Greece was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "Autostop", composed by Jick Nacassian, with lyrics by Rony Sofu, and performed by Anna Vissi and The Epikouri. The Greek participating broadcaster, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), held a national final to select its entry.

Greece performed third at the event, held on 19 April 1980, in the Hague, Netherlands, and placed 13th with 30 points. This tied the nation's lowest placement in the contest.

Background

Prior to the 1980 contest, (EIRT) in 1974, and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) since 1975, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Greece five times. To this point, their best result was fifth place, which was achieved in with the song "". Their least successful result was in , when it placed 13th with the song "" by Mariza Koch.

Before Eurovision

National final ERT held the national final on 10 March 1980, at its television studios in Peania, hosted by Vasilis Tsivilikas. The winning song was chosen by a jury of people who awarded each song a mark out of ten.

+ Final – 10 March 1980 Artist Song Points Place 1 Yiannis Floriniotis "Mono mia melodia" () 260 10 2 Dakis & Rena Panta "Mono esi" () 289 9 3 Anna Vissi "Autostop" () 474 1 4 Antonis Stefanides "Min argeis" () 202 12 5 Dakis "Pare ena kohili ap'to Aegaeo" () 410 3 6 Milli Karali "Tiki-tak" () 361 6 7 Glykeria "Etsi apla s'agapo" () 364 5 8 Kostas Tournas & The Epikouri "UFO" 469 2 9 Yiorgos Polychroniadis "Thymisou me" () 327 8 10 Group Anonymous "Sto rythmo ton UFO" () 368 4 11 Sigma Fei "Na les s'agapo" () 225 11 12 Takis Antoniades "Ti thes na po" () 347 7

At Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was held on 19 April 1980, at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in the Hague, Netherlands. "Autostop" was the third performed that night (following 's "" by Ajda Pekkan and preceding 's "" by Sophie and Magaly). At the close of voting, it had received 30 points, placing 13th in a field of 19.

Voting

+ Points awarded to Greece Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Greece Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References