"Opa" means energy from Greece

Greece is known for intense and successful stage shows. Their entries earned them a top-ten position for all the years of Semi-Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. And the Greek show for 2010 is no exception. Giorgos Alkaios and his dancers moved around the stage with high energy all the way from the first notes of the song.

For a part of the song, drums were used as props. When the lights in the arena darken, the drums were revealed as luminous, with a bright inner light and many smaller blue lamps on the sides. For the break of the song, this was supplemented by the letter G pulsating in the background – G for Giorgos. For the last run-through of the song this day, minor fireworks were used.

While the backing dancers went in full-energy this day, Giorgos himself was relaxed, completing the rehearsal in a cap. For the stage costumes, white garments were tried out. For the national selection, they used black. The Greek delegation expressed delight with the full result of the rehearsal.

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Final decision: white

When entering the press conference later in the afternoon, Giorgos and his dances said that they had kept the energy from the rehearsal. They also revealed their decision for the stage costumes, after considering both white and black.

"From the start, we did it in black, and for the video, we used both white and black. But we've listened to what Greek fans have expressed on Facebook and YouTube, and most have said white, so we'll stick to that now," said Giorgos.

Giorgos, still wearing a cap, also said that he remember having viewed the Eurovision Song Contest from home for many years, relaxing with friends, eating pizza and drinking. In those days, he realised that it's hard to get a ticket for representing Greece in the contest. But when a national selection took place for 2010, he saw his opportunity, and grabbed it with both hands.

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Giorgos Alkaios is one of the few Greek artists who have not only performed in their native country Greece, but also in Cyprus, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and in the USA. Over the years more than 300,000 people have watched Giorgos perform live. Giorgos Alkaios is known to non-Greeks as well, due to his appearance in various charts around the world. Outside of Greece, he is considered an "ethnic" artist, and he has been invited to perform in prestigious venues. His song Syrmatoplegma became the anthem of the famous football club Galatasaray, when the team won the transcontinental and the UEFA cup. His first platinum record abroad came from Sweden, when Antique performed his song Opa-Opa which also became a top hit in other European countries.