Greek Pop Royalty Defends Athens' Home Year

MAY 15 2006 · 12:00

Anna Vissi · "Everything" · Greece · 2006 Placement: 9 · Score: 128 · Language: English · Composers: Nikos Karvelas · Venue: OAKA Indoor Hall · Host: Athens, Greece · Type: return · Broadcast: digital hd Anna Vissi — Greek-Cypriot pop titan with four decades of chart dominance, 50, platinum blonde, black leather corset — takes the Athens OAKA stage for Greece's home hosting year after Helena Paparizou's 2005 win. She delivers 'Everything' with full chest-voice commitment, eight dancers, dramatic orchestration. 128 points for 9th place. Lordi wins for Finland with 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. Anna's 2006 was her third and final Eurovision entry (1980 Greece, 1982 Cyprus, 2006 Greece). Context Nikos Karvelas was Vissi's former husband and career songwriter. The Greek-Cypriot cross-country Eurovision career is almost unique; Vissi represented both nations at different times. Athens 2006 budget was enormous — Greece was determined to stage a definitive Eurovision. Legacy The 9th-place result was considered respectable for Greece's home hosting. Vissi continued as Greece's and Cyprus's most decorated pop star through the 2020s. 'Everything' became one of her later-career highlights. Her 24-year gap between second and third Eurovision entries is one of the contest's widest.