Greece was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 with the song "Socrates", composed by Doros Georgiadis, with lyrics by Sotia Tsotou, and performed by Elpida. The Greek participating broadcaster Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) held a national final to select its entry, with the winner being chosen by an "expert" jury.
Before Eurovision
National final
Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) held the national final on 5 February 1979 at the Municipal Theater in Piraeus, hosted by Vasilis Tsivilikas. The winning song was chosen by a jury of 65 people who awarded each song a mark out of 10.
Paola Komini, Maria Filosofou, Fotini Filosofou, Dimitris Kontoyiannis, and Stefanos Dekerian
"Dio se mia ombrella"
349
4
At Eurovision
"Sokrati" was re-titled "Socrates" for Eurovision, and was performed seventh on the evening (following Monaco's "Notre vie c'est la musique" by Laurent Vaguener and preceding Switzerland's "Trödler Und Co" by Peter, Sue and Marc and Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri). At the close of voting, it had received 69 points, placing 8th in a field of 19.[1]
Elpida was accompanied on stage by Lia Vissi (who will later represent Cyprus in 1985), Polina (who was to represent Greece in 1986, but Greece withdrew), Yiannis Samsiaris and Stelios Goulielmos, all four of them being backing vocalists.[2]
