Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

competed in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2002 The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Organised by the Euro ...

, held on 25 May 2002 at

Saku Suurhall Unibet Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Haabersti subdistrict of the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Opened in November 2001, it is the largest multi-purpose hall in the country with around 7,000 seats but can hold up to 10,000 people. It ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia. The Greek broadcaster

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) organised a public selection process entitled ''

Ellinikós Telikós Ellinikós Telikós (; Greek for "Greek Final") is a song contest which took place every year in Athens, Greece until 2017, and decided who would represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest started in 1979, when Elpida took the ...

2002'' to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 26 February 2002 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, the event saw 10 songs compete to be the Greek entry; the results were determined by a combination of jury,

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

and

televoting Televoting, telephone voting or phone voting is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest televoting Televoting ...

. The song "S.A.G.A.P.O.", written and performed by

Michalis Rakintzis Mihalis Rakintzis (Greek: Μιχάλης Ρακιντζής) is a Greek singer. He was born in Athens, on 3 April 1957, and studied Mechanical Engineering in Great Britain.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) is the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) member for Greece and is responsible for selection of the nation's entry. Prior to the 2002 contest, Greece had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 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 pr ...

22 times since its debut entry in . To this point, the nation achieved its best placing at the previous contest in 2001, where

Antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

placed third with the song " Die for You". Greece's least successful result was in 1998 when it placed 20th with the song "Mia krifi evaisthisia" by

Thalassa Thalassa (; grc-gre, Θάλασσα, Thálassa, sea; Attic Greek: , ''Thálatta'') was the general word for 'sea' and for its divine female personification in Greek mythology. The word may have been of Pre-Greek origin. Mythology According t ...

, receiving only twelve points in total, all from Cyprus.

Before Eurovision

''Ellinikós Telikós 2002''

2002'' was the Greek national final developed by ERT to select the Greek entry for the

. The competition took place on 26 February 2002 at the REX Music Hall in

, was hosted by

Dafni Bokota Dafni Bokota ( el, Δάφνη Μπόκοτα; born 1960) is a Greek singer, presenter and former spokesperson for the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). Biography Dafni Bokota was born in Koukaki, Athens, Greece in ...

and directed by Dafni Tzaferi; it was broadcast on television station ET1, radio station Second Programme and via the ERT website. Ten songs competed over two rounds of voting. After the first round consisting of all ten candidate entries, jury voting selected five to proceed to the second round. The winner of the event was then selected by a 50/50 combination of jury voting and public

. The six-member jury consisted of

Giorgos Katsaros Giorgos Katsaros ( el, Γιώργος Κατσαρός) (born on 7 March 1934 in Corfu) is a famous Greek musician and songwriter. He plays the alto saxophone. He has made a variety of recordings, collaborating amongst others with Greek musical ...

(composer and jury president), Antonis Andrikakis (General Director of

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

), Giorgos Kyvelos (producer and advisor to the ERT president), Lefteris Koggalidis (communications, promotions and public relations at ERT), Bokota (television presenter) and Sinia Kousoula (international relations at ERT). During the voting phase, 2002 Cypriot Eurovision representatives One performed as the special guests and video clips of previous Greek Eurovision entrants were shown, including

Marinella Marinella ( el, Μαρινέλλα) (born 20 May 1938, Thessaloniki) is one of the most popular Greek singers whose career has spanned several decades. She has sung professionally since 1957. Since the beginning of her career, she has release ...

's "Krasi, thalassa ke t'agori mou" (1974), Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy's "Mathima solfege" (1977),

Tania Tsanaklidou Soultana (Tania) Tsanaklidou ( el, Τάνια Τσανακλίδου, born 9 April 1952) is a Greek artist, both singer and actress, who represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978. Biography Tania was born in Drama, Greece on 9 April ...

's "Charlie Chaplin" (1978), Elpida's "Sokrati" (1979),

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's "Autostop" (1980),

Bang Bang or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Lorestan, a village in Iran * Bangs, Ohio, Uni ...

's "Stop" (1987),

Sophia Vossou Sophia Vossou ( el, Σοφία Βόσσου; born 5 December 1961) is a Greek singer best known abroad for representing Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 where she was placed 13th with the song "I Anixi". Biography Vossou was born in 1 ...

's "I anixi" (1991),

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

's "Olou tou kosmou i Elpida" (1992),

Katy Garbi Katerina "Katy" Garbi ( el, Κατερίνα "Καίτη" Γαρμπή, ; born 8 June 1961) is a Greek singer active in Greece and Cyprus, with some popularity in Turkey. Her career has spanned over 35 years with over 2 million records sold in Gr ...

's "Ellada, hora tou fotos" (1993) and Antique's "Die for You" (2001). Prior to the event, ERT opened a submissions window for Greek composers, lyricists, and performers to submit their original songs for consideration by 17 December 2001. By the close of the submissions window, 158 songs had been submitted; the ten competing songs were then selected by the six-member jury and were announced on 10 January 2002. Nearly 95,000 votes were cast during the show and when the combined results were presented, it was revealed that "S.A.G.A.P.O." performed by

Michalis Rakintzis Mihalis Rakintzis (Greek: Μιχάλης Ρακιντζής) is a Greek singer. He was born in Athens, on 3 April 1957, and studied Mechanical Engineering in Great Britain. In the days following Rakintzis' selection, Greek press reported on an issue during the televoting phase in that while the process and phone numbers were explained, the host never announced the commencement of the voting period. Additionally, the singer was accused of using playback for the performance and it was noted that there were sound problems overall. At a press conference held by the artist, Rakintzis stated that he was willing to resign from being the Greek entrant due to the voting issue, but ERT had responded that if he were to not represent the nation, then they would pull out of the contest. Rakintzis subsequently opted to remain the Greek entrant. Following his selection, Rakintzis opted to not organise a promotional tour to other countries, believing that music had nothing to do with advertising.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at

in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002. The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the " Big Four" countries, consisting of , , and the , any eligible countries which did not compete in the 2001 contest, and countries which had obtained the highest average points total at the previous year's contest, up to 24 total participants. As Greece placed third at the 2001 contest, it was permitted to participate this year. Bokota provided commentary for the broadcast within Greece, a task she had performed for ERT since the 1999 contest. For the performance, Rakintzis was joined by four vocalists/musicians: Giannis Karmas (keyboards), Michalis Kyriakidis (guitar), Nikos Menemenoglou (drums) and Terry Mavridis (bass). The ensemble took part in rehearsals for the performance during the week of 20-25 May 2002, which concluded with the final dress rehearsal on 25 May where the national juries of each country viewed the performances and recorded their votes. They performed fourth in the running order at the contest and wore "militaristic" leather outfits which were designed by Rakintzis. The outfits would later earn Rakintzis the

Barbara Dex Award The Barbara Dex Award was a fan-voted accolade awarded annually to the worst-dressed contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest. The award was created by the fansite The House of Eurovision in 1997, which hosted it until the site's closure in 2 ...

for worst-dressed act at the year's contest. The song finished 17th out of 24 with 27 points, receiving points from four of the 24 participating countries. Greek press was critical of the song and its performance. Following the contest at a press conference in Athens, Rakintzis stated "I came close to throwing down my microphone and walking off the stage," commenting on the sound quality of the performance which he claimed was responsible for his low contest placement. The Eurovision committee later released a statement that "there was no technical problem with the sound, if there was a problem it was with the singer."

Voting

Voting during the show involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12 as determined by either 100%

or a combination of 50% televoting and 50% national jury. In cases where televoting was not possible, only the votes of the eight-member national juries were tabulated. Greece received 27 points, which included the top 12 points from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, to which the nation also awarded its 12 points. was the Greek spokesperson announcing the country's voting results during the show, a task he had performed since the 1998 contest. The tables below visualise a complete breakdown of the points awarded to and awarded by Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2002

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002

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 pr ...