Greece

Koza Mostra

© Albin Olsson About Quick Facts MembersIlias KozasAlexis ArchontisStelios SiomosChristos KalaitzopoulosVasilis NalbantisDimitris Christonis (not on stage) Founded2011 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek National SelectionEurosong 2013 – a MAD Show In EurovisionMalmö 2013 SongAlcohol Is Free (2013, with Agathon Iakovidis) Biography Formed by Ilias Kozas in 2011, Koza Mostra is a Greek rock ensemble that seamlessly blends ska, punk, and rock with the distinctive sounds of traditional Greek folk, such as Macedonian Greek rhythms and rebetiko. The band features Ilias Kozas (lead vocals, classical and electric guitar), Dimitris Raptis (drums), Stavros Apostolidis (bouzouki and backing vocals), Giannis Bellos (bass and backing vocals), Tasos Gentzis (saxophone and backing vocals), and Asterios Fragos (electric guitar and backing vocals). In 2013, alongside Agathonas Iakovidis, they took the Eurovision Song Contest by storm with their catchy tune “Alcohol Is Free,” securing a commendable 6th place in the final. That same year, their debut album, “Keep up the Rhythm,” earned a triple Platinum certification from the IFPI, a key authority in the Greek music industry. Four years later, in 2017, they dropped their second album, “Corrida.” The single “Don’t panic, we’re on Titanic” followed. In 2018 they released a Theodorakis cover, “Leventis”. In April 2019, the band teamed up with the band Kultur Shock for several performances. The band did a European tour and performed in Bulgaria, Czechia and Italy and later in Germany. On January 31, 2020, a new single was released: “Requiem”. The song featured Pedro Erazo. It took 2 years, until June 29 2022, when a new song, “Bilio” was released. The song was followed by a tour. They visited Bulgaria again, and in 2023 Germany, Serbia and The Netherlands. Entries Alcohol is Free (With Agathon Iakovidis) Country🇬🇷 Country Year2013 LanguageEnglishGreek LyricsStathis PachidisIlias Kozas MusicIlias Kozas FeaturingAgathonas Iakovidis Results Semi Points: 121Position: 2Running order: 9 Results Finals Points: 152Position: 6Running order: 21 https://youtu.be/LFs9AdNV4Qw

Agathonas Iakovidis

About Quick Facts NameAgathonas Iakovidis Born02 January 1955 Deceased05 August 2020 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek National SelectionEurosong 2013 – A MAD Show In Eurovision2013, Malmö SongAlcohol Is Free (2013, with Koza Mostra) Biography Agathonas Iakovidis was a Greek rebetiko singer and composer. He was born in Evangelismos Lagada Thessaloniki in 1955. His parents were refugees from Anatolia; therefore, the first songs he listened to were melodies from that region. He began to engage with music in 1971 and gradually taught himself to play almost all string instruments of rebetiko songs, namely: guitar, baglama, oud, bouzouki, tzoura, mandola, mandolin. In 1973, he made his first professional appearance in a nightclub in Thessaloniki. He immediately realized that the music that expresses him and suits him is rebetiko and dedicated himself exclusively to it. He owned many rare phonograph records with rebetiko songs and used his collection for radio music shows. In 1977, he created the Rebetiko Group of Thessaloniki, with which he performed in venues, held concerts, and recorded two albums. In 1981, he decided to move to Athens. He collaborated with renowned artists of popular music. He became more famous and performed concerts all over Greece and abroad, in Europe and the USA. Since 1987, he lived and worked in Thessaloniki. His discography was exclusively about rebetiko. He had performed many popular rebetika as well as old, unknown songs that he retrieved from the rich archival material he owned. In 2013, he had accepted the invitation of the band Koza Mostra to participate with them in the Eurovision Festival in Malmö, Sweden, with the song “Alcohol Is Free”, with which they advanced to the final of the event and finished in 6th place. He passed away on August 5, 2020, from a heart attack while sleeping. Entries Alcohol Is Free (with Koza Mostra) Country🇬🇷 Country Year2013 LanguageEnglishGreek LyricsStathis PachidisIlias Kozas MusicIlias Kozas Koza MostraIlias KozasAlexis ArchontisStelios SiomosChristos KalaitzopoulosVasilis NalbantisDimitris Christonis (not on stage) Results Semi Points: 121Position: 2Running order: 9 Results Finals Points: 152Position: 6Running order: 21 https://youtu.be/LFs9AdNV4Qw

Freaky Fortune

© Albin Olsson About Quick Facts MembersNikolas RaptakisTheophilus Pouzbouris Active2012-2015, 2018 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek National SelectionEurosong 2014 – A Mad Show In Eurovision2014 Copenhagen SongRise Up (2014, with RiskyKidd) Biography Freaky Fortune was a Greek musical duo that gained significant recognition after their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The members are Nikolas Raptakis and Theofilos Pouzbouris, both of whom hail from Athens, Greece. Nikolas Raptakis was born on April 6, 1991, in Athens. He began his musical journey as a self-taught guitarist and studied Music Technology and Sound Engineering at the Technological Educational Institute of Crete. Known for his distinctive voice and stage presence, Nikolas has always been the frontman of the group. Theofilos Pouzbouris, also born in Athens on October 22, 1991, is a singer, guitarist, and music producer. He graduated from the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering at the University of the Aegean and completed his postgraduate studies in Interactive Media and Performance at the University of York. He began playing classical guitar at the age of 6 and has participated in numerous music contests and festivals throughout his early career. Freaky Fortune formed in 2012 and quickly made a name for themselves by releasing covers of popular songs on YouTube. They eventually caught the attention of the Greek public when they won the Mad Video Music Award for Best Video Clip by a New Artist for their song “Our Destiny,” featuring the vocalist Ivi Adamou. The group’s most notable career milestone was their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Freaky Fortune, along with rapper RiskyKidd, represented Greece with the song “Rise Up.” They performed an energetic rendition of the song with a trampoline on stage. The song made it to the finals, where it placed 20th. In June 2014, the duo teamed up with Nicolas Costa for the song “In A World Without You”. In November of the same year the song “Gi Kai Ouranos” was published, and in 2015 there was a Sam Smith cover, “Lay Me Down”. That was the last song, published by Freaky Fortune. In 2018, Freaky Fortune made a comeback for one time. Together with Tamta they recorded another cover, “Get lucky”. Entries Rise Up (feat. RiskyKidd) Country🇬🇷 Greece Year2014 LanguageEnglish LyricsNikolas RaptakisTheophilus PouzbourisRiskyKidd MusicRiskyKidd BackingsMihalis ZeisVasilis Manthopoulos DancersArthour Geremyan (trampoline) Results Semi Points: 74Position: 7Running order: 13 Results Finals Points: 35Position: 20Running order: 10 https://youtu.be/c9y6A1uXLn8

Liverpool live: bare feet, earrings and a train

Day number 6 of the rehearsals is going on. This is what happened in the first half of the rehearsalday. photo credits: EBU/Chloe Hashemi/Sarah Louise Bennett Cyprus No shoes for Andrew Lambrou this time. Furthermore, not much has changed compared to the first rehearsal; many red and blue, fire on the LED-screens and smoke on the floor. Cyprus is currently 22nd at the bookmakers, and is very likely to qualify for the final. Iceland The people of Eurovision.tv noticed that Diljá has earrings. Whether there have been changes in the performance or improvement in singing… we don’t know. On the other hand, singing does not seem to be Diljá’s problem. Still, a number 29 in the betting odds and a number 14 in the semifinal ranking does not necessary bring the final closer for Iceland. Greece The Greek performance seems to be pretty much the same as the previous one, Victor Vernicos varying from sitting on the floor to walking, dancing and jumping. And of course he still has shorts on. Greece is currently 31st at the bookmakers and 11th in the semifinal ranking. But Greece and Denmark (no. 10) seem to get closer to eachother. Will Greece make it to the final after all? Poland No bare feet, earrings or a haircut (as the eurovision.tv liveblog mentions with Greece) is noticed when they talk about Poland. We guess it is because there are no changes. We are especially anxious on how Blanka’s singing is. In the national final this was definitely not good, we wanna know if that improves. We keep you updated! Poland is currently 24th at the bookmakers and could seriously reach the final. Keep in mind that this is all based on the staging. Slovenia The cheerful Slovenian entry was performed once again too. The act is still swinging and colourful. We mentioned the words Joker Out on the LED-screens but we also saw the title of the song, “Carpe diem”. The bookmakers predict a place in the final for Slovenia, as they are 21st in the ranking right now. Georgia Again, a change in clothes. The dress Iru is wearing is still the same, but the train it has is much bigger now. The windmachine still works at this stormy performance. Georgia is likely to qualify with a 23rd place at the bookmakers and a high ranking at the semifinal odds. in collaboration with Eurovision Artists

Liverpool live: rehearsal schedule

Today the rehearsals for the 2nd semifinal will be finished. The 11 countries that didn’t rehearse for a second time yet will do so today. We will closely follow it again. 11.30 – 11.50 Cyprus11.55 – 12.15 Iceland12.20 – 12.40 Greece12.45 – 13.05 Poland13.10 – 13.30 Slovenia13.35 – 13.55 Georgia 15.00 – 15.20 San Marino15.25 – 15.45 Austria15.50 – 16.10 Albania16.15 – 16.35 Lithuania16.40 – 17.00 Australia

Liverpool live: a headroll, tropical graphics and little hearts

Today is the 3rd day of rehearsals. After today we have heard and seen all the songs, except the Big Five and Ukraine. photo credits: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett/Corinne Cummings Estonia Estonian Alika is wearing an all blue combination when she sings her song. As in the national final, the song starts with a piano that plays itself. In the beginning Alika sits on the music stool, later she stands behind the microphone. The LED screens on the background are greenish blue, varied with gold. Iceland Diljá is wearing a silver suit. She shows a lot of energy with kicks and gymnastic moves. She even makes a head roll! Diljá is surrounded by drums. The background colours change all the time, from green to blue to black with a daffodil (?) and to a sunflower. A lot happens during this show! Greece Victor Vernicos weirs beige while on stage, and yes, like in the video he has shorts. Victor dances but every now and then he is sitting on the floor, also just like in the video. On the LED screens in the background we see huge pictures of Victor himself. Later we see Greek letters in white on the screens. Victor is surrounded by smoke. Poland Blanka has a dress that is half in purple and half in orange. She is on stage with four dancers. At the background during the song you see tropical pictures on the LED screen. Halfway, Blanka changes her dress in a short, red one. The last chorus of the song is accompanied by a rain of fireworks. Slovenia The band Joker Out is wearing pink and purple pants with blouses in all kind of colours. A lot of red stroboscopic light is surrounding the band. In the end, you see the words Joker Out in white on a black screen, and the band members make hearts with their hands. Eurovision.tv mentions the enthousiasm of the band. in collaboration with Eurovision Artists

Liverpool Live: rehearsal schedule

Already for the third day, we have rehearsals. Eurovision Universe will keep you updated about everything that happens during the rehearsals. This is what you can expect today: 11.30 – 12.00 Estonia12.10 – 12.40 Iceland12.50 – 13.20 Greece13.30 – 14.00 Poland15.10 – 15.40 Slovenia15.50 – 16.20 Georgia16.30 – 17.00 San Marino17.10 – 17.40 Austria17.50 – 18.20 Albania18.30 – 19.00 Lithuania19.10 – 19.40 Australia

Greece: Victor Vernicos’ song presented

It took longer than planned, but finally here it is: the Greek entry for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. It was not an easy road to Liverpool and it still isn’t. After the (internal) national selection, runner up Melissa Mantzoukis objected. There were three shortlisted songs and artists, but one of them withdrew. However, votes for the withdrawn songs were still counted. Also, the point values awarded do not sum to the quantity of points available. If they had, Melissa Mantzoukis would have won. On 6 March, court decided that there was not enough time left to change the entry. The deadline was too close. Victor Vernicos therefore remains the Greek contestant. The song Victor wrote himself is called “What they say”. Greece will perform at the first half of the second semifinal.

Victor Vernicos

© EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett About Quick Facts NameVictor Vernicos Jørgensen Born24 October 2006 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek National SelectionInternal selection 2023 In Eurovision2023 Liverpool SongWhat they say (2023) Biography Victor Vernicos Jørgensen is a Greek/Danish singer/songwriter. Already as a child, he started singing. When he was 8 years old, he sang his own version of the Eurovision winning song “Heroes”. On 25 June 2021, he released his first single, “Hope it’s heaven”. A year later, in August 2022, Victor released a new single, called “Mean”. In the same year, he had his first solo perfomance on TV in a christmas show. On 30 January 2023, it was announced in the ERT News that Victor was going to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “What they say”. Unfortunately he didn’t manage to make it to the Grand Final in the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Entries What They Say Country🇬🇷 Greece Year2023 LanguageEnglish LyricsVictor Vernicos Jørgensen MusicVictor Vernicos Jørgensen BackingsFanis Bouloukos Results Semi Points: 14Position: 13Running order: 8 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/gJSZA0Zh2xU

Victor Vernicos to represent Greece

Victor Vernicos announced Victor Vernicos will represent Greece in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. That is what ERT announced today in their main news bulletin. The title of 16-year old Victor’s song is already known too: “What they say”. The full song, written and composed by Victor himself, is not yet published. However, a fragment was already released. Internally chosen Vernicos was internally chosen by a jury, consisting of public and professionals. Out of 106 songs, three were chosen, and now finally “What they say” becomes the entry for the contest in Liverpool. The other finalists were Melissa Mantzoukis with the song “Liar” and rumoured selected duo Antonia Kaouri and Maria Maragkou with “Shout out”. From “Heroes” to “Hope it’s heaven” Victor Vernicos Jørgensen is a 16-year old, half Greek, half Danish singer. He currently has a contract at PANIK Records. Already when he was 4 years old, Victor started to sing. When he was 8 years old, he sang his own version of Måns Zelmerlöw’s “Heroes”. In 2021 he released his first single, “Hope it’s heaven”.