Eurovision Royalty: Helena Paparizou

An interesting thing might happen later this year. A former Eurovision winner is trying to return to the competition. But this time, she's aiming to represent a different country.


Helena Papirizou won Eurovision in 2005 for Greece. It was Greece's first ever win, after 25 years of competing. Helena (who is referred to Elena in Greece) was born in Sweden and raised there by her Greek immigrant parents. With strong roots in both Sweden and Greece, she is eligible to compete for either country. Or possibly both, as Helena is attempting to do.

In 1999, Helena's first musical group, a Swedish-Greek duo called Antique, was formed. They were chosen to represent Greece in 2001's Eurovision with the song, "(I Would) Die For You." They finished third, which, at that point, was the best Greece had ever done in the Contest.

Because Antique placed so well, the country of Greece, which had always been underdogs in the competition and never before showed much care in Eurovision, found a renewed and passionate interest. Eurovision is now one of the most-watched events in Greece, with an average of 5 million viewers every year. Greek people have extremely high standards for their representatives; since 2004, the Greek entry has always made it to the final.

In 2005, Helena, as a solo artist, went back to Eurovision. She won it that year with her song, "My Number One." 

The song was a perfect fusion of Greek nationalism and pop melodies. Traditional Greek folk music, called laïko, which means "song of the people," was merged with a Nordic disco background (an analogy for Helena herself, perhaps). It blended ancestral Greek instruments with a dance beat, and onstage, they performed a classic Greek Pontian dance during the performance. It celebrated Greek pride, but without being alienating to other European countries. 

So this year, Helena is going back to her birthplace and trying to compete for Sweden. First, she will have to pass through Sweden's televised selection process, Melodifestivalen, which is a long and intense competition (and also, one of my favorite things ever). The Swedes, like the Greeks, are very serious about their music, and more Swedes actually watch Melodifestivalen than Eurovision itself. The name of Helena's song, "Survivor," has been released, but we will have to wait until February 1 to see her perform. If she's successful, Helena will be the first artist to represent two different countries at Eurovision.