GREECE 2022

The Greek song was revealed on March 10th. Back in December it was revealed that Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord had been internally selected to represent Greece. The song and video was aired for the first time on ERT’s programme "Studio 4". Her song is entitled "Die together"

Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord (sometimes just known as  Amanda Tenfjord) has a Norwegian mother and a Greek father and spent much of her childhood between those two countries. She was inspired to take up music by Sigrid who was also at her school, however still continued her medical studies in Trondheim. In 2016, she participated in "The Stream",  a Norwegian singing show and got into the top 30. She has also honed her skill and craft though touring and the festivals circuit and has released numerous singles and two EPs.

The song starts in a very unexpected way and keeps on going for the first half of the song. Amanda is singing on top of a synthesised/vocoder version of herself which give the song an uneasy texture. Very reminiscent of Laure Anderson's "O Superman" This continues through verse on, pre-chorus and chorus before the a very loose and wispiish backing track comes in and the vocoder departs. Verse two is much shorter than verse two and goes straight into another chorus. After this there is a bridge which a very different tone and pace and is super catchy before a final chorus which has a slightly different tune before suddenly stopping.

This is a very contemporary ballad and one that has made some very interesting stylistic choices. First of the the first minute or so is going to be quite challenging: many will revel on such an opening gambit but many will be wondering if there has been a cock-up on the backing tape. I am the biggest critic of pre-recorded backing vocals but one has to applaud those countries really taking this rule to its limit. The video is half love story, half tourist video and I found myself a little bit lost in the whole thing to actually pay attention to what was going on. I am hoping for something very pared down in the fist half then getting bigger, possibly even some contemporary dancers. The song has some really good and memorable rhythms, in particular the repetitively building bridge, and the use of long notes followed by short sharp lines really gets your ears up. This is a bit of a weird one because on one hand there are lots of surprising things whose impact lessens time after time but the tune becomes more familiar after every listen. This could go either way - too odd to vote for or so unusual it packs a punch.

ARTIST - Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord

SONG - Die Together

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Bjørn Helge Gammelsæter, Amanda Tenfjord