Secret Combination (song)
| "Secret Combination" | |
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| Song |
"Secret Combination" is a song and CD single by Greek singer Kalomoira. It was Greece's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and the first single released from Kalomoira's fourth studio album titled Secret Combination. It earned third place in the Eurovision final, finishing behind Russia and Ukraine.
About
It was officially released to the media and radios by ERT on February 6 2008.[1] The song was Kalomoira's entry in a three way race to be Greece's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. She battled both Chrispa and Kostas Martakis for the spot. The final decision was made on February 27 2008 - Kalomoira won, and after competing in the semi-final on 20 May 2008 she represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest final on 24 May in Belgrade, Serbia. Her song was performed 21st out of 25. Her and Kostas Martakis's songs were leaked onto the internet on February 3, three days before the official release, although the leaked versions were uncompleted demos.[2] The song was released as a digital download on February 12 2008 and a CD single on March 28 2008.[3] Kalomoira has stated that she plans to record a Greek language version of "Secret Combination" after the contest.[4]
Eurovision
National Final
Kalomoira appeared on stage in a short J-Lo dress,[5] accompanied by 4 male back up dancers. At the start of the show, the 4 dancers hold her up on top of themselves, while she is laying down. Later she comes down, and starts dancing with them. Each of the dancers has a letter painted under their undershirts and at the end of the song, they stand next to each other spelling the word "love". Kalomoira won the National Final with 167,000 votes and for the first time in number of years, the media didn't doubt the result of the selection.[6]
Semi-final
Kalomoira was scheduled to presented "Secret Combination" 19th (last) in the first semi-final on May 20 2008. Konstantinos Pantzis, the composer, announced that there would be a few tweaks to the song for its appearance at Eurovision.[7] The changes included a new beat to the introduction and a few changes to the chorus. ERT announced that this new version would be presented to the European Broadcasting Union as the official version of the song.[8]
Kalomoira performed 19th, the last act of the night. The stage show included new choreography, as well as Victoria Halkiti and Nektarios Georgiadis as backing vocalists.[9] There was also a large book on stage that Kalomoira stepped out of when singing the lyrics "an open book". At the same moment, Kalomira changed her outfit converting it from a pink dress into a mini-silver skirt. She wore clothes exclusively by J-Lo and managed to finish first recieving 156 points.
Final
Kalomoira performed a repeat of her semi-final performance at the Eurovision Final held on May 24 2008. She presented "Secret Combination" 21st on the night after Azerbaijan and before Spain. Having led initially in the voting, Kalomoira finished in third place behind Russia and Ukraine, receiving 218 points. The song received 12 points from United Kingdom, Germany, Albania, San Marino, Cyprus and Romania. Latvia, Iceland, Portugal, Finland, Norway and Lithuania were the only countries that did not vote it in their top ten, thereby giving it no points.
Music video
The shooting lasted nearly twenty consecutive hours, and it was exhausting for Kalomoira and for the team that worked under the guidance of director Costas Kapetanidi.[10] The director decided to focus on the face of the young performer and so chose to do the shoot in a studio and not outdoors. Sometimes alone, sometimes flanked by dancers, Kalomoira danced and sang while wearing clothes selected from the collection of J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez.[5][10] In some scenes of the video, impressive objects with bright colors such as a red Ducati motor bike, a huge disco ball, and big letters with the title of the song were used.[11] The choreography was by Svitailof Ivan and the styling was George Segredaki and Constantine Koutsomichou while the hair and make-up were overseen by Dimitris Giannetos.[10] Through the video clip, Kalomoira reveals another side of: sexy, feminine, charming but always innocent and sweet in a quick clip of the montage. In the video edition, the song has changed a lot. On March 14 2008, NET exclusively aired the official Eurovision video clip of Secret combination during their evening news at 20:00 CET.[12] International fans were able to watch through a satellite broadcast on ERT World.[12] Critical reaction to the song was mostly positive.[10]
Track listing
- "Secret Combination" (Eurovision 2008 Mix) - 3:00
- "Secret Combination" (Mystic Soumka Mix) - 4:06
- "Secret Combination" (Electropop Mix) - 3:33
- "Secret Combination" (Backing Track Mix) - 3:00
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | February 6 2008 | Heaven | Radio Single |
| February 12 2008 | Heaven | Digital download | |
| March 28 2008 | Heaven | CD Single | |
| Sweden | May 9 2008 | CMC | Digital download |
| May 9 2008 | CMC | CD Single | |
| Worldwide (iTunes) | February 26 2008 | Heaven | Digital download |
Chart performance
In Greece has topped the Greek Singles Chart and remained for two weeks. In the third week was knocked out by Madonna's new single "4 Minutes". It's currently on number three.
The song reached number one on the Greek iTunes (both Albums & Songs Top 100 Chart) on 29 February 2008. On 24 May 2008 a new version titled "Secret Combination" (Eurovision 2008 Mix) topped the Top 100 Singles Chart on the Greek iTunes. After the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 the song entered the iTunes Top 100 Singles Chart in many countries including Greece, UK ,France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Filand, Ireland ,Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
The song is currently at No.33 in the Top 40 UK singles chart mid-week, and attributed to download sites via iTunes.[13]
On 29 May, 2008 the song debuted at No.50 on Singles Top 60 in Sweden.[14]
Charts and certifications
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| MAD TV Top 50[15] | 1 |
| Cypriot Airplay Chart[16] | 1 |
| Greek Singles Chart [17] | 1 |
| Greek Airplay Chart[18] | 1 |
| Greek Digital Singles Chart[19] | 1 |
| Turkey Billboard Top 20[20] | 18 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[21] | 50 |
| Euro Top 200[22] | 193 |
See also
References
- ^ "ERT announces date and venue for national final". Oikotimes. Retrieved on January 23, 2008
- ^ "Two national final songs leaked on the web". Oikotimes. Retrieved on February 11 2008
- ^ "Η ΚΑΛΟΜΟΙΡΑ ΕΚΠΡΟΣΩΠΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ ΣΤΗ EUROVISIOΝ 2008".Template:Gr icon Heaven Music. Retrieved on March 28 2008.
- ^ "Greece: OGAE Serbia welcomes Kalomira".Template:Gr icon ESCToday. Retrieved on April 22 2008.
- ^ a b "Kalomira (NF, 2008) in New York for J LO clothes". Oikotimes. Retrieved on March 22 2008
- ^ "High TV rates in Greece, poor televoting figures". Oikotimes. Retrieved on March 18 2008
- ^ "Η νέα έκδοση του Secret combination".Template:Gr icon Eurovision-Greece. Retrieved on March 21 2008.
- ^ "Greece: Eurovision Version of Secret Combination".Template:Gr icon ESCToday. Retrieved on March 23 2008.
- ^ "Kalomoira hails 3rd in EUROVISION! Well done to Greece!". London Greek Radio. Retrieved on May 26 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Έτοιμο το videoclip!".Template:Gr icon Eurovision-Greece. Retrieved on March 17 2008.
- ^ "Greece 2008: Kalomoira - Secret Combination".Template:Gr icon ESCToday. Retrieved on March 22 2008.
- ^ a b "Official Eurovision video aired tonight". ESCToday. Retrieved on March 23 2008
- ^ LGR fm
- ^ Singles Top 60
- ^ MAD TV Top
- ^ Cypriot Airplay Charts
- ^ Greek Top 50 Singles IFPI. Retrieved on May 11 2008.
- ^ Euro 200 Current European Union Charts Nationwide
- ^ Billboard.com
- ^ Billboard Türkiye Top 20 Accessed April 12, 2008
- ^ Singles Top 60
- ^ Euro 200