Stefania has taken her “Last Dance” on the Eurovision stage, and now Greece has the difficult task of choosing who will follow in the teen queen’s footsteps en route to Eurovision 2022.
As OGAE Greece reports, the Greek national broadcaster has now published its open invitation for music companies to submit their proposals for the next edition of the song contest. They have until October 10th to propose an artist or group and to send in up to three songs. The broadcaster will make its decision based on the overall concept— package, promotion and song presentation.
Greece opens Eurovision 2022 submission window
Greece will no doubt want to keep a good thing going. Stefania achieved tenth place in the final — the country’s first Top 10 result since Koza Mostra feat. Agathonas Iakovidis in 2013. So who is thought to be in the running for 2022?
Good Job Nicky
Good Job Nicky — real name Nikola Varthakouri — is riding a wave of momentum. The 26-year-old, who is repped by Cobalt Music, released his debut single “Blue” back in January. It shows off his melodic voice and distinct sound, which is at once soulful and bluesy with a flair of alternative pop. We particularly appreciate the quirky video presentation, which conveys his bohemian edge and artistic spirit. The youngest child of celebrated musician Giannis Parios and talk show host Sofia Aliberti, showbiz runs in his veins. Could his big moment come next May?
Kalomira
As in recent years, Kalomira — Greece’s Eurovision 2008 star — is said to be in talks for another Eurovision run. She’s got a lot of goodwill behind her. Her Laïko-pop track “Secret Combination” gave Greece a third-place finish and remains a favorite amongst some fans. She’s also a staple of Greek TV with gossip mags and talks shows frequently checking in with her.
In 2020 Kalomira had a chat with the Belgian Eurovision site Songfestival.be. They asked Kalomira about returning to Eurovision and she confirmed it was something that had been discussed in previous years. Kalomira confirmed that Cyprus was a possibility for 2021.
Eurovision is near and dear to Kalomira. You’ll remember she performed “Shady Lady” alongside Stefania and Dimitris Kontopoulos during his Q Sessions.
Amanda Georgiadis
Less prominent in the reporting, but still considered an outside contender, is Amanda Georgiadis — a Greek singer who lives in Norway. The 24-year-old is making a name for herself under the stage name Amanda Tenfjord.
Her web site explains that until very recently, Amanda was training to be a doctor.
“While studying medicine, she continued to write music and enter music contests, and it was for fun that she decided to sign up for a showcase festival in Trondheim, where she caught the eye of a record label and, just like that, she was signed.”
Her debut EP First Impression showcases the beauty of her voice and her modern singer-songwriter appeal. It’s a vibe that translates nicely across borders.
Unless Kalomira comes up with something really different, this kind of act is doomed to fail. She participated two decades ago!!! It’s like wanting back in 1992 or in 2002 someone that participated in 1978 or 1988 singing the same kind of songs… two worlds apart!… Does not Greece get this???
ERT won’t choose her, don’t worry.
The winners of 1992 also won in 1980 and came second in 1984, though…
Ok, my bad! Very well spotted. 🙂 🙂 🙂 And you even forgot to mention 1987 victory! However, my friend, my point still holds, because Johnny Logan was able to update his sound from 1980 to 1992. His songs sounded fresh and each song had a different vibe to them. Also the whole acts evolved a lot during those years. And what I am trying to say is that ERT has to come up with something very different than 2008… Also, because we saw this year that the Pop Diva concept has his limitations
She participated in 2008. That’s 14 years ago, not two decades!
true, but you also have to realize that not every artist and also songwriter wants to do a nf… so they matter too!
nfs are great for us fans but when it comes to artists themselves it’s often a different story.
and we aren’t talking about selections like Sanremo,
this is very unlikely, but i would really want marina to represent either greece or the uk
UK please. But Marina’s music won’t be understood in Eurovision i think unless she goes full pop (Primadonna style)
I would love Kalmoira to be back. Her entry is an iconic esc entry at this point BUT: We are in a jury era of eurovision and she is the exact type of artist the juries would crucify. Secret combination would have flopped big time with juries: she has never exactly been a vocalist The broadcaster would force her to work with that garbage “dream team” and their stuff is still stuck in 2008, they’re beyond dated. I don’t think she should come back if she would work with the “dream team”. If she finds her own sound, uses her… Read more »
that being said we are entering the precorded vocals era of eurovsion too but she shouldnt come back tbh
Why does Good Job Nicky have an American accent? This is just a question.
He lived and studied in NY for quite a few years.
I don’t get why some morons felt that they have to downvote a simple question
Thank you.
OMG, I am so proud and happy about having a little piece of Norway as one of the candidates for an another country!!
I love Kalomira, but no. It’s been wayyy a long time since she did Eurovision and she’s been out of the industry for YEAAARS. I don’t find a reason why she would do Eurovision now. Good Job Nicky is clearly the stand-out singer here. I listened to his songs FO SHO and Clouds and I was impressed, very distinctive sound that is stuck to your head. This is the one to choose IF he has recorded some good songs for Eurovision. Also, i don’t get why this Amanda girl from Norway should represent Greece? Why take the Stefania approach again?… Read more »
Coming from a Greek i hope i see at the eurovision stage next year amanda or good job nicky(both are amazing and have unique voices). But i am not super excited for Kalomira, she is an icon but she is old now and hasn’t been active for quite some time…
Old? Really? She is 36 years old, that’s not being old…. I’m not a big fan of Kalomira, indeed I don’t like Secret Combination… but calling her old is just too much
yeah but you cant be 36 years old and sing a song similar to ”secret combination” ….
whoi told you she is going to sing a song like Secret Combination?
Also, did you forget Sertab’s song in 2003? She was like 40 years old.
The issue is not her age! Come on!!! That is plain ageist and discriminatory! Even if she would be 77 years old, that is not the issue. The issue is that Eurovision has evolved immensely since 2008. So she is very welcome to come back, but for her and Greece’s sake, with something current and imaginative
Good Job Nicky and Amanda sound so promising! Maybe they should try a duet!
ummm, maybe no? didn’t you notice that their music styles are completely different? If they made a duo it would be a catastrophe…..
I have no clue what the Greek music scene is like, but I like to see somebody new for 2022. I’m just here for the ride.
I don’t get why everyone is so anti Kalomira. She had one of the best songs and performances Greece has ever sent. Could she do it again? Who knows? But I’d certainly want to see what she has in store. And if anything, out of the three rumours, she’s the one that’s most likely to have a song that is remotely Greek in identity.
It would be outdated and so 2000s Greek. People no longer vote for this kind of songs (and rightly so…).
Neither of those are because of her. Secret Combination may have been well staged, but she hurt it with her flat performance. Also, she didn’t write the song, so crediting her for having one of Greece’s best songs doesn’t make sense. Outside of her dance moves, nothing good about Secret Combination was because of her.
I love Kalomira but this is 2022 we’re talking about, not 2008. I think her time has passed for a comeback. She hasn’t been active in the music industry since 2010, i believe so i don’t understand why ERT would want to pick her for Eurovision (other tthan having high viewing rates). I think they should go for a different style than the Stefania/Kalomira route.
From the above three artists I would choose Amanda, I think she can definitely bring another top 10 result for Greece.
I am sure she can participate in the Norwegian finals..
Like in many countries also norway has a load of artists that would never take part in MGP just because of the fact they might loose to some gimmick act or someone with a bigger fanbase and not because of the song. They might though have wanted to go if they were selected internally…. Doubt we would see Amanda accept to be in MGP but internally she might accept for sure.
Amanda could go for Norway, but my guess is that it would be easier to break into the Greek music scene.
The Greek music industry is really just within Greece and Cyprus, with the occasional spillover into Albania.
I would imagine that Norway is a bit more integrated with that of other countries around it, thus a bit harder to stand out.
I would really like to see Greece select a male vocalist for the first time in ages. With the greatest of respect to Kalomira, Greece has an abundance of fresh talent, they don’t really need a returnee.
Just please pick something which is not a kontopoulos song and I will be happy
Well, I don’t like many of his songs but Kontopoulos is the most successful ESC songwriter.
yeah in late 2000′
What?
2013 : 2nd place
2014: 7th place
2016: 3rd place
2018: 10th place
2019: 3rd place
2021: 10th place
and none of them deserved their placing… it’s also very possible they cheated… My country Slovenia gave Greece 8 points this year and literally nobody talked about it in the comment, literally, nobody, if somebody mentioned Greece it was mostly negative and it gets more points than France, Switzerland etc. when there were at least 100 comments praising them… it doesn’t sit well with me. Moldova – the same they got 12 points in the semi from the televote of countries that don’t vote for Moldova. It doesn’t make any sense… Not to mention the scandal with Azerbaijan in 2013…… Read more »
I hope you understand that the conspiracy theories you are writing don’t make sense? The fact that your friends didn’t speak about Greece doesn’t mean that it is not reasonable that there have been people out there that liked the song and voted for it. No one in the UK spoke about Lithuania and they got 12 points from the viewers. Since they are “cheating” as you say, why your country Slovenia voted for Greece but they didn’t vote for Moldova? If they are cheating as you say, why Moldova didn’t get any high points in the final ? Why,… Read more »
🙂
no hate, just discussing things!:)
My friend I don’t know how things work in Slovenia, but in the UK if you accuse someone for something so serious like cheating, without evidence, you can even go to prison. Now to your questions 1. I just googled and from the page of the greek embassy in Slovenia I found out that there is a huge community there and also a lot of students. But even if this is not the case esc 2021 has reached all of us , that fans that comment like and vote for songs in the polls have nothing to do with the… Read more »
I thought those 8 points from Slovenian televote were very odd as well
You are Swedish and a well known Greek hater. Thank you, next
And by the way I didn’t mention Moldova 2021 as one of his successful entries despite being 13th 🙂
As mentioned before I don’t like most of his songs but I also don’t like when fans are trying to accuse someone just because they are not happy with the results.
and this isn’t about me not liking the songs, I actually kinda liked Stefania (not top 10 but I had her in my top 20), this is me questioning how Greece got 8 points from Slovenian televote when I know for a fact that Slovenes didn’t not think of this entry as their top 3, heck not even top 10 material.
+ I’m not one of those who accuses someone just because I don’t like the result. I hated Romania and Croatia in 2017 (both in my bottom 4) but I don’t think they cheated.
“when I know for a fact that Slovenes didn’t not think of this entry as their top 3″
Wow you must know the entire population of Slovenia to be so sure that Slovenes didn’t think Stefania’s song as their top 3.
Please be reasonable. Someone must have voted for it and it’s impossible for you to know the thoughts and sentiments of all Slovene voters.
You can read through the RTV comment page – it has around 1000 comments – few people mention Greece, only one of them likes it (but probably doesn’t vote for it), France has around 50 comments saying how good it is etc. gets 6 six points, while Greece gets 8, tell me how is that possible? I’m not making this up, go check the page and see it yourself… I would not be so doubtful if Greece got for example 4 points, but there is no way that we put Greece on the 3rd spot. Just think logically and you… Read more »
he is not the most successful ESC songwriter. If it wasn\’t for Kirkorov paying/bribing and Fokas doing the staging, his songs would be flops. I can hardly remember any ESC hits other than Shady Lady (THe Lazarev song didn’t do well in charts)
anyone who involves themselves in an entry like “this is love” has NO CREDIBILITY. end of story
hes so dated ugh it actually hurts.
Good Job Nicky is pretty good, and could potentially do very well on the Eurovision stage.
However, it’s been many years since we got an oriental style dance number at Eurovision (from any country). Greece used to send these type of songs in the 2010s, and mostly did very well until people’s tastes changed.
Today, I think something like “Opa” or “Shake It” would probably be very welcome in 2022. It would be very retro.
> it’s been many years since we got an oriental style dance number at Eurovision (from any country)
?Is Azerbaijan 2021 (and 2020) a joke to you?
Yes.
Good job nicky would be a great choice! I would recommend Negros tou Moria as well!
Blue is one of the best songs I listened in recent memory. It would have been a great ESC entry.
At first, I really want Evangelia for Greece, but her latest single genuinely concerned me. Of all her three songs, “Diving”, for me, is the most generic and least interesting. I’ll be disappointed if she ended up going to ESC with a song in that style, I still prefer “Fotia” for being a minimalistic pop where the traditional sounds are emphasized more. She’s better be careful here.
Now I have faith in Good job nicky and Amanda Tenfjord. Kalmoira better gives the stage for the others.
Evangelia : her songs are very 00s NQ
I don’t get the hype for Kalomira. She was given a catchy, upbeat, ethno-pop song (that she had no role in writing) and sang completely flat during her performance, and people still think that she should represent Greece over a decade later?
There are pre-recorded vocals in 2022, which will help her but yes she doesn’t have anything to offer in 2022 and i heard she wants an Alex P. song (Fuego writer).
I am already sick of all the Billie-Eilish-copycat-screamers about good job nicky. We had Roxen and Victoria who had to deal with them
His music style is not at all related with Billie Eilish lol
The blue hair, the minimalistic videos, song titles in lower case, stripped down melancholic music, etc. etc.
lol? and what people aren’t allowed to have blue hair, produce minimalistic videos… and if they do that they are automatically a Billie-Eilish copycat? blue hair and titles in lower case aren’t exactly mona lisa so that is something that can be “copied”
Oh come on, “song titles in lower case”? Really? Also, Taylor Swift in her two latest albums had her songs titled in lower case! Did SHE copy Billie Eillish? GJN is THE thing for Greece. Listen to his single “January 8th”. With something like that Greece could win the whole thing!
Austria 2019 had blue hair so what?
If you listen to “CLOUDS” you’ll find that his music potential is bigger than that.
Billie Eilish didn’t invent this type of music.
She just made it more mainstream
exactly.
That’s right, it was already an underground trend when she got started
Except for these three (which would be splendid choices), there have been reports for Josephine and Evangelia, who in my opinion are not that good choices… Josephine live kinda sucks and Evangelia doesn’t have enough attitude to stick out and qualify. I hope we get one of these three truly,
Josephine and Evangelia are rumoured more for Cyprus rather than Greece.
I really don’t a “pop bop”. Never liked them, and ultimately they have stopped doing good in ESC. With Josephine we would either NQ or end up in the bottom-right hand side of the scoreboard.
depends on the song, running order, performance, how many other bops are there… I think Josephine could still do a top 10 result if everything comes together.
The problem is that people at home might think.. Cyprus again going with a pop diva. Nothing exciting or surprising
And that formula is showing diminishing returns. Cyprus needs to switch it up for next year or could face its first non qualification since 2013
I think that’s just what eurofans think… do you think that an average viewer of eurovision knows what entry Cyprus had the previous year? they don’t – at least 90 % of them don’t… so it really doesn’t matter, they may remember Eleni but Tamta and Elena – not.
Nevertheless though Cyprus’ results are getting worse every year since they began using the pop-diva formula. Perhaps average viewers don’t remember specifically Tamta or Elena. But they surely remember that what they are seeing has been done before in previous editions.
Josephine has improved so much since her participation in the Greek National Final in 2014. If she is going to represent Cyprus, she will probably go with a Greek pop banger rather than a Swedish produced pop song in English. Also, you stating that Cyprus has been doing worse and worse might be true but you can also look at it from a different perspective. Tamta still got a very respectable placement (13th) after Eleni and the fact that she was still recovering from a spinal disc herniation (which happened prior to the contest) is even more impressive. With Elena,… Read more »
Let me ask , everybody is talking about Josephine but why she is an option for only Cyprus ? I’ve never seen people want her for Greece , all discussions were about Cyprus. Is this situation about the broadcaster channel ?
because ERT doesn’t want to collab with Panik Records or the other way around who knows..
Likely because panik had both Greece and Cyprus in 2018 and looking at all the money and effort put into Cyprus and lack of into Greece probably soured any further collaboration
I am sure more people want Josephine than this unknown Amanda girl. Kalomira is still loved but people find it weird to see her in ESC almost 13 years after her first time.
Good job nicky is more indie so it would be a good way to introduce himself to the mainstream audience.
Josephine is the one with the most hits and Panik Records would NOT let her flop. I think ERT is making a huge mistake because a possible participation of hers would increase the interest for Eurovision in Greece
Anna Vissi did it 26 years after her first time.
Pleeease, Good Job Nicky or Amanda would be such good choices. They need to step out of the comfort zone
I would like to see him in the colors of Greece, at Eurovision, he has a nice perfect piece, let him apply for the competition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzVL0bCDubU
Greece need to take a risk. I see GJN and Amanda doing it more than Kalomira, who would be more of the same
they did take a risk in 2019 and even 2018, 2016.
Wow Amanda Tenfjord is greek??!? I didnt know that. Her music is absolutely 100% Norwegian style so if Greece choose her they would definitely secure the Norwegian jury 12 pointer and probably a high televote score as well – and most likely swedish and danish votes as well. Go Amanda ??
Just like we thought that Maneskin would get 12p from Denmark or Stefania would get 12p from the Dutch jury lol. Nordics rarely vote for Greece.
I don’t want Greece to send an entry that feels very foreign, they should support their local artists first.
Nicky or Amanda – I hope it’s not Kalomira, not because I hate her or anything but I do believe that Nicky and Amanda offer something new and maybe even winner-worthy, while Kalomira will probably qualify but get like 20th place.
So excited for my country.
Stefania had a great result and ERT understood that they should take Eurovision seriously.
From the 3 mentioned names I would love to see Amanda representing us.
Her voice is magical.
good job nicky’s debut single was “january 8th” realesed on october 2020!
*released
After Stefania’s success ERT is dying for a new good result, thank god the new administration is miles better from the ones that the left party had which actually hates the contest. Kalomira is not active for years so I don’t think she has any chance, good job Nicky is the act to watch
if only certain Greek ESC fans can stop the propaganda mixing politics with ESC, that would be great. The previous administration of ERT also chose the ‘dream team’ in 2017 with Demy but we all know what happened!!
Stefania’s result was very random this year, 12p from French jury lol or 12p from Georgian televoting…
If only you knew. The administration that chose the dream team took over in 2016 and the president of ert said in a press conference that they don’t withdraw from the contest because of high ratings. They chose the despicable Argo in 2016, the dream team without any support or budget in 2017, in 2018 yianna terzi was sent by fault since all the other songs were canceled and in 2019 they chose an indie artist which came 21st, worst result ever.
Before you try to come from me without any knowledge, get your facts right.
I really want my country Greece to send a song outside of the pop sphere this year. Stefania’s song was good and it earned us a great result but still, I want to see something more creative. Cyprus’ entries have shown that repeating the same formula gradually gives a country worse and worse results. Let’s step out of our comfort zones for once please and not replicate our past successes. Send something more experimental!
nicky is just that! Amanda could also be a good option, if not this year – in the future for sure!