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The Greek Preselection for ESC.02, or the story of the Comeback Kid!
On Tuesday, February 26th, the Greek Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at the REX music hall, in Athens. Ten songs were performed, out of which a jury decided on 5 finalists, and would be judged by both the televoters and the jury. Those songs were:
The songs were performed live again and then
the lines opened for 10 minutes. During the interval, ONE performed the Cypriot
entry in the 47th Eurovision Song Contest, "Gimme" and proved
that Cyprus has a really good chance for a high placing this year.
The final rank was as follows (click on the song to listen to the mp3):
1. S.A.G.A.P.O.
(studio version) Good luck Michalis, good luck Greece! further info on |
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Music.esc.gr's Verdict
Michalis Rakintzis pleasantly surprised jury and audience with his professional performance and one of the best and most original songs he had ever written. Actually, it is a good song by any standards, and this comes from someone who, as you can see from the pre-contest comments, has never been too keen on Rakintzis! Well, he sure managed to shut our big mouths: a) the song WAS good - but our favorites were To be Together and Love is a wonderful thing; b) he did NOT look too bad in his leather outfit; and c) his voice, although too "nasal" for our liking, WAS very confident.
All in all, Eurofans 0 - 1 Rakintzis. Let us all hope he can score another one against all those who predict gloom and doom in Tallinn! |
Comments before the Final
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01
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Kostas Bigalis & Mirella Fragkopoulou
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Kostas Bigalis is a face known to the Greek audience (although he has not really had any big hits recently) and to eurofans alike. He represented Greece in ESC.94 with the song Diri Diri (yep, THAT song) and composed the Greek entry for ESC.96 Emis forame to himona anixiatika. As a composer he has his moments, one might say, but as a lyricist he is really terrible: 9 out of 10 of his song rhyme in the same unimaginative way. Mirella is a young singer with a strong voice. She has released only one CD single, a cover of My heart will go on. |
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02 |
Tu non c' eri qui
Veroniki Bielitsa |
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| 03 |
Pension sweet home
Christos
Konstantinidis |
? |
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04 |
Proti fthinoporini vrochi
Christos Giannopoulos |
? |
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| 05 |
Maria Louiza Vassilopoulou aka mLV
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mLV became relatively famous last year, thanks to an excellent CD she released after her attempt to represent Greece in ESC.01. This year, she is trying again, with a song written by N.Terzis and A.Pappas, composer and lyricist of Antique's Die For You, respectively. mLV has an excellent voice, body, stage presence and taste in music. Can anybody ask for more? www.marialouiza.net |
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06 |
Peggy Zina
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Peggy Zina is a relatively famous singer, one step higher than mLV, however she's nowhere near to being a household name. Although she has a good voice, she has managed to sing some of the cheesiest songs released in Greece, which really has not added to her credibility. The song is written by ex-Bang (GR.87) member, Thanos Kalliris, who's had his share of fame in the 90's. Unfortunately, his most recent songs sound a bit stale. But, in any case, the man can definitely write a melody. www.kalliris.gr |  |
| 07 |
Beautiful life
Elina Konstantopoulou & Marion Georgiou |
Elina Konstantopoulou is another famous singer entering this year's preselection. Yes, she was the singer that sang Poia Prosefhi (GR.95), another Terzis/Pappas song (they do have a fixation with ESC, but, really, I am the last person who can accuse them of that). She has been releasing CDs since the mid-90's, with waning success, though. She has not threatened Anna Vissi, to put it that way.
I only know Marion Georgiou from two occasions . First it was that song "Vasanaki", a minor hit back in 1997 and then we watched her in the Cypriot Preselection 2000 singing "Paradeisos". I think she's got potential for a good act on stage, but I guess we will have to wait and see! |
 
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| 08 |
Michalis Rakintzis
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Flashback to the late 80s/early 90s: Greece was discovering pop and a guy called Rakintzis was discovering "computer-assisted songwriting". His songs were crap, but his sound was peculiarly fresh. That's how he became REALLY famous, despite having a most annoying voice and looks that would have got him thrown out of Popstars during preliminary auditions, had this program existed then. He even tried to represent Greece in 1989, with a song even he would like to forget called Nana. Eventually, the novelty factor wore off and he fell into oblivion. Why he's back is a total mystery. Could be the surprise winner, given his past glory. www.rakintzis.com |
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| 09 |
Moiazei na nai cinema (Y tu cruel)
Katerina Topazi
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This is the second song submitted by mLV. Maria Louiza thought about it, or ERT did, and Katerina Topazi is the one who's going to sing it. Katerina has released 4-5 CDS the last few years and has a strong voice. She is happily married to Christos Dantis who is a popular singer and composer.
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| 10 |
Motive
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A weird-looking couple that allegedly play electronica. My guess is that they will surprise us on the 26th. Nobody has ever heard of them before, but any addition to Greece's booming electronica scene is welcome.
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