Greece was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...

with the song "" , composed by Yiannis Valvis, with lyrics by Yiannis Malachias, and performed by . The Greek participating broadcaster, the

Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly shortened to ERT (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Greece. History Overview ERT began broadcasting in 1938 as the Radio Broadcasting Service or YRE (). Followin ...

(ERT), selected its entry through a national final. Performing second in the running order at the contest, they finished in 20th place out of the 25 countries competing. This marked a new record for the least successful placement for Greece.

Background

Prior to the 1998 contest, the

National Radio Television Foundation The National Radio Television Foundation () or EIRT () was the Greek state broadcaster founded in 1970, during the junta. In 1975 it converted to ERT. History The EIRT was the fourth state broadcasting organisation of Greece and the first state ...

(EIRT) in 1974, and the

(ERT) since 1975, had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

representing Greece 20 times since EIRT debut in . By 1998, their best result was fifth place which was achieved twice: with the song "" performed by the band Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy and in with "" performed by Cleopatra. Their least successful result was in when it placed 19th with the song "" by Christos Callow and Wave, receiving only 11 points in total.

Before Eurovision

National final

Before the final, ERT held eight semi-finals at its television studios in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. Televoting selected the winning song in each semi-final to qualify for the final.

Semi-finals

Final

ERT held the final on 7 March 1998 at its television studios in Athens, hosted by Giorgos Marinos. The winner was chosen by televoting. At the end of the event, Dionisia Karoki and Thalassa were selected to represent Greece with the song "". Following the selection, the group did not receive promotional support for the entry and they were not signed to a record label.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 took place at

National Indoor Arena Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, United Kingdom, on 9 May 1998. Following confirmation of the 25-country participant list, the running order for the contest was decided by a draw held on 13 November 1997; Greece was assigned to perform second, following and preceding . In the lead up to the event, the song's composer, Yiannis Valvis, was not happy with the way the group's performance was to be filmed and demanded changes. When his demands were not met, the group threatened to quit the contest on the morning of the final day of rehearsals, and on the afternoon, they pulled out. Only minutes after their withdrawal, however, the group returned to the green room, having decided to go through with the performance after all, without the composer watching them on stage. Valvis was not permitted to attend the contest, on account of his aggressive behavior. He watched the contest locked inside his hotel room with two security guards guarding his door. The Greek spokesperson announcing the nation's votes was Alexis Kostalas who, with the exceptions of and in which Greece did not participate, would serve as spokesperson until . At the close of voting, "Mia krifi evaisthisia" received 12 points in total, all from Cyprus, placing Greece 20th out of the 25 entries. This was the worst result for Greece in the contest at this point, and remained as so until

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. Following this result, Greece was relegated from participation in 1999 contest.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1998

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...