Greece GREECE 2023 - Victor Vernicos - What They Say

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

Is there, however, anything that could be done here? The song is simple, so the staging should be kept simple. That's my humble opinion.

I disagree. Way too simple stagings are for songs that are strong and impressive on their own, like Bulgaria's Beautiful Mess.
It needed a staging concept or a moving story, I dont see how 3 minutes focused on Victor only singing a song - thats a little monotonous - will excite the televoters.
I was confident about qualification when the running order was revealed, now Im back at thinking hes in danger

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

One of the least talked about entries this year, it seems. I haven't seen much discourse around Cyprus either.

besties even in this ❤~

 

[Nicholas123]

Too much whining over nothing (@lilka in there is a saying that goes like "κλαίμε τον σκεπαρνοσκοτωμένο" - google it! ). We know not what our team came up with for our stage presence. Simple does not mean emtpy or nothing. I am sure Rigos mentioned the word "visuals" in another interview of his, so let's wait and see. I trust him, as for know. His career is undisputable (studies, collaborations, ESC credentials like "watch my dance") and now he is the Ballet director at the Greek National Opera. A change from the super camp stagings of Fokas is necessary. And Victor seems quite likable and charismatic. Nothing is over, especially in THIS semi.

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

Too much whining over nothing (@lilka in there is a saying that goes like "κλαίμε τον σκεπαρνοσκοτωμένο" - google it! ). We know not what our team came up with for our stage presence. Simple does not mean emtpy or nothing. I am sure Rigos mentioned the word "visuals" in another interview of his, so let's wait and see. I trust him, as for know.

Oh I dont trust him at all, apparently the theme for Victor's performance will be the greek Summer.
Bring Fokas back

 

[crashworld]

They better not make him do what Dilja from Iceland did for her NF performance where she was just moving around the stage doing a whole lotta nothing with all those awkward movements. I feel the Greek delegation should have done something similar to what Armenia did last year. I feel the song needed an intimate setting.

 

[DanielLuis]

I have to say this song grew on me a lot. Like more than 10 or 15 places up in my ranking.
The lyrics are really good, especially when you consider they were written by a 16 year old

 

[Citelis]

Of course he can qualify because the semifinal is weak. However the fact we are probably borderline qualifier in this semifinal shows how weak the song is.
Keeping it simple on stage is probably a safer choice since the song doesn't fit an out of the box staging and it's less likely to mess up a simple and easier staging. Focusing on Victor also makes sense since you have a talented artist with a weak song so you try to focus on the artist i guess.

 

[hpp0]

I hope that, even if the performance ends up being bad/boring, they won't rush to bring Fokas Evangelinos back next year (and "Dream Team" as a whole). Regardless of whether someone liked the way he stages songs or not, it's time ERT starts trusting different people. I'm sure there are plenty of Greek choreographers and directors who can do as good, if not better, job as the DT and the only reason they are not chosen is because the later gives ERT a sense of security.

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

I hope that, even if the performance ends up being bad/boring, they won't rush to bring Fokas Evangelinos back next year (and "Dream Team" as a whole). Regardless of whether someone liked the way he stages songs or not, it's time ERT starts trusting different people. I'm sure there are plenty of Greek choreographers and directors who can do as good, if not better, job as the DT and the only reason they are not chosen is because the later gives ERT a sense of security.

Who? Rigos and Maria Lyraraki. Eurovision needs experience. We all know how it went with Tsali in 2018, or Duska's director in 2019 who lacked esc experience. So its not like Greece didnt try with "new" directors.
If we dont want Fokas, the solution is hiring directors from abroad who work for ESC every year ( like Cyprus does ). I personally like that Greece keeps it greek when it comes to songwriting and the staging tho. And I dont know why we are hating on Fokas that much either, " when something works dont change it ". 2 consecutive top 10s, I dont mind it at all if he gets another shot. Tbh, Id feel more confident about Victor's chances with him as the director, hed give the song an extra something that it really needs in my opinion ( hed probably put Victor in a box but ok still )
Anyway, this is a convo for next year, for now lets wish the best for Victor, hes really talented and passionate and it will be a shame if he gets a very bad result

 

[Wynnter]

Hmm... It starts off nice, has a good first chorus, but after that when it's time for the song to elevate to higher ground it does try to do that, I guess, but fails. And when I'm getting back into the song again, it decides to end. With some better structuring it could go higher on my list, but for now it's alright. Not that memorable, the background stuff towards the end is a little distracting and a bit "messy", and doesn't really awake anything in me. Yeah.

Final score: points

 

[hpp0]

Who? Rigos and Maria Lyraraki. Eurovision needs experience. We all know how it went with Tsali in 2018, or Duska's director in 2019 who lacked esc experience. So its not like Greece didnt try with "new" directors.
If we dont want Fokas, the solution is hiring directors from abroad who work for ESC every year ( like Cyprus does ). I personally like that Greece keeps it greek when it comes to songwriting and the staging tho. And I dont know why we are hating on Fokas that much either, " when something works dont change it ". 2 consecutive top 10s, I dont mind it at all if he gets another shot. Tbh, Id feel more confident about Victor's chances with him as the director, hed give the song an extra something that it really needs in my opinion ( hed probably put Victor in a box but ok still )
Anyway, this is a convo for next year, for now lets wish the best for Victor, hes really talented and passionate and it will be a shame if he gets a very bad result

Well personally I'm okay with letting inexperienced people stage an entry, even if we get bad results. Evangelinos or the other guys didn't know how to do it from day one, it took time. If they don't let newer people try their ideas, then how will they know what works and what doesn't? I don't think it is either him or foreigners, there must be more than 4 people in Greece that can stage a song.

I'm not saying that he is bad at his job or that he can't bring decent results, I just think it's time to move on. I don't want him to never be in Eurovision again, but it's not like his, and DT's in general, past few entries have been that spectacular (2021 had interesting technology behind it but the result wasn't really special imo), that justify ERT prioritizing them so often.

 

[simori95]

When I hear they want to focus on Victor and „there will be a lot of movement but no actual dancing“, I immediately think of his hands and arms doing (possibly weird?) things. Ngl, I could kind of appreciate him windmilling himself into the final, those are the kind of random success stories I‘m looking for.

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

Well personally I'm okay with letting inexperienced people stage an entry, even if we get bad results. Evangelinos or the other guys didn't know how to do it from day one, it took time. If they don't let newer people try their ideas, then how will they know what works and what doesn't? I don't think it is either him or foreigners, there must be more than 4 people in Greece that can stage a song.

What if we get a great song and we ruin it just for personal grow of a new director? I disagree. What country does that? They all turn to professionals with experience. Do you know that Finland asked from Fokas Evaggelinos to stage Cha cha cha but he turned it down?
Not saying that it should be Fokas every year either. Maybe Ert could, after choosing a song, talk with different directors, with experience or not, and choose the one the think will suit the song more

 

[Nicholas123]

What are we even talking about ? It's rather depressing for a country like Greece to be dependent on one composer and one choreographer only. We are not san Marino. Its ERT's responsibility to scout and promote new talents. Enough with the dinosaurs who have been given a free pass for years to do whatever they wanted to with the contest. Lemme tell you that the rest of the record labels were extremely suspicious towards ERT's policy to pick the so called "dream team" year after year. We don't have the luxury to lose them all so that we always satisfy Kokotos' and Dimitris' egos. Other people deserve a chance, as well. As for our last top 10 placements I won't say anything. What I will say though is that fokas staging imo did not do justice to the songs.

 

[crashworld]

What I will say though is that fokas staging imo did not justice to the songs.

I kinda agree. "Last Dance" turns into Just Dance 2000 and "Die Together" turns into a Ikea disaster (which I don't know why so many people are in awe). The team did not execute their ideas well.

 

[simori95]

I kinda agree. "Last Dance" turns into Just Dance 2000 and "Die Together" turns into a Ikea disaster (which I don't know why so many people are in awe). The team did not execute their ideas well.

Omg I LOOOVED the Die together staging idea. There was so much one could have done to make it impactful. However I will agree that the dress and the camera shots really stopped it from realizing said potential to the fullest, made it kinda fall flat.

 

[hpp0]

What if we get a great song and we ruin it just for personal grow of a new director? I disagree. What country does that? They all turn to professionals with experience. Do you know that Finland asked from Fokas Evaggelinos to stage Cha cha cha but he turned it down?
Not saying that it should be Fokas every year either. Maybe Ert could, after choosing a song, talk with different directors, with experience or not, and choose the one the think will suit the song more

On your first point, I think the singer(s) and the songwriter(s) should be choosing who directs their song so that they and the director find a common vision for the song. Like in 2019 that you mentioned before, I don't know the details about how the staging was done, but Katerina Douska seemed pretty supportive of her performance, so I don't think you can say that the director alone ruined the song. The idea that they had for the staging maybe wasn't for esc or it should have been executed differently, but either way I think that they all share responsibility for it not only the director.

If a singer wants to work with DT or just Evangelinos, I don't want ERT to dismiss them entirely of course, I just don't want situations like 2017 and 2020/2021 to happen next year, in case we do badly this year, just because it's the safe option for a decent result.

 

[ati0111]

Because it is the most forgettable song of the year

I disagree so much
For me it's the catchiest song of the year and easily Greece's best song since 2005

 

[spinachpie]

Omg I LOOOVED the Die together staging idea. There was so much one could have done to make it impactful. However I will agree that the dress and the camera shots really stopped it from realizing said potential to the fullest, made it kinda fall flat.

Die Together staging was excellent.

Last Dance was soooo cringey. They thought they had this cool gimmick (which was not cool or original), and it made zero sense at all. They couldn't even get it to appear professional. Nearly as embarrassing as Oniro Mou.

Stefania saved it though.

 

[Citelis]

I disagree so much
For me it's the catchiest song of the year and easily Greece's best song since 2005

Unpopular opinion i guess, but it has its beauty rooting for an entry that others don't seem to care about.