#GREECE: Live blog of Ethnikós Telikós 2025 from 20.00CET

By John Stanton on January 30, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

Greece tonight holds its first national final for several years. Twelve lucky acts will compete for the golden ticket to Basel in May. Will tonight’s winner taste further success in Switzerland

We’ll be blogging the action, giving you our take on the broadcast. You can watch the action HERE. All times below are GMT.

21.50 – That concludes the coverage of tonight’s show. We hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for more blogs over the coming weeks. Good night.

21.48 – The winner is… Klavia!!!!

21.47 – Barbz has made the final three. Klavia has made the final three. Evangelia has made the final three

21.46 – We have a result – possibly

21.44 – It’s also Helena’s birthday, and she gets to see her birthday cake.

21.41 – But first, it’s all about Nemo

21.40 – Our hosts have changed outfits again. It must mean results can’t be far away.

21.37 – We’re back. It’s Theo Evan. He’s singing Fuego tonight, but will be representing Cyprus in Basel.

21.27 – Time for another ad break. Stay tuned…

21.25 – The public voting is over. There’s a winner in there somewhere.

21.20 – Naturally she also sings My Number One too. She won in beautiful Kyiv of course.

21.17 – And the reason we were in Athens was… Helena Paparizou. She starts with Die for you, from her Antique days

21.13 – More looking back now, to 2006 when it was the contest was in Athens. Sakis co-hosted, Nana Mouskouri was the guest of honour, and Lordi won.

21.09 – Time for another recap. From song 12 to song 1. That’s different

21.06 – He segues from This is our night to Shake it. Yes, they are different songs.

21.04 – It’s Sakis time now. Well it wouldn’t be a Greek Eurovision show without him singing at us. He might even be singing live.

21.00 – We’re back from the ads, and getting a recap

20.53 – Time for a well-earned ad break.

20.50 – And that’s it! We have a winner in there somewhere. The Greek public can vote, obviously. But only by SMS. and it costs a mere €0.68 per vote.

20.49 – Xannova has a distinctive voice. This is another bop and has a lot of the right ingredients to do well. Decent choreography, a decent hook. And some really high notes at the end just to set it off nicely.

20.45 – Song 12 is Play it! by Xannova Xan

20.44 – Ballad time, and this time I think we mean it. It’s one of the power variety and builds nicely from start to finish. It’s not an unfamiliar sound and isn’t without its charm. But there’s not really a hook to speak of. And the on-stage cello might not even save it. However, it’s the only song of its genre so far, so could mop up votes.

20.40 – Song 11 is Unhurt me by Nafsica Gavrilaki

20.39 – No, it’s not Double Date. Dinamiss mean business with this very very up-to-date contemporary number. There’s rap-singing and a kickass beat that gets the crowd going – you can tell by their whistling. The dancers are also working their little socks off keeping up with the routine. I’m out of breatnjust watching it. This has a lot of good going for it. But could it cancel out song nine?

20.35 – Song 10 is Odyssey by Dinamiss

20.34 – The beat is very similar to song eight, but it’s far more instant. This is actually very instant. It’s ethnic, it’s turbo-pop. The choreography is very slick. Her outfit of orange/gold is very striking. And if that wasn’t enough, we get another Greek instrument on stage which is excellent. This is the one to beat. It’s a proper summer hit (yeah, I know we’re still in January).

20.31 – Song nine is Vále by Evangelia

20.30 – More dry ice and a stark rocky backdrop. Barbz’s song is serious and full of dramatic walking around by her pals on stage. And then the chorus kicks in which takes us in a more upbeat direction. The choreography, to be fair, is very good. The song again could go somewhere way before it does. The repetition of the title might strike a chord and the beat is noteworthy.

20.26 – Song eight is Sirens from Barbz

20.25 – Less ethnic, and more cabaret for this one. Georgina starts alone on stage. She actually does the whole first verse and chorus alone, well flanked by four backing singers. John jojns her for verse two. This could be a song from a decent musical as it’s a grower and not as instant as others tonight. It’s good, but not a winner methinks.

20.21 – Song seven comes from Georgina Kalais and John Vlaseros. It’s called High road

20.20 – Old hand Constantinos and his pal Kostas K bring some gravitas to proceedings. This is also very Greek and their two voices meld well together. There’s a decent beat to thhis, helped along by a drummer and bazouki-ists on stage. However, whilst this song could go somewhere, it sort of leave sit late before it does. There’s nothing wrong with it. but I suspect I’ve heard slightly better already.

20.16 – Song six comes from Constantinos Christoforou and Kostas Karafotis. it’s called Paradeisos

20.15 – Our first female vocalist. Another a capella start and then a subtle backing track kicks in. We know this will build, but how? Well, the first indication are backing dancers initially at Klavdia’s feet in a spiral. This is nicely Greek in ethnicity and she can definitely carry a tune and there are some beautifully soaring notes. Her dancers only really come to life at the end, to hold cloth around her. Very good.

20.11 – Song five is Asteromata by Klavdia

20.10 – Andy is sat at a piano. He starts a capella before the tune kicks in. There’s dry ice and four be-suited backing dancers, who don’t do much dancing until the second verse. And then only one by one. The song seems a bit laboured and while it means well, it’s not really a contest song. He has a decent voice and it’s a nice ‘light’ song definitely, but nice no longer wins competitions like this.

20.06 – Song four now. It’s Lost my way by Andy Nicolas

20.05 – A bit more traditional now, and in Greek. Cool. This is an earnest serious song, and Kostas has a drummer and bagpiper on stage with him. While traditional, there’s a bit of turbo-folk going on too. This is very good and not selling out to generic pop. He also has a decent voice. And there are flames. By far the best so far.

20.01 – Song three is Gi mou by Kostas Ageris

20.00 – This starts with a guitar riff that sounds a little familiar. Thanks is also bare-chested save for a jacket – this time white with tassles. It has a US rock vibe going on – slightly rockabilly in fact. It’s good for someone so young. And it’s a decent song. Is it time to make free love?

19.57 – Song 2 comes from Thanos Lambrou. It’s called Free love

19.56 – Rikki is dressed distinctively. He sings about an elevator (=lift) and it taking him to his destination. The mix seems a little off but there’s a bit of funk about the song. The hook is there and with his better-dressed backing dancers this might be memorable. But it’s maybe too simple a song to have an impact.