ERT has held a press event revealing more details of Greece’s participation in the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest next month in Vienna, Austria.
The Greek public broadcaster ERT has held an event today in Athens revealing more details of its plans for the contest in Vienna next month. At the event, it was revealed by Creative Director, Fokas Evangelinos, that Akylas will be joined on stage by Parthena Chorozidou, Michalis Michailidis, Christos Nikolaou, and Konstantinos Karypidis.
In addition, a “Ferto” online game was also announced at the event. An arcade machine was revealed at the event in Athens, while the online game is now available here, as players are invited to help Akylas make his way to Vienna and get to the Grand Final on May 16.
Furthermore ERT confirmed more details of its coverage of the competition. Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis will commentate on the live TV broadcasts on ERT 1 and ERT World. Radio commentary will be provided by Dimitris Meidanis on Deftero Programma and Voice of Greece. Sign language coverage will be available on the ERTFLIX platform. In addition, ahead of the live shows on ERT1, a live show will air with behind-the-scenes coverage of the competition.
Who is Akylas?
Akylas Mytilinaios, better known simply as Akylas, was born on February 11, 1999 in Serres in northern Greece. After dropping out of school, he moved to Thessaloniki, where he graduated from culinary school and worked in restaurants. He also worked as a cruise ship singer for two years before moving to Athens. In 2021, Akylas began posting cover versions to TikTok and quickly gained popularity. He released his debut single “Fthinokraso” later that year.
Find out more about Akylas:
Source: ERT
Greece debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, when they were represented by Marinella and the song “Krasi, thalassa kai t’agori mou”, which finished in 11th place with 7 points. Three years later, Greece earned their first top 5 finish with Paschalis, Marianna, Robert, and Bessy, who finished in 5th place with “Mathima solfege”. In 2001, Greece achieved their first top 3 placing with Antique and the song “I Would Die For You”. The song became a European hit and charted across the continent. In 2005, Helena Paparizou returned to the Eurovision stage as a solo artist and brought Greece their first, and to date only, victory. Her song “My Number One” won with 230 points, beating runners-up Malta by 38 points.