Gianna Terzi gets ticket to Eurovision after national final gets cancelled
It is safe to say the selection of the Greek Eurovision entry for 2018 didn’t go exactly according to plan. Greek broadcaster ERT wanted to organize a national final with songs in Greek language with a Greek sound. After five entries were selected, two were disqualified because they didn’t meet the criteria in the first place. Then the record labels of the remaining three artists had to pay the broadcaster, but as two failed to do so, only Gianna Terzi and her song ‘Oneiro Mou’ were left. ERT decided to just send her to Eurovision then and although this might not be an ideal lead up, the result actually might not be all that bad!
Greece was dominant in Eurovision from 2004 to 2011, always reaching top 10, including one win and two top 3 finishes. Since 2011 however, they only made top 10 once more, in 2013. ERT clearly wanted a change judging by their request for distinctly Greek songs. That is what they get with ‘Oneiro Mou’ (‘My Dream’), a dynamic midtempo track with a big chorus. The drums are prominent throughout and give the track a bombastic quality that could translate to an engaging stage show with the right amount of drama. Terzi has been a well known name in the Greek music industry for a good while now and her experience will definitely help in May in Lisbon. A track like ‘Oneiro Mou’ needs a pitch perfect vocal performance in order to impress and especially the last chorus, where she ad libs over the the main vocal melody, might be a challenge to recreate live. If she manages to do it, I can see this go down well with the juries and hopefully the people at home too, because this is Greece’s best Eurovision song in ten years!
Review of Semi Final Performance:
The Greek delegation decided to go back to their roots in Eurovision with the folky, bombastic ballad ‘Oniro Mou’ performed by Gianna Terzi. It is a beautiful composition with a suspenseful build up. The only problem is, this kind of big, dramatic tune needs spotless vocals and that is not what Gianna served us tonight. Especially the high notes in the last chorus were flat. The staging was simple but effective (minus that painted hand), but the vocals must have been what ruined her chances. With only televoting she would still have made the final in 10th place, but the juries were a whole lot less forgiving of her bum notes. They placed her 16th, which resulted in a 14th spot overall.
Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA –AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS –BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CROATIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – HUNGARY – ICELAND –IRELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM