Greece has spoken, and they’ve chosen a new Eurovision superstar. Breaking a record as the youngest artist to represent the country at the song contest, 16-year-old Victor Vernicos will sing for Greece at Eurovision 2023.
The half Greek, half Danish artist will represent Greece with the song “What They Say”. His track is an emotional ballad sung in English — following the trend of the past four Greek entries.
Victor Vernicos — “What They Say” (Greece Eurovision 2023)
Broadcaster ERT selected Victor Vernicos as the Greek entry for Liverpool following an internal selection process.
Victor won the coveted Greek ticket to Eurovision by impressing two juries — the ERT committee, made up of media and music professionals, and the audience committee, sampling Eurovision viewers by age range.
Victor wrote “What They Say” when he was just 14 years old. The Athens-born superstar said the song came from an emotional place, when he was in an “anxious situation”.
Who is Victor Vernicos?
Victor Vernicos Jørgensen is a singer from Athens with a Greek mother and a Danish father.
He began piano lessons at age 4, singing lessons at age 8 and guitar lessons at age 10. Victor then went into music production, and has been writing his own songs since he was 11. His first experience in front of a live audience was performing the 2015 Eurovision winner “Heroes” by Måns Zelmerlöw.
He’s a huge Eurovision fan, as seen in his cover of Sakis Rouvas’ 2009 entry “This Is Our Night”. The smooth, deep timbres of his voice lend well to his emotional renditions of classic pop tunes.
What do you think? Are you looking forward to hear what Victor has to offer the fans? Let us know in the comments below.
Dear all.
We’ve had people telling us, that some of the comments in Greek are in fact quite offensive both towards Victor and other commenters. Google Translate exists, so we suggest you remove your ill-worded comments before we do and exclude the users from commenting on the site.
This is – and has always been – a safe space for everyone, and it should continue to be so in the spirit of Eurovision fans from all countries.
Okay, what’s going on with the Greek trolls lol , the rest of you would cringe if you could understand the greeklish comments.
A good voice from what I have listened to; HOWEVA,that doesn’t change the fact that someone got the job because of money (I mean OFC), and ERT disappoints once again. I wish I’ll be wrong, but with this boring snippet, my strong feeling says NQ.
-Unless the entire contest pulls a 2011 lol-
And that’s my realistic opinion
I mean, if they NQ they might finally choose someone that’s not from the diaspora/foreign to the local scene for a change
I don’t know what to expect, we have national elections in a few months, maybe ERT will go a new direction, after changes of course
If ERT chose him because of his connections and money, the whole delegation should change. Greece can’t fall into a country that doesn’t respect honest democratic choice, otherwise we would be like Turkey that is falling into totalitarian leadership where connections and money talks!
Perhaps a tad hysterical? Lots of countries decide on internal picks for Eurovision, including the winning 2019 entry from the Netherlands
His family has connections and money, and ERT isn’t really swimming in cash.
The thought did cross my mind. How else did he get picked to represent Greece at such a young age? It better be worth it or it could be embarrassing.
meh
the leak sounds very promising
Denmark and Greece ending up in the same semi, so we better be nice to eachother. Although Cyprus probably has a saying in that as well 🙂
I don’t get the hate on him. His voice is great and the song sounds like it’s cute and true to himself. I think he’ll shut the haters up soon.
for your information, we as greeks have tried that a sh*t ton of times and flopped ridiculously
I’d like nepotism too if I would come from a rich & well known family with connections, but unfortunately I have to get every job through my skills rather than fortune & fame. :-/
Den ntrepesai na vrizeis anilika mwri?
Mou mathate Kai ton nepotismo, amorfotes
But he has skills….. I am not Greek and I don’t know his family and I think he has an outstanding voice.
Mipos eisai kantilanaftra?
Mipos exeis ti fimi tis papadias?
Astin tin karmirw, o Viktoras pige poli kala stun epilogi tou koinou, alla vlepei nepotismo o psekas
giannakh skase mia xara exei talento to paidi se anti8esh me mlkes san esena pou anti na ton sigxairoun ka8ontai kai meiwnoun neous kallitexnes pou den exoun kan bgal3i kala kala ta ftera rous alla trone kraximo
Message for Bruhhh, Someone1 and dgd: La suya por si acaso
It’s just a read for him being mean-hearted towards a 16-year-old boy just because his favourite Melissa and her awful team weren’t selected by ERT. Some people don’t know how to deal with losing and all they can do is be bitter and hateful.
I just said, in a very Mexican way, that I didn’t understand what you guys said
yes I got it, that’s why I explained.
Please someone do something. The comments are disgusting, full of hatred and homophobia.
wth is actually wrong with you. you’re sitting from your couch hating on a 16 year old who tries their best
wiwi do sth abt thjs
Looks cute and talented.Let’s wait for the song! Fingers crossed.
I feel he is a very talented young man and do well in eurovision.
People that are trash talking a 16 year old just cause he is half danish need medical assistance soon. Racism based on sexual orientation is not accepted but based on ethnicity is?
I think it is jealousy. He has a fantastic voice, who cares about his surname, he represents Greece, full stop.
Uhh his is cute! Goodluck!
he* lol
We need a good bathroom break. 😛 Just joking. Good luck!
I hope he can handle the pressure as he is only 16 with not much experience I guess.
Whole Junior Eurovision exists full of kids aged 8-14
and they are handling it
Maybe.
But I think he mostly did youtube/tiktok videos and not live performances. The pressure is different and oh well eurovision is much more stressful then jesc probably.
Has he ever done a live performance? You can have all the music training and talent in the world, but you need experience in some things before you can do a major endeavor like Eurovision.
In Greece, his family has a BIG name. He’s from a family that one’s a very big shipping company so no wonder he was chosen. Perhaps ERT is gonna rely on them to fund this years’ entry because of how much money they have, because as we have seen ERT has had minimal budget in spent for Eurovision. Also, it’s good to have confidence and all, but at a certain point it gets too much. Like in his TikTok video he said he’s going to be the ‘youngest Eurovision winner ever’. First of all, that’s Sandra Kim (do your research… Read more »
he said he WANTS to, not that he is going to be. Miserable pathetic troll.
i mean, it’s known ERT is broke so it’s no surprise they accepted panik’s pimp money lol
Den ntrepi mwri na eisai toso katina? Oust
Or he just deserves it! He is a very talented boy with a great voice and actually fresh. We havent even heard the song yet, so why do you judge?
Well, we’re on the topic of internal selections, is there anybody living in Austria right now listening to the radio? That’s when their representative will be announced.
Please tell me that Fokas and Kontopoulos aren’t hiding behind him
They are not thank god!
Firstly, this kid is adorable.
Second, from the information provided, it seems he got his start by uploading videos on YouTube and TikTok. In other words, Victor is essentially an internet sensation (at least by Greek standards) that creeped his way into the Greek music scene.
Very clever entry for Greece.
He is not a sensation anywhere. He simply comes from an important family of shipowners and government ministers. Otherwise he wouldn’t get his foot in the door at that age.
Ah, of course someone would appear with a conspiracy theory.
Aren’t you ashamed to be so toxic? You haven’t even listened to the song.
If your vocabulary didn’t consist of 15 words like “toxic”, “conspiracy” etc. you would be infinitely more worried by the fact that out of hundreds of websites in Greece yesterday, not even one mentioned his very obvious connection to a very prominent family. This is called withholding information from the public that ultimately pays for these things. I simply stated the truth, we know connections get you to places especially in institutions like ERT and it is a regrettable situation that holds this country back. This has nothing to do with his worth as an artist or his likeability as… Read more »
How are all these things relevant? Did he or he didnt do well in the public vote? Except if you also suggest that the public vote was also staged by his family. I am sick and tired of this politisization of eurovision. Wondering if you would say the same, if Greece had a different government 😉
but are you serious? ok thats the truth but does that imply that he is talentless? cuz thats what you said in eurovisionfun
Ti skatopsixo skoupidi pou eisai. Ntropi sou
Toxikotita Kai psekas, bravo sou agapi!
So, he is a nepobaby, right?
He did really well in the public vote, but yeah, sour Melissa fans see “nepotism”. Sick of people bullying a 16-yo.
Vangelis vt, I didn’t know that his family has a big name. Your hatred and “me” issues though, are definitely bigger. Just get a life. Eurovision doesn’t need people like you.
re malakas eise anti na ton sigxairesai pas kai ka8esese ston kanape na krazeis enan 16xrono pou dinei ton kalitero tou eauto na mas ekprwsopisei
ntroph s re
Simon, shouldn’t it be “The youngest Greek entrant in history” instead of “The youngest Greek entry in history”?
Technically it’s also the youngest entry, since it’s the newest 😉 But you’re right, the excerpt could be corrected.
i am laughing. this was greek eurofans’ least favorite of the three internal selection finalists, it almost feels like a joke combined with the fact he has several singles out and only 372 monthly listeners on spotify lmao
This is super inaccurate. He came second in the public vote among the 7 songs of the shortlist, and he was also second in every fan poll. Melissa Mantzoukis was 1st
do you not even know abt that shout out? that as last with a huge difference
Were you laughing when the sun couldn’t turn in Turin? Just askin
no, but i sure laughed at amanda tenfart’s ABYSMAL televote score!
You have a problem, please check it out.
You have a problem with everything including yourself it seems
Get a life dear
Finally Greece sending man (solo artist)- last time it was 2009/2010
Sakis Rouvas is such an icon though. He would have been difficult for the next guy to “shake off.”
Alkaios was a single act too
Act was called Alkaios and Friends.
I hope he will not have a Blue Hand on the Stage like they had in 2018
Wow, it’s amazing how some fans still haven’t gotten over that. 🙂
hahahahahaha
I really like the tone in his voice.
Victor is talented, 16, and he wants to win the Eurovision Song Contest. He won’t be the youngest ever winner (because of Sandra Kim), but his ambition is still impressive. Victor’s really good, so Greece could do very well this year. 🙂
If he wants to win, he needs to have the best song of the year. That remains to be seen until it is released.
Yeah..because last year’s song was the “best” for 2022? haha ..you don’t need to have the best song..a good performance is always the key..or the stupid political things
Sounds like a very inspiring choice.I have no doubt he will continue Greece’s good fortune!
Being Greek I hadn’t heard of Victor before, but I am really eager to see what he has to offer. Last year with Amanda we did really well and “Die Together” is certainly my favourite song we’ve sent since 2013. Greece seems to be moving once again in the same direction as last year. This can be both good and bad, we have to wait and see.
I like that Greece is going in another direction, first time after a while they send a male artist. All the comments about where he comes from are useless, when helena won did you mind about her being raised in Sweden?
He’s still born and raised in Greece, but we Danes will always claim every connection we can in Eurovision 🙂
Nothing wrong with that. I talk about certain people that complain that Greece is sending again a foreigner while he is literally living in Athens and one of his parents is Danish.
I mean, he has covered Sakis. Does it get more Greek than that?
boo he was born and lived all his life in Greece
I feel like ERT doesn’t believe that Greek artists can make “contemporary” music. That’s why they go after the “scandi-Greeks”
He is as Greek as any other Greek person.
Where did I say that he isn’t? He’s a Scandinavian Greek.
He’s Greek.
Yeah, that’s what I said. A Scandinavian Greek.
If ERT didn’t believe in Greek artists, well then they wouldn’t have picked Victor… like I said, he’s Greek.
Aaand half Danish. Which makes him Scandinavian (Danish) Greek. Or Greek Scandinavian if you prefer that.
Is Barack Obama only “half” American?
There’s no “American” ethnicity.
Is Donald Trump only “half” American? His mother was Scottish. Is the King of Spain only “half” Spanish? His mother is Greek. Where Victor’s parents are from is not important in any way, I don’t understand why it is even mentioned. I’ll stop now.
The new King of England is also half Greek, I just remembered.
Jonas I think you’re missing the point lol…
I think you are.
You can be half of something you know. Many Europeans are. He is Greek yes but also Danish.You can be both and there is nothing wrong with it.
Of course there is nothing wrong with it. You can not be half of something. You can be both, but not half.
U are also Bosnian and not Swedish so …
I am?
they dont go after nationalities. They chose based on the songs they were sent.
Well…
Stefania – Greek-Dutch
Amanda – Greek-Norwegian
Victor – Greek-Dutch.
They clearly have a type.
Michael Ben David – Georgian, Ukrainian, Israeli
Sheldon Riley – Filipino, Australian
Jérémie Makiese – Belgian, Congolese
Ochman – Polish, American
Stefan – Estonian, Armenian
Chanel – Cuban, Spanish
Mahmood – Egyptian, Italian
That’s just some of 2022. Are we supposed to care?
Subwoolfer – Lunar, Norwegian
You’ve missed my point completely. ERT has been choosing Scandi-Greeks for the past three years for some reason, which means that if you’re not Scandi-Greek you will not represent Greece. It’s like they think that being a Scandi-Greek gives you some sort of advantage in the contest.
Well I don’t know if ERT thought like this but you have to admit that the 2 last “Scandi-Greek” artists they sent (by the way The Netherlands are not in Scandinavia but I get your point) both finished in the top 10.
thats not even close to the truth
im greek myself and im telling you the jury would have picked shout out. but thankfully they withdrew cuz of the negative receptions.as awful as ert is, it never judges by ethnicity,
Peace.
To be precised Ochman is 100% Polish. Both his parents were born in Poland and moved to the US as adults. Krystian himself was born in the US and per se has an American citizenship along to the Polish one, but his ethnicity is fully Polish:)
La Zarra – French-Canadian, Moroccian
Victor is Greek-Danish.
and douska is part canadian
he is more Greek than other countries who do not send their local artists. And btw he lived his whole life in Greece
I think his partially scandinavian background had nothing to do with him being chosen. Yes Amanda was Norwegian at most , but he lives here in Athens since the day he was born and i doubt that he even knows Danish. He is basically just greek in culture and thats what actually matters. I think thats what the other guy responding you , really meant
Sending another English ballad right after their best entry in a very long time doesn’t seem like the most inspired decision, but obviously still wish for a positive outcome.
There’s always the risk of a weaker follow up when you send two songs in a similar genre in a row. Let’s hope for the best.
Well, for once a homegrown Greek singer instead of someone from the diaspora. And our first male Greek singer in a long time. If Victor is the youngest male singer to represent Greece of all time, who’s the youngest female contestant? It’s interesting that both Cyprus and Greece are sending male singers after a long line of female singers (yes, I know Cyprus was going to send a male singer in 2020, but the last male singer to compete on stage was 2017). I hope they have good songs. If Victor has a good song and Denmark and Greece are… Read more »
opa, h badwoolfgirl einai ellhnida? teleio
I’m sorry, I can’t make out what you wrote. It’s not making sense to me.
oh nothing its just you said “our entry” so i assumed you were greek.
I’m not Greek at all. I have zero personal connection to the country.
then why did you say “our entry”
I never said our entry in my comments, but our first Greek male singer in a while. The “our” I was referring to was the Eurovision community, not Greece in particular.
Stefania was 18, Vicky Leandros, also from Greece, was 17. Maybe there was somebody younger over the years.
But Vicky never represented her home country, she represented Luxembourg twice.
Greece wasn’t in the contest back in those days, this is true.
PANIK records…. oh no. I can already see where this is going…
If anyone from Melissa’s team is reading this, please apply for San Marino lmao
He’s Greek. Not half Greek. Also Danish. I wish him well.
Well he has a Danish father and a Greek mother so that will biologically make him half Greek and half Danish.. but would be more correct calling him a Greek-Danish singer and not the other way around as he was born and grew up in Athens and might feel more connected to Greece for that reason.. cant speak for him tho.
It makes him half his mother, and half his father. That’s all.
He’s half Greek and half Danish, what’s not clicking, sir?
There’s no such thing as “half” citizenship.
Blame the author for the wording, I can take it 🙂
He’s born and raised in Greece, but obviously with a Danish connection through his father.
I’m probably unreasonably irritated, I admit, but I hope at least one person sees my point. This way of thinking is not good.
From my point of view it’s just funny that Greece has chosen an artist with other roots than Greek for the third year in a row. Amanda is Greek too and so is Stefania, although she grew up in the Netherlands 🙂
But unlike Amanda and Stefania, Victor actually is from Greece.
Greece has sent many artists over the years with roots from other countries or that were born abroad so I don’t find it that weird, we’re kind of used to it. I mean we’re kind of everywhere so I think it’s bound to happen.
Oh don’t worry about that, it just has to do with our specific government’s typical unreasonable obsession with xenomania and making a good impression through sly methods to foreigners while not giving a damn about their own country’s natural talents that are not of the diaspora due to money and pesky economical deals constantly being on the line. Guess what, it also affects music too!! :’)))
You’re forgetting Katrine Duska, who was born in Canada, although she did move to and is currently living in Greece.
She is living in Greece half of her life. She moved when she was 16. She’s always been a local talent. Not that it really matters
Aight as a greek it’s a mixed bag for me. Didn’t want a ballad again after Amanda especially this year where there are no juries in the semis. I can imagine this going well in the juries due to his age(possibly top10) but in the televoting idk we will struggle as always. Yeah idk really
I also have concerns about him flopping in his live performance because of his possible inexperience. Yes, we’ve had young singers do well, but we’ve also had them fail to qualify because of poor performances due to inexperience. I’d hate to see Greece fail after getting themselves back on their feet for the past couple years.
It’s ironic that you say greece struggles with the televote, because that was the reason you had your golden age in the 2000s when it was 100% televote.
Positive: He is going to be heard all over the word
Negative: He is probably staying in the same class.
(just joking. Good luck to him!)
He has a song saying he left school
Very happy to see a Greek Male artist, as with Cyprus. These two nations have been sending predictable female bangers for a while now so it’s good that recently these two nations decided to shake it up a bit!
I always worry about how these younger inexperienced performers handle a live performance. Thinking of Germany’s Ben Dolic and Belgium’s Eliot. Two great songs that really became worrisome in live performances. Only Kristian Kostov comes to mind as a very young male contestant that handled himself amazingly on stage.
Looks older though. Will he be able to handle the pressure? I mean, Nadav Guedj was 16 too and did great but let’s see.
WOAH NADAV WAS 16?
Yeah. He looked 30 though… 😀
Sometimes even older adults can crumble under the pressure and some younger singers can thrive. I hope his song is worth it because I’m afraid that if it is weak, this fanbase won’t be forgiving.
Just because someone says I am 16, doesn’t make the person 16. Show me the birth certificate and I’ll shut up.
Emotional ballad in english with scandanivian vibes, it makes sense as he is half danish but he is half greek too and failing to have greek language I hope to get greek vibes in the song at least, last year it was missing imo.
Good luck to him!
Let me guess the song will be released in March isn’t it?
He’s cute. Vote for him, people.
What’s he’s 16. I take that back. They shouldn’t allow people that young in the adult Eurovision. Ugh. That’s why a Junior Eurovision exists. Keep normal Eurovision 18+ plz!!
junior eurovision is for.. children which means 9yos will participate. But a matured voice vs a 9yos voice would be unfair. Mature vs mature voices makes more sense
16 is the minimum age to compete at Eurovision. In fact, we’ve had a handful of singers under 16 competing before 1990 when the age limit was implemented. The youngest winner ever was Sandra Kim of Belgium when she was only 13.
Nobody knew she was only 13 at the time, though.
It was found out shortly after the contest was over and the Swiss delegation try to get her disqualified but they didn’t succeed.
I’m wary of having minors included at adult ESC too, because of the potential oogling by some weird adults (Please, for the love of God, STOP including minors in your ”top handsome / beautiful” YT lists!!!), and having no limit on the maturity of content they are allowed to deliver (I’m looking at you, Poland 2007!!!) That said, if the content is age-appropriate, minors can be just as competent singers as adults – Blanche, Molly Sterling, Nick Gain, Lisa Andreas were all excellent, for example.
Kris Kostov was very young too when he sang at ESC.
First time ever a eurovision artist is younger than me. Rly makes me think abt my life choices lmao
Wait until you’re thirty-something… It will be a constant shock, haha
I’m already getting used to seeing singers younger than me competing since I entered my 30s (my birthday is actually next week).
just thinking abt the fact that this guy wasn’t born when his country last won. Why do I feel old im a year older than him ffs.
Sounds like another jury bait song that places 6th with the juries and 20th with the public.
just because its an emotional ballad? Come on, the public likes sad songs too
People are quickly forgetting the televoting successes of Voila, Tout l’univers, Arcade, Amar pelos dois, Beautiful Mess, When We’re Old, You Let Me Walk Alone, Rise Like a Phoenix, ect. Even lesser televoting magnets like Iceland 2022 and Australia 2022 were televote qualifiers too. But sure, televoters only like uptempo… Let’s wait for the actual song before jumping to conclusions.
Probably another top10
for Greece? He looks and sounds promising! Can’t wait to hear the full song and good luck Greece!
he looks promising? ? tf do you mean by that… he is only 16