Summer has “One Last Breath” left, but Greek Public broadcaster ERT has plenty more oxygen. Today Greece’s ERT has confirmed to wiwibloggs that Greece will participate in Eurovision 2016.

Two weeks ago ERT told wiwibloggs that it’s too early to know if they’d compete at Eurovision 2016. Nevertheless, things moved fast and now, as OGAE Greece reports, the Greek Public Broadcaster is able to confirm that Greece will be in next year’s contest.

Speaking with wiwibloggs, Mrs. Maria Kozakou from ERT’s Public Relations Office said:

ERT’s Board of Directors met last week, discussing several subjects. Among them was Eurovision 2016.  The Board’s decision was positive and we can now officially announce that Greece will participate in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest”.

National Final

In recent days some sites have claimed that ERT has decided to break ties with MAD TV and host a National Final on its own. MAD TV oversaw the last three Greek National Finals, but it’s unclear if that relationship will happen this year. Speaking with wiwibloggs, Mrs. Kozakou responded:

Friday’s Press Release was about whether or not Greece will participate in Eurovision 2016. Th.e whole proccedure is something else. We can’t tell anything at the moment, as decisions are yet to be taken.”

Either way, our fingers are crossed that ERT will manage to choose a great entry that will help Greece revive its Eurovision glory…

So what do you think? Do you want to see another MAD show for 2016, or would a Greek National Final hosted by ERT be better?

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ct greece
ct greece
8 years ago

@ charles Russia and Sweden scratched each other’s back – Russia competed with a swedish song after all. It was all a nice little prelude to the West making nice with Russia over Ukraine. Meanwhile the real winner was robbed (even though to be fair, perhaps the italians did not care that much and let it happen). As for the reaction of the crowd during the performances, we all remember that Sweden got much less of a positive reaction than Russia, Belgium or even Israel, and it was Italy that the crowd went totally berserk for. When it comes to… Read more »

Charles
Charles
8 years ago

@ct greece: Obsession is a feeling only Eurovision fans have when a certain uptempo track so beloved to the point of extreme is being performed … It can be provided by Greece or Turkey or as in this year’s case Serbia and Israel … nonetheless is a reckless musical moment that serves only one purpose: entertaining people the same way I eat a cheeseburger. Obsession is also the state of anger fans felt once the televoting results came after the final showing Italy at the top … in the meantime, during the voting, Sweden was the word everybody screamed from… Read more »

Charles
Charles
8 years ago

@George: Honey, regardless of all the point we do agree on … thankfully … I am sorry but Eurovision, sadly, has been always about POLITICS whether we like to admit it or not. Take a look at the contest history before Greece joined in 1974 and notice how many time Greece and Turkey couldn’t be together in the same contest during the 70s due to POLITICAL issues. It hasn’t changed a bit even today: voting either juries or televoters has political innuendos very well craved in it … So political implications are always present in it. I don’t like it… Read more »

Mar
Mar
8 years ago

Like there was ever any doubt of their participation. Merkel could buy all of Greece and name it Hellasburg and the country would still be at Eurovision.
This is good news both for the greek people and everyone else that enjoys Eurovision. The show would def not be the same without their contributions, I know I would miss them if they were gone.

Erin
Erin
8 years ago

@ct Greece – My final sentence “so the next time you’re outraged about Greece holding a national final, think again” was actually directed at other readers who had a bone to pick with ERT and not at you at all, but I obviously didn’t phrase it correctly. Both our views on this are in complete unison…

George
8 years ago

@ Charles You really must be suffering from a serious psycological disorder, reaching conclusions for other people with only one sentence of them. Well, I have to inform you that I hate Greek crappy entries ,as much as you, despite being a Greek. And that I liked our this year’s entry.I also want the juries at the contest , but not THOSE juries that rank Rise Up higher than One Last Breath.(that’s just an example of their bad work). And.. a) As a Greek I can very much tell the difference between the genuine greek traditional ethnic music and the… Read more »

ct greece
ct greece
8 years ago

@ charles I think you are a little obsessed. For your information, Greece did not become a member of the European Community in 1973, but in 1981. And the reason for that is that Greece is vital for western security in the turbulent eastern Mediterranean. So nobody did us any favours. And yes, Greece perhaps should reconsider sending an upbeat ethnic-pop number again if the audience is entertained by it, like Israel did this year with great success. I also think you are disparaging recent greek entries too much. Greece’s entries in 2011 (Loukas) and 2013 (Koza Mostra) were entertaining… Read more »

Charles
Charles
8 years ago

@George: Remind me to give you a female cat called Greece next Xmas … 🙂 I wanna make sure I am not traumatizing you with my honest depreciation for shake shake and opas free from alcohol considering the amount of love you have those things … apparently my views on it really hurt you bad and we’ve had enough injured people suffering with the 3rd placing given to Italy … certainty I don’t want you to be part of such statistics … Anyway … let’s make this one clear: a) No .. greek ethnic music in its essence is far… Read more »

George
8 years ago

@ Charles With no intent on destroying your hate-greek-esc-entries and greece itself manifesto. ” the juries, who unlike the common fan and tv viewer are not so easily fooled by all the dance and noise brought onto the stage” OK I know you’re probably one of the biggest fun of juries, but your beloved ones ranked our 2014 entry much higher than our 2015 entry.Aren’t you a bit ashamed of that? Juries proved to be the ones to support the music you seem to hate. Popular-mediocre-radio-friendly dance pop songs. So you should get over your love to juries. ”Greece will… Read more »

Callum Nowacki
Callum Nowacki
8 years ago

As the EBU say, for most countries (excluding central Europe and Georgia) Eurovision is EXTREMELY cheap TV. They spend, what? €650,000 top on sending an act, and get an odd 40% ratings. That is VERY cheap TV if you compare to soaps, documentaries and chat shows funded by the broadcaster, which may be 10x the cost (for around 10 hours of TV – around what Eurovision gives a broadcaster) and get the same – if not less – figures.

Charles
Charles
8 years ago

@Xepher: Neither will you nor will I … Greece is like Taylor Swift right now … the girl is being spoiled with love, million selling records, million views on YouTube and many awards, though her voice is so average and her music is just okey pop no different from what any other female in the game is doing … with Max Martin writing and producing it, it’s hard to even tell the difference. Greece has been since those shake shake days spoiled with fans love and obsession due to the uptempo ethno vibe of their entries, Greece alongside Turkey has… Read more »

Freyah
Freyah
8 years ago

Hopefully ERT can bring Greece back to the left side of the scoreboard. I didn’t personally like “Rise Up” or “One Last Breath” while there were better songs in the selections I thought (2015 deffo).

Erin
Erin
8 years ago

@ct greece – It’s easy to put Greece under the magnifying glass because it’s a hot topic with many implications not just for Greece itself, but at the same time most people turn a blind eye to countries who waste disproportionate amounts on Eurovision while their economies are in collapse and their average citizens hardly make their daily living (Russia and Belarus anyone?). Just because Russia opted for an internal selection in recent years doesn’t mean it doesn’t pour excessive funds into the pockets of a selected few just like Belarus does, so the next time you’re outraged about Greece… Read more »

ct greece
ct greece
8 years ago

ERT is financed through a national licence fee in the electricity bill, paid by everyone (including people who may not even have television). They were re-instated with all their previously existing radio and tv channels and after the re-hiring of hundreds of employees that were fired last year. Believe me they spend more than enough on programmes nobody is even watching. They have all the sufficient funding they need to represent the country as Greece’s public television abroad in every major event including the Eurovision song contest. It’s a tiny amount compared to all the money they’re throwing away elsewhere.… Read more »

Daniel
Daniel
8 years ago

Thats two countries confirmed today. Yay. And Croatia could still go to jesc. Yay.

JESCGermany15
JESCGermany15
8 years ago

I’m happy that they will participate because Greece is one of my favourite Eurovision-Countries but I still not understand how they could have money for that…but anyway, good luck for the future with the problems and in 2016 😉

EF0912
EF0912
8 years ago

Good news but I highly doubt Greece would come back to the top 10 with a national final.

Azaad
Azaad
8 years ago

Well, as they say, the show must go on!
Seriously though I hope that this won’t eat up too much of the little money left in Greece

Oostenrijk
Oostenrijk
8 years ago

In the first finalist is: Greece!

Deniz
Deniz
8 years ago

Nice!

Xepher
Xepher
8 years ago

I will never understand how Greece has been in a financial problem for years and yet still can be in Eurovision

#MarioVision
#MarioVision
8 years ago

Well of course we would gonna participate in Sweden’s EuroVision next year…It was just too early to confirm officially our participation.. Hopefully we will send a better song next year…It was the first time that i did not have our greek song inside my top10 qualifiers on the SF.. And our act was just bland as i was not impressed by Maria Eleni Kyriakou.. Our target is to just manage keep qualifying to the final alone & NOT lose our great record…I do not expect us to finish on high place or even in top15 but if we won’t qualify… Read more »