OPA!

"OPA!"
Single by Giorgos Alkaios
Released	26 February 2010 (2010-02-26) (see release history)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2008–2010
Genre	Europop, laiko
Length	3:02
Label	Friends Music Factory
Writer(s)	Giorgos Alkaios, Giannis Antoniou, Friends
Producer	Giorgos Alkaios
"OPA" Eurovision Song Contest 2010 entry Country Greece Artist(s) Giorgos Alkaios With Friends Language Greek Composer(s) Giorgos Alkaios Lyricist(s) Giannis Antoniou, Dimitris Hortarias, Manos Hortarias, Dionisis Sxoinas, Tolis sxoinas, Kassiani Karagioule, Stauros Apostolou Finals performance Semi-final result 2nd Semi-final points 133 Final result 8th Final points 140 Appearance chronology ◄ This Is Our Night (2009)    Watch My Dance (2011) ►

"OPA!" (Greek: ΏΠΑ!, IPA: [ˈopa]) is a song by Greek singer Giorgos Alkaios and Friends. It represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.^[1][2] The song was released by broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on 26 February 2010 along with the other candidate songs from the national final,^[3] while a digital download was released on 12 March 2010 in association with Universal Music Greece.^[4]

Background

Production history

Alkaios had originally written the music to the song about two year prior, with no intention of submitting it for the Eurovison Song Contest at the time.^[5] After lyricist Giannis Antoniou heard the music a year earlier, he was smitten with the song and asked Alkaios to write lyrics for it.^[5] In the process, other musicians and employees from Friends Music Factory including Dionisis Schinas, Kassiani Kargiule, Dimitris Hortarias, Stavros Apostolou, Tolis Schinas, and Manos Hortarias amongst others, also wrote and contributed half of the lyrics to the song.^[6] Upon completion, good friend and musician Dionysis Schinas along with Giannis Antoniou urged Alkaios to submit the song to broadcaster ERT to take part in the national final.^[7] Originally only intending to be the composer of the song, Alkaios agreed to submit the song, and Schinas hand delivered the song to ERT's offices.^[5] Later, it was decided that Alkaios would perform the song on stage along with "friends".^[5]

Lyrical content

The entry marks the first Greek Eurovision entry since 1998 to be sung entirely in Greek.

"Opa" is a Greek interjection used to express joy or high spirits, especially when dancing.^[8] According to Alkaios, 'Opa' is a happy word and just what people need in a time of trouble. The song is all about leaving the past behind and starting all over again.^[5] In a world shaken by the current economic circumstance, Alkaios believes people just need to say 'Opa' and move on.^[9] Pertaining to the tie of 'Opa' in the song with the current economic situation in the world, Alkaios stated:

“

I think Greek people want to say an 'Opa' and get out and ... you know, break a plate, and you know, very ... with dance, and feelings, and smile. Live or leave it. This is the word that we sing.[9]

”

National final

Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Seven acts competed on 12 March 2010 in the Greek National Final.^[10] The song was performed fourth in the final by Alkaios along with "Friends", which consisted of musicians Gogua Iakovos, Evgenios Buli, Petros Zlatkos and Anastasios Kanaridis who acted as backing vocalists and backing dancers, along with Lazos Ioannidis who plays the lyre during the song's break.^[11]

At the end of voting, "OPA" was revealed as the winner.^[1]

Draw	Artist	Song	Place[12]
1	Christos Hatzinasios	"Illusion"	-
2	Sunny Baltzi & Second Skin	"Game of Life"	-
3	Manos Pyrovolakis	"Kivotos tou Noe" (Noah's ark)	2
4	Giorgos Alkaios & Friends	"OPA"	1
5	Yorgos Karadimos	"Polemao" (I'm fighting)	3
6	Melisses	"O Kinezos" (Chinese)	-
7	Émigré	"Touch me Deep Inside"	-

Eurovision

Greece competed 13th in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest on 25 May in Oslo, Norway.^[13][14] The performance in the contest differed from the one in the national final.^[15] Alkaios passed the first semi-final, coming in 2nd place behind Belgium^[16], and went on to perform in the final on 29 May 2010. Friend Dionisis Schinas stated that the performance will feature a surprise on stage which has never happened before in any other live music event worldwide.^[15] Following the semi-final, Alkaios revealed that they would change the routine and present a surprise midway through the song in the final.^[17] In the end, Greece came 8th^[18], with 141 points, while for most of the duration of the voting, Greece was in the top 3 (and even came 1st for a while). It was the highest placing non-English song of the contest. OPA was the most popular song for the jury in the United Kingdom, being awarded the full 12 points and has since acquired a cult following in many clubs. Following Eurovision, OPA was formally adopted by Bournemouth University in the UK as their fieldwork anthem on the excavation programme throughout June and July 2010 ^[19].

Track listing

• Digital download

1. "OPA" – 3:02

Music video

Due to economic difficulties faced by ERT, the broadcaster was only willing to use the national final performance as the official music video for the song.^[20] On 19 March 2010, ERT released a music video using the national final performance on their official YouTube channel.^[21] Although ERT released a music video for the song from the live performance, Alkaios had to pay himself for the production of a proper music video.^[20] The music video was shot in Milos.^[20]

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
Greece	26 February 2010 (2010-02-26)	Friends Music Factory	Airplay
Cyprus
Greece	12 March 2010 (2010-03-12)	Universal Music, Friends Music Factory	Digital download
Cyprus

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[22]	37
Finnish Singles Chart[23]	20
Greek Digital Singles Chart[24][25]	4
UK Singles Chart[26]	110

See also

• Other Greek songs titled "Opa"

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Montebello, Edward (March 13, 2010). "Greece sends Giorgos Alkaios & Friends to Eurovison". ESCToday. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15371. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
2. ^ Escudero, Victor (12 March 2010). "Giorgos Alkaios & Friends will wave the Greek flag in Oslo". EBU. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=10443&_t=Giorgos+Alkaios+%26+Friends+will+wave+the+Greek+flag+in+Oslo. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
3. ^ Floras, Stella (26 February 2010). "Greece: Final songs online ahead of schedule". ESCToday. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15221. Retrieved March 25, 2010. 
4. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/gr/album/opa-single/id361811520
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Floras, Stella (13 March 2010). "Greece: Alkaios says Opa is a happy word". ESCToday. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15376. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
6. ^ Staff (15 March 2010). "“Who is Who” George Alkaios & Friends Contest". ERT. http://eurovision.ert.gr/en/eurovision-song-contest-2010/contest/00418-who-is-who-george-alkaios-friends. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
7. ^ Zervas, Pavlo (26 January 2010). "Eurovision 2010 – Ο Γ. Αλκαίος μιλάει στο Music Corner!". Musiccorner.gr. http://www.musiccorner.gr/?p=603. Retrieved 25 March 2010. 
8. ^ Babiniotis, Dictionary of Modern Greek
9. ^ ^{a b} Vranis, Michalis (March 11, 2010). "Greece: The Alkaios and Emigre interviews". ESCToday. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15354. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
10. ^ Klier, Marcus (12 March 2010). "Tonight: National final in Greece". ESCToday. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15359. Retrieved March 24, 2010. 
11. ^ Neophytou, Tony (March 10, 2010). "Giorgos Alkaios eyes Eurovision win". London Greek Radio. http://83.222.228.210/Music/Music-News/Giorgos-Alkaios-eyes-Eurovision-win.html. Retrieved March 25, 2010. 
12. ^ Kaziri, Ghassan Al (March 15, 2010). "60,000 votes cast; three songs tied". Oikotimes.coom. http://www.oikotimes.com/v2/index.php?file=articles&id=7707. Retrieved March 24, 2010. 
13. ^ Staff (23 March 2010). "Greece Appears 13th on the ESC Stage News". ERT. http://eurovision.ert.gr/en/eurovision-song-contest-2010/news/00419-simera-i-klirosi-gia-ti-seira-emfanisis. Retrieved 24 March 2010. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Klier, Marcus (7 February 2010). "Semi final allocation for Oslo determined". ESC Today. http://esctoday.com/news/read/15042. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Staff (18 March 2010). "Ο Γιώργος Αλκαίος ετοιμάζει εκπλήξεις" (in Greek). MAD TV. http://www.mad.tv/section/news/43433/eurovision/. Retrieved 25 March 2010. 
16. ^ http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=18323&_t=Exclusive%3A+The+Semi-Final+results!
17. ^ Staff (26 May 2010). "Γ. Αλκαίος: «περιμένω το 10 για τον τελικό»" (in Greek). Star Channel. http://www.star.gr/index.php?ID=hot_of_the_day&Rec_ID=46329. Retrieved 27 May 2010. 
18. ^ http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=18063&_t=GERMANY+WINS,+SEE+FULL+RESULTS!
19. ^ http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/caah/landscapeandtownscapearchaeology/durotriges-research-page-and-dig-diary.html
20. ^ ^{a b c} Staff (20 March 2010). "Ο Γιώργος Αλκαίος πληρώνει για το clip του" (in Greek). MAD TV. http://www.mad.tv/section/news/43492/eurovision/. Retrieved 25 March 2010. 
21. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA5rWZ-S4lQ
22. ^ Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart
23. ^ Finnish Singles Chart
24. ^ Billboard Greek Digital Singles Chart
25. ^ Greek Digital Singles Chart
26. ^ UK Singles Chart

External links

• Official music video - Youtube
• Giorgos Alkaios & Friends Official promotional website

Preceded by "This Is Our Night" by Sakis Rouvas

Greek entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Succeeded by "Watch My Dance" by Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike