Greece participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, and was organised by host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) – which agreed to stage the event a ...

with the song " Autostop" performed by

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi ( el, Άννα Βίσση, , ; born 20 December 1957), is a Greek Cypriot singer and songwriter. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed ...

and The Epikouri. The act had been selected by a jury during a twelve act national final organized by the

Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation ( el, Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση AE, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi SA) or ERT () is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Greece. History Overview ERT b ...

(ERT). Greece performed third at the event, held on 19 April 1980, in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

, Netherlands, and placed 13th with 30 points. This tied the nation's lowest placement in the contest.

Background

Prior to the 1980 contest, Greece had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest five times since its first entry in 1974. To this point, its best result was fifth place, which was achieved in with the song "Mathima solfege". Greece's least successful result was in , when it placed 13th with the song "Panagia mou, Panagia mou" by

Mariza Koch Mariza Koch ( el, Μαρίζα Κωχ; born 14 March 1944) is a Greek folk music singer who has recorded many albums since starting her career in 1971. On the wider stage she is best remembered for representing her homeland at the Eurovision Song ...

Before Eurovision

National final

The final took place on 10 March 1980, at the ERT TV Studios in

Peania Paiania (or ''Paeanea'' or ''Peania'' el, Παιανία, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located e ...

and was hosted by Vasilis Tsivilikas. The winning song was chosen by a jury of people who awarded each song a mark out of ten.

At Eurovision

The

was held on 19 April 1980, at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. " Autostop" was the third performed that night (following

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Ajda Pekkan Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure ...

with "Pet'r Oil" and preceding

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Sophie & Magaly Sophie and Magaly was a French musical duo composed of twin sisters Sophie (24 August 1962 – 27 February 2019) and Magaly Gilles-Giovannoni (24 August 1962 – 2 April 1996). The duo are best known for representing Luxembourg in the Eurovision ...

with "

Papa Pingouin "Papa Pingouin" (; "Poppa/Daddy Penguin") was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed in French by the French twin sisters Sophie & Magaly. Background The song was written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, who are normally ...

"). At the close of voting, it had received 30 points, placing 13th in a field of 19.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1980

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

Anna Vissi