Melissa Mantzoukis’ and her lawyer(s) have decided to file a lawsuit against the Greece national broadcaster, ERT. Melissa was one of the three last shortlisted Greek internal contestants of 2023.
Melissa Mantzoukis and her legal team
Since it was announced that Victor Vernicos will represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 there were statements that Melissa Mantzoukis, who was also on the shortlist of the last 3 possible contestants to represent Greece this year, would file a lawsuit against the Greek national broadcaster, ERT. Melissa and her legal team question the final result of the internal selection.
The lawyer of Melissa Mantzoukis stated the following:
“It is inconceivable that they have not responded to an out-of-court hearing. We will ask that no proceedings (regarding Eurovision) be made until the hearing of the lawsuit.”
– by Lawyer of Melissa Mantzoukis
The reason for the lawsuit
The reason why Melissa Mantzoukis and her legal team doubt the outcome of the internal selection is the following: Especially the ERT Committee that was part of the internal selection is questioned. This jury, which was assembled by the Greek national broadcaster, ERT, determined 49.6% of the final result. Melissa Mantzoukis questions 2 specific things:
- Why was there still a full vote when two members of the jury withdrew?
- How it is possible that Melissa Mantzoukis received 440 points, because if there were three songs still in the running the minimum score she should have got was 560 points.
Last phase of the Greek internal selection
The last phase of the Greek internal selection of Greece consisted of a meeting with the ERT Committee, and entailed a talk with the three remaining artists, a song presentation, plans for the Greek act in Liverpool, how the promotion of the song would be handled, and lots more. Below you can find the final results.
- Victor Vernicos – What They Say (740 votes)
- Maria Maragou and Antonia Kaouri – Shout Out (720 votes)
- Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar (440 votes)
The Greek national broadcaster
The Greek national broadcaster, ERT, has not responded yet on the matter, so even the final results of the internal selection are not publicly confirmed by the Greek broadcaster.
To be continued…