While we were holidaying over the New Year, Greek broadcasters ERT finally released the 10 official names of the performers that will compete in this year’s Greek Eurovision national final.
Among the finalists are Giorgos Karadimos, Katerine Avgoustakis and pop group Emigre.
The Greek national final will be televised live late next month, and all artists are expected to sing live at the event.
Katerine Avgoustakis is a Greek Belgian solo singer who made her singing career debut in 2002. She was a runner up in the 2006 Belgian national final and has enjoyed chart success in Poland, Bulgaria, Belgium and Canada.
Late last year, her name was among the rumours of a national final entry.
Another official entrant for the finals is Giorgos Alkaios who has been in the biz for a bit longer.
He started his musical career in 1989 when he participated in a Greek television casting show. He is known for delivering the audience a distinctive style of music, which combines traditional Greek sounds with Oriental elements.
Music group Emigre have grown in popularity in recent years since they collaborated with Greek singer, Antonis Remos. Just a few months ago they also performed live with Giorgos Mazonakis.
Collaborating with big-name artists in the local industry has definitely boosted their reputation as an admirable pop group.
Another group entrant for this year’s final is Mellises. The band performed live in Athens on numerous occasions over the festive season and their first music clip has been seen more than 25,000 times on YouTube.
Solo artist Giorgos Karadimos was one of the main favourites in the lead up to the official name confirmation, and he too has made the cut. Karadimos received critical acclaim after collaborating with Dimitra Galani.
The singer has only submitted a Greek version of his song ‘Me Pnigei Touti I Siopi’, which is only performed with Greek lyrics.
Christos Hatzinasios is another entrant in the national final. He has been successful in making a real name for himself, having performed with some of the biggest names in the industry such as Marinella, Antonis Remos, Notis Sfakianakis and Elena Paparizou.
From one artist with ample experience to another with very little; Eleftheria Eleftheriou is next on the list, and is actually a surprise entrant in the finals. She had first appeared on the Greek X Factor talent search show and was only recently voted out.
Eleftheria is quite new to the music scene and it will be interesting to see how she performs on the national final stage.
Getting down to the wire, Despina Ricci has also been confirmed as a national final entrant. Ricci’s name also circulated the grapevine last year regarding selection to the final.
Ricci is of Greek origin and was born in France. She often performs in a number of languages and has also dabbled in other art forms; acting and dancing in particular.
Second Skin is another official entrant. The duet comprises Sanny Baltzi and Ioanna Metaxa.
Baltzi has composed songs for various artists in the Greek music industry and now takes to the stage alongside Metaxa.
Manos Pyrovolakis has also been selected for the Greek final. The singer has produced four albums and has performed live with some Elena Paprizou and Paschalis Terzis. His song entry is called ‘An I Agapi’.