Seventeen countries competed in the first semi-final of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) at Pala Olimpico Stadium in Turin, Italy this morning.
Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord’s emotional ballad ‘Die Together’ placed in the top 10, qualifying Greece for the Eurovision grand final on Sunday, May 15.
WATCH Amanda’s grand-final qualifying performance here:
As put by Australia’s Eurovision host, Myf Warhurst, “Greece never fail to bring a great entry,” and Twitter couldn’t agree more.
READ MORE: Eurovision 2022: Who is representing Greece, Cyprus and Australia?
Greece’s History in Eurovision
Greece made its Eurovision debut in 1974 with Marinella, for the competition’s 19th edition in which Sweden won with Abba’s Waterloo.
In 2004, the semi-final format was introduced by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and of the 18 contests since then, Greece has failed to qualify twice: in 2016 with Argo’s ‘Utopian Land’ and in 2018 with Yianna Terzi’s ‘Oniro Mou’.
Greece has only won Eurovision once, in Kyiv in 2005, with Helena Paparizou’s smash hit: ‘My Number One’. Paparizou’s winning performance 17 years ago was directed by Fokas Evangelinos, who is Tenfjord’s creative director this year in Turin.
This morning, Tenfjord took to the stage alone, wearing a long sheer white gown, backdropped by blue lighting and surrounded by fallen-over chairs scattered across the floor.
Speaking with ERT’s program, Studio 4, two weeks ago, Evangelinos explained that Amanda’s simple presentation and loneliness on stage were purposefully done to “emphasise three elements: the absence, the toll and the grief of a separation,” he said.
The 10 qualifiers from this morning’s semi-final are as follows:
