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Opa the Greek entry
Greece sends Giorgos Alkaios & Friends to Eurovison
Giorgos Alkaios is a well known name in the Greek music scene. This year he participated in the running for the Eurovision Song Contest with Opa, a distinctively ethnic beat he wrote himself. Giorgos stated that Opa is a positive concept to balance the negative aspect of the recession hit all over the world.
The show broadcasted on ERT was hosted by Rika Vagiannis and Tzeni Balatsinou. Last year’s Greek representative Sakis Rouvas could not make it for the actual show but he passed his message on a pre-recorded show while his latest Eurovision performance was aired.
This year’s Cypriot and Bulgarian representatives John Lilygreen & The Islanders and Miro promoted their Eurovision entries. Yiorgos Alkaios & Friends will represent Greece in the first semi-final of the next Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Oslo.
esctoday.com poll results
The esctoday.com poll voters agreed with the choice. Giorgos Alkaios & Friend had won the poll with 29.9% of the votes.
esctoday.com national final awards
The 2010 esctoday.com National Final Awards will be held between April and May, which means between the national final season and the Eurovision Song Contest. We will repeat the same format with two rounds for nominations which was used this year - you can read how it works here. However, this time the individual polls for each country will always be held right after the national final, when the entries are still fresh. You can vote for your favourite performance not to qualify in the Greek national final here and for your favourite song not to qualify here.
Watch the Greek entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Watch the interview that The Alkaios gave this week on esctoday.com
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Great choice!
Well done Greece!
Love from Kopenhagen!
@DESSOIGNIES YVON
The European Commision willbe again in Athens 2011. Eurovision has no chance with that cheap and trashy song.
My favorite for this moment !
BRAVO GREECE
I like it, musik, scene performance, voice, rythm...
Return to Athens 2011 ?
12 points from Belgium
How could this happen?
Reminds me of my beautiful Greek-Holidays in the eighties, but we have 2010 now. It´s definitly no great choice, no hit and no number one.
Greek people will love it, of course and Cyprus, too ;-)
Good luck!
Quote - dimitris calling:
"Now about the song....the only truth is that it's old-fashioned...And with a weak performer...It could be a hit like 10 years ago.It could be heard in bouzoukia at 4 PM when people are drunk....the contemporary mainstrean greek music scene is not like that..."
That's the truth!
And even back then it would be nothing more than trash!
Laiko and bouzoukia are NOT synonym to TRASH!
Worst turbo folk songs in the Balkan sound like this.
If my country sent this all of you would say it's crap.
NO COMMENT HEHE GOOD LUCK GREECE!!!
@whatever
Don't give me that!I love out language!But the fact remains that greek may sound strange for the non-greeks.And i don't mean the eurovision fans but the televoters in general...I judge from myself...A song in finnish may sound a bit odd...or maybe not.It was just a thought i decided to share...No need for any sermon!
Still i believe that a singer with a good voice and a strong stage performance would do better even with this song...
And finally!!!It is a scandal that ERT hasn't reveal the official results yet!Just rumours.It's the only national broadcaster not to have done so...
@ whatever
Ok, so the words "vazo mia fotia" should sound familiar to everyone! Who are you, Nia Vardalos' dad from my Big Fat Greek Wedding? 
dimitris calling
I don't know how the greek language will sound to the televoters and the juries...
Well, I have a problem with this part of your comment, especially since the GREEK language has been around forever and --with over 55,000 exported Greek words, all of which are used in other languages-- the GREEK language should ...not be considered foreign to anyone!
Is it my imagination or does the whole thing look really gay? I don't mean that as an insult, I'm gay myself, but there is something very strange and unappealing about this entry.
Opa is a song I didn't like very much, but I thought that it would be "acceptable" to be @ Oslo...
Regardless to my preferences according to the studio versions of the song, after the Live performance on Friday, I think that it was one of the (only) 3 songs that was very good (for our ears) at the live performance.
Plus, it was very impressive at some points, like the beginning lighting and the lyra – solo… Ok, the total chorography is not my best, but still is acceptable enough…
Even though I voted for the other two (Pyrovolakis’ I kivotos tou Noe & Karadimos’ Polemao) I feel that this song can go well enough at Oslo…
No matter what everyone preferred we must realize that the selection is OVER, there is NO meaning in fighting, and the best thing to do is to wish Good Luck to a catchy song that represents OUR country according to what the MAJORITY of people wanted.
[β]So, Good Luck dear Alkaios, make everybody at Oslo say: OPA!
And make all of us we didn’t vote for you to say OPA, too…[/β]
It's a lively, entertaining all GREEK song -- OPA !!!
This will stand out and his singing in GREEK is the big plus to this SONG!!!
GO GREECE! 
GREAT SONG GREECE!!!!! MY FAVORIT IN 1ST SEMIFINAL NEXT TO SLOVAKIA
OPAAAAAA!!!
The worst entry after 2002 and 2007.1 p. from me...
One of the better songs this year
or I could say one of the best
Ellino Tourkiki Filia
Ok - I've read alot of good comments about this but it is another crap entry.
It is just a very generic sounding track and that guys vocals are TERRIBLE.
But hey - it will score well because of it's ethnic sound and the fact that it is Greece.
Oh dear - I'm getting more and more disillusioned with Eurovision every passing year. Hmmm, maybe it is time the old dear retired (rather disgracefully).
OK... Listen....
I was there watching it live.
My favorites were Second Skin, Manos ans Melisses.
That was before the live performance.
When Alkaios finished his act i was sure he whould be the winner.
That night, this performance was the best of all the rest.
This is why he won with a great deference too.
Support the song, it's an entertaining song, full of bit, BITATO KAI KEFATO.
p.s. Very, very important for a singer to stay IN tune......
HOPPA !
10 points from Turkiye
He looks more like a movie star then a singer.
I don't like his voice but the song is great.
Top 10 guarenteed.
@ Melina
Those scimpy skirted girls had incredibly catchy songs - there are loads of other songs that have the same get up that still do poorly. Greece had previously used a great formula of making great pop songs with Greek elements but this song leaves me cold. Its jsut not good to my ear
For the first time since I don't remember when I actually like the Greek entry! It's autenthic, in Greek (a lovely language) and not performed by girl in short miniskirt or otherwise just marketed by sex...
weelcom Ruslana!!! ESC 2010.
someone said this should have been performed by a woman and i agree. this boyo looks like a lame fish on stage. no performance from him at all!
greece gets high in the betting odds once again: http://www.oddscheck(...)urovision/win-market
Well, this song is ruined by the singer. He has no entusiasm at all, and sounds like, he wants to be somewhere else. The song would have been better, if it were performed by a woman i think.
The economic crisis in Greece has a lot of infulence by picking this song..Greece has been a very strong country during the last decade in the eurovision song contest....
anyway good luck Greece from Israel....
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