OPA!

[Agamemnon]

Congratulations to Giorgos Alkaios for winning the right to represent Greece
in this years Eurovision song contest with Opa.

Opa was always destined to go though to the finals. It was the best song in
the Greek national final by a mile. The only song that could have beaten it
was Enjoy the Day by Katerina Avgoustakis but unfortunately that was
disqualified for being put on YouTube last year before the songs were
allowed to be made public, but even if it had been allowed to be performed
as one of the contestants instead of just been showcased in the interval
Alkaios would have been hard to beat with all the support he has in Greece.

Alkaios song was sung in Greek and was in keeping with his general musical
style and production values unlike Sakis Rouvas song from last year which
was an English language sell out. Opa was obviously influenced by the solo
violin from last years Eurovision winner, but it is clearly a fusion of
Greek traditional and a modern laika, and anyway Elena Paparizou had the
violin solo sussed in My Number One long before Alexander Rybak copied it in
Fairytale.

Kivotos tou Noe was the only other song which had any merit, a
traditional/Greek/English/hip-hop fusion and also clearly influenced by last
years winner, but unfortunately the lead male singer was flat and could not
convey any emotion in any of the whaling parts. That song came before
Alkaios, and the song that came after Alkaios was another Greek song but was
just a mediocre ballad. The only other Greek song was insulting of Chinese
people as were the people who performed it when they were interviewed in the
Green Room. Everything else should never have even been put in the national
final (nor should have the insulting Chinese song for that matter). Firstly
because the songs were all in English and had nothing to do with Greece or
Greek music, and secondly and more impotently because the singers were
completely incapable of singing in English to begin with. In fact I doubt
that some of them were even capable of singing adequately in Greek.

Anyway for those that missed it, I've put it up on my YouTube site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g43VsAHeWpc

Opa should do well but because it's similar to last years winner it might
not get as many votes as it deserves.

I'll leave my review of Pete Waterman's UK song for later. Where did the
song he wrote for Cyprus 25 or so years ago come?

--
DJ Aggie

[mic...@aol.com]

Opa....you pay