Yassou Maria

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"Yassou Maria"
International cover
Single by Sarbel
from the album Sahara: Euro Edition
ReleasedMarch 7, 2007
Recorded2007
Genre
Length12:55
LabelSony BMG Greece/Columbia
Composer(s)
  • Alex Papaconstantinou
  • Marcus Englöf
Lyricist(s)Markus Sepehrmanesh
Producer(s)
  • Alex Papaconstantinou
  • Marcus Englöf
Sarbel singles chronology
"Se Pira Sovara"
(2004)
"Yassou Maria"
(2007)
Alternate covers
Greek cover
Greek cover
YouTube
Sarbel performing "Yassou Maria" at the contest

"Yassou Maria" (

Alex Papakonstantinou, Marcus Englöf and Markus "Mack" Sepehrmanesh. It is best known as the Greek entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, held in Helsinki
.

It was released as a CD single on March 7, 2007 by Sony BMG Greece, going gold in Greece on June 7, 2007.[2]

Before Eurovision

Before Eurovision,

ERT put together a national final to pick the song and singer to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. They picked Sarbel, Tamta, and Christos Dantis
.

Sarbel enlisted the help of popular Swedish-Greek composer Alex Papakonstantinou who is responsible for big hits by

Elena Paparizou (the winner for Greece in 2005
).

At the national final, Sarbel was accompanied on stage by four female dancers, with blue lights and fire in the background. He wore black leather pants and a silver shirt. The choreography was complex, which led with some problems with his microphone.

The public chose the song as the winner voting 44.45% while the jury also appointed him the winner giving him 17.46%. All together, he got an average of 39.69% votes.

By order performed:

National Final - February 28, 2007
Singer Song Composer - Lyricist Televoting - SMS (50%) Jury (50%) Total Place
1 Sarbel "Yassou Maria"
Alex Papaconstantinou
, Marcus Englöf, Mack
44.45% 17.46% 39.69% 1
2 Tamta "With Love" Nikos Terzis, Posidonas Giannopoulos 23.60% 17.22% 29.02% 3
3 Christos Dantis "No Madonna" Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou 31.95% 15.31% 31.29% 2

The CD single was released on March 7, 2007 in Greece and Cyprus by Sony BMG Greece. It includes a duet by Swedish singer Cameron, as well as a remixed song and a Greeklish version of "Yassou Maria". It reached the top position in both countries, being certified gold in Greece.

At Eurovision

The song and singer chosen competed in the Eurovision final in Helsinki, Finland on May 12, 2007. Greece were not required to sing in the semi-final since Anna Vissi, Greece's entry at the 2006 contest, had reached ninth place.

During a draw, Greece was assigned a running order of 10 in the contest. Sarbel appeared after 4 ballads, and before 1 disco song. He went on stage with 4 girls with short dresses. They used the same dance routine as in the Greek national final, but with minor changes. These included the end part, which used ribbons attached to the girls' skirts during the end bridge, with Sarbel as sort of a puppeteer. Later the ribbons were used to make a heart around Sarbel and the girls at the very end.

Greece's entry for the 2007 contest finished in 7th place, 1 point ahead of Armenia and 6 points behind Belarus.

Track listing

  1. "Yassou Maria"
  2. "Mi Chica" (Greek/English/Spanish mix version) [Duet with Persian-Swedish singer Cameron]
  3. "Yassou Maria" (Greeklish version)
  4. "Enas Apo Mas" (Anyone of Us – A Stupid Mistake) [Holiday Mix by Dimitris Kontopoulos]

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Certification
UK Singles Chart[3]
74
Greek Singles Chart (IFPI) 1 Gold
Cyprus Airplay Chart 1

References

External links