Kokkinou will do power ethno in Skopje!

Elli Kokkinou - De Pao Kala

Elli Kokkinou will compete for Greece in the 40th edition of ISC in Skopje. Elli Kokkinou won the NF with a landslide by receiving only maximum scores in the voting. Her song will be 'De pao kala' which starts traditionally but then turns into an very energetic ethno disco tune. The Greek crowd went wild when Elli performed her song live so expectations are on the rise for a good placing in the final maybe!

See the video played here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im9j2uA8pVw

Greek Multiple Choice for ISC 40

For the 40th International Song Contest the Greek management not wanting to look back in disappointment over less successful entries has set up a small National Final with all dance songs. ISC is celebrating it’s 40th edition and it’s the foreign managers who are about to give the decisive votes in the Greek preselection to that 8th lustrum. The songs competing all have more or less ethnic influences and of course Greece sings in the beautiful Greek language once again. ISC-38 singer Ammos is given a second chance. These are the 4 female artists and their songs in the competition:

Tamta – Agapise me
Ammos - Gyrise piso
Elli Kokkinou - De Pao Kala
Rallia Xristidou (pictured) - Tha'mai auto pou pote mas den ftanoume

.. and can be downloaded from: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6KN3FWR6


Votes to be send to rollercoasterslow at hotmail dot kom



In ISC 39



Greece attempted to qualify for the final with a powerduet “Kokkina Gyalia” by Stamatis Kraounakis & Hara Angelopoulou.


ISC 38 : Ammos – Epafi

This song was elected to represent Greece in ISC 38 but failed to qualify. Greece ranked 18th out of 23 in the semifinal with 49 points only.

Greece on pole position the final!

Greece made it to the final!

Greece qualified to the final. 22 countries were in semi 1 to compete for that ticket. Greece was one of the 10 semi-finalists to win it. In the final Frangoulis has drawn the pole position and will the start performing the final followed by 25 other artists.

Frangoulis packs his bags

The Greek decided! Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis will sing his power ballad “Oi Aposkeues (baggage)” in Israel. Mario gave a stunning performance in the outdoor “Theatre of the Earth” in Thessaloníki. Mario sang his interval song “Vincero perdero” and after that the audience expected the jury to give points but surprise-act Sarah Brightman came on stage to sing with Mario “Carpe Diem” "Phantom of the opera" and "Canto della Terra". After the singers received a standing ovation lasting over 5 minutes the results were made public.

The audience expected a close finish as the televote (with a significant share of Belgians) awarded the lowest score to the Jury-runner up “Bridge Of Dreams”. That song was supposed to do very well because the title is related to the ISC37 theme ‘building bridges’. In the end the Televote supported the Jury choice with 7 points. Because of the huge support for the Spanish song “Hay Más” from the televote, this song will be given a second chance in the NF for ISC 39.

Mario expressed his enjoyment to sing in the international arena of the ISC. In the past he took part in “WSCON-03” and “EuroCup47B” both times with the song “Vincero perdero” Therfore he had to withdraw this song in this preselection. The tenor’s song is described as a mixture between Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Within Tempatation, being both classical and gothic-style.

Total Televote (B) Jury Song
16 7 9 Oi Aposkeues
11 9 2 Hay Mas
10 5 5 Nights In White Satin
8 1 7 Bridge Of Dreams
6 3 3 Come What May
3 2 1 Ton Eafto Tou Paidi

Today Mario Frangoulis will pack his ‘aposkeues’ to tour and stay in Israel the whole month of January in preparation for ISC37.

The ISC 37 Greek song can be found here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F9RZSYAW

Video of Mario Frangoulis singing interval act “Vinceró perderó“: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=lV0i6Tpfxm0

Video of the live performance "Phantom of the opera" by Sarah Brightman & Mario Frangoulis: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=B5BWffdVJOQ

"Vincero perdero" out of competition

The Greek management announced on a pressconference held in Thessaloniki that the song 'Vincero perdero' is withdrawn from the race. The song will be song by Marios Frangoulis in the preselection show, but as an intervalact, because it already entered WSCON03 and other online competitions.

The preparations for this preselection have not been smoothless, as there were complaints about the duration of songs. The Greek management suggested to edit the too long songs to a suitable and the official allowed length of maximum 5 minutes. With the disqualification of 'Vincero Perdero' that problem is solved.

ISC management however decided to change the approximately 5 minute-rule to maximum exactly 7 minutes so that the Chinese song was fitted the rules again. The Greek delegation is not amused about this overnight decision and might make an official complaint if the Chinese delegation is allowed to send in a song that lasts longer than 5 minutes.

The foreman of the delegation explained "In an artistic and fantastic musical game like ISC is, there is one major rule 'ENJOY MUSIC' but there are some other rules needed to make the game a fair one for everyone. To make rules is usefull if the rules are good. If the rules limit artistic freedom these rules are to be reconsidered. Though whenever a rule is made it should be applied as long as the next edition had finished. New rules cannot be made during the schedule of a contest."

Artist chosen, language & song still open

Mario Fangoulis will be the next entrant in ISC for Greece. He made a few great albums in 2002 and 2004. The singer is internally selected and suggested himself to let the audience choose between a number of 7 songs in different languages. Maybe the singer was inpired by the Japanese delegation which choose to sing in Portuguese. Mario might be the first Greek entrant to sing in Italian or Spanish. Because songs 1 and 7 are over 'approximately 5 minutes' duration they will be shortened if they are to represent Greece in ISC. These are the songs in the Greek NF for ISC 37.

1 Nights in White Satin
2 Ton eafto tou paidi
3 Hay mas
4 Bridge of dreams
5 Oi opaskeues
6 Come what may
7 Vincero perdero

ALL SONGS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IPZOGLIJ
Voting should be done in 9-7-5-3-2-1 style.
Votes to be send to : rollercoasterslow at hotmail dot com



Greece in ISC untill ISC 36:

ISC-37 Mario Frangoulis - .....
ISC-36 Despina Vandi - Olo lipis (15/53)
ISC-35 Marsheaux - Regret (26/55)
ISC-34 Xristina Koletsa - Ekti Aisthisi (4/49)
ISC-33 Eleni Tsaligopoulou & MIKRO - Ego S'Agapisa Edo Ella (45/56)
ISC-32 Emigre - To Telos Itan Kako (42/?)
ISC-31 C-Real - Kalokairi Stin Kardia (22/50)
ISC-30 Alkistis Protopsalti & Bob Marley - Xavai (49/?)
ISC-29 Domna Kountouri - De Tha 'Mai Edo (22/49)
ISC-28 Alkistis Protopsalti - Dithesio (38/49)
ISC-27 Tamta - I Zoi Einai Oraia (15/43)
ISC-26 Eirini Merkouri - Ematha Na Zo Horis Esena (9/37)

ISC-Xmas Kaiti Garbi - Hristos Gennaeai (13/30)
ISC-Worst Song Mazoo and the Zoo - O Papagalos (6/25)

Greece takes 15th spot out of 54

In ISC 36 Greece has reached the finals and ranked 15th. Out of 54 participants that's a satisfying achievement. The management is searching for a good follow up to Despina's 'Olo lipis'