and Anastasios Rosopoulos.[45] In the second semi-final, Greece placed fifth with 86 points, receiving maximum 12 points fromArmenia. In the final, Greece placed 11th with 126 points, receiving 12 points fromSwitzerland in the jury vote and fromCyprus in the televote. Over the course of the contest, Greece awarded its 12 points to theNetherlands in the second semi-final, and toSwitzerland (jury) andCyprus (televote) in the final.[46][30] ERT appointedHelena Paparizou, whowon the 2005 contest for Greece, as its spokesperson to announce the Greek jury's votes in the final.[47][48]
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Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[49]
The following members comprised the Greek jury:[45]
| Draw | Country | Televote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Malta | 8 | 3 |
| 02 |  Albania | 6 | 5 |
| 03 | Greece | ||
| 04 |  Switzerland | 4 | 7 |
| 05 |  Czechia | 12 | |
| 06 |  Austria | 7 | 4 |
| 07 |  Denmark | 11 | |
| 08 |  Armenia | 3 | 8 |
| 09 |  Latvia | 13 | |
| 10 |  San Marino | 15 | |
| 11 |  Georgia | 5 | 6 |
| 12 |  Belgium | 10 | 1 |
| 13 |  Estonia | 9 | 2 |
| 14 |  Israel | 2 | 10 |
| 15 |  Norway | 14 | |
| 16 |  Netherlands | 1 | 12 |
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Sweden | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| 02 |  Ukraine | 19 | 24 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
| 03 |  Germany | 10 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 21 | |
| 04 |  Luxembourg | 6 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 14 | |
| Netherlands | N/A | |||||||||
| 06 | Israel | 17 | 25 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 7 | |
| 07 |  Lithuania | 16 | 15 | 20 | 14 | 21 | 18 | 18 | ||
| 08 |  Spain | 22 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 24 | 12 | ||
| 09 | Estonia | 20 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 24 | 19 | 15 | ||
| 10 |  Ireland | 25 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 9 | 2 | |
| 11 | Latvia | 11 | 13 | 11 | 25 | 7 | 13 | 16 | ||
| 12 | Greece | |||||||||
| 13 |  United Kingdom | 14 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 23 | ||
| 14 | Norway | 9 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 20 | 16 | 20 | ||
| 15 |  Italy | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| 16 |  Serbia | 18 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 19 | ||
| 17 |  Finland | 24 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 12 | 23 | 17 | ||
| 18 |  Portugal | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 22 | |
| 19 | Armenia | 7 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| 20 |  Cyprus | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 12 |
| 21 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 8 |
| 22 |  Slovenia | 13 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 24 | ||
| 23 |  Croatia | 12 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 6 | |
| 24 | Georgia | 23 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 11 | ||
| 25 |  France | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 26 | Austria | 21 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 13 | ||
