My Number One

"My Number One" is a song recorded by Greek-Swedish singer Helena Paparizou. The song was written by Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou, Manos Psaltakis and produced by Christos Dantis. It is best known as the Greek winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, held in Kiev.

For the song by Luv', see My Number One (Luv' song).
"My Number One"
Single by Helena Paparizou
from the album Protereotita: Euro Edition and My Number One
B-side
  • "I Don't Want You Here Anymore" (Anapandites Klisis)
  • "Ok"
ReleasedMarch 24, 2005
Recorded2005
GenreGreek pop, Greek folk music (Pontic), Greek folk dance
Length2:58
LabelSony BMG Greece/Columbia
Songwriter(s)Manos Psaltakis, Natalia Germanou, Christos Dantis
Producer(s)Christos Dantis
Helena Paparizou singles chronology
"Anapandites Kliseis"
(2003)		 "My Number One"
(2005)		 "The Light in Our Soul"
(2005)
Alternative cover
US cover for My Number One
Eurovision Song Contest 2005 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Elena Paparizou
As
Helena Paparizou
Language
Composer(s)
Manolis Psaltakis (2013 Greek court decision)
Lyricist(s)
Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
230
Entry chronology
◄ "Shake It" (2004)   
"Everything" (2006) ►

"My Number One" awarded the first victory to Greece in Eurovision. The song is notable for casting elements of traditional Greek music in a contemporary dance music setting: its arrangement includes bouzoukis and a solo featuring a Cretan lyra.[1][2] The song's lyrics describe the singer's appreciation for her lover who is lauded as "my number one" and "the only treasure I'll ever have".

Before Eurovision

Before Eurovision, ERT used an internal selection method to choose Paparizou. They chose her, and then had composers submit songs. They then picked four songs with Paparizou for her to sing at a Greek National Selection. At the Greek National Selection, Paparizou would have to sing the songs, and the public would vote via televoting to a special jury, that would determine what song to send to Eurovision. The songs to pick from were "My Number One", "OK", "Let's Get Wild" and "The Light in Our Soul". Shortly before the Greek national selection, it was revealed that "The Light in Our Soul" was released by the artist Big Alice in Germany, which broke the rules. The song was then disqualified from the selection prossess, leaving just three songs to select. The chorus of the winning track has already become a chant for AEK Athens supporters.

The voting to pick the song consisted of televoting, and a jury. Televoting held a 60% outcome to the song, and the jury held a 40% outcome. In the end, "My Number One" gained a combined 66.47% from televoting and jury votes, and was chosen to represent Greece in 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. Shortly after the song was picked, the videoclip was shot in just 1 day at the Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum in Thessaloniki.

After the song was picked, Paparizou went on a European promotional tour. Paparizou visited over 20 countries on her tour, and sang on various TV shows, as well as gave many interviews. This method proved popular, and was used by many countries in 2006, including by Greece again in 2006.

National Final - March 2, 2005
№SongComposer-LyricistPercentagePlace
1"My Number One"Manos Psaltakis / Christos Dantis & Natalia Germanou66.47%1st
2"OK"Christodoulos Siganos & Valentino24.55%2nd
3"Let's Get Wild"Douglas Carr8.98%3rd
3"The Light in Our Soul"Kostas BigalisDisqualifiedN/A

At Eurovision

As Greece had finished the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in third place, the song was pre-qualified for the final in 2005. Thus, it was performed nineteenth on the night, following Croatia's Boris Novković and Lado with "Vukovi umiru sami" and preceding Russia's Natalia Podolskaya with "Nobody Hurt No One".

During the performance, Paparizou did a stage show of the song. Some of the best remembered visuals from the show include her dancing a traditional Greek Pontian dance, the 4 dancers making the shape on the number 1 of the floor (showed from aerial camera) and her playing an imaginary lyra while her dancers pick her up. At the close of voting, it had received 230 points, finishing at the head of a 24-strong field.

At the Congratulations special in late 2005, the song was named as one of the five greatest Contest entries of all time, earning the 4th place in ESC history.

"My Number One" also held 2 Eurovision records:

  • The first one is that "My Number One" scored an average of only 6.05 points per jury, the lowest average for a winning song at the time. This record was previously held by Yugoslavia in 1989 with the song "Rock Me", and was later broken by Azerbaijan in 2011 with Running Scared, by Ell & Nikki.
  • The second one "My Number One" held, was the record for most 12 points given out to one country. "My Number One" received 10 12 points, tying it with the UK's 1997 entry "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves for the record (Televoting was only in place for 5 countries by 1997). This record was later broken by Fairytale, the winning song in 2009, which scored 16 12 points, and is currently held by the 2012 winner, Euphoria, which receive 18 sets of 12 points.

After Eurovision

After Greece won Eurovision, a mass party started on the streets of Athens. People went out onto the streets with Greek flags, and started singing "My Number One", as well as honking car horns. This was similar to when Greece won Euro 2004, the 2005 Eurobasket title and when Greece won the silver medal in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. When Paparizou arrived back to Greece from Kiev, mass crowds met her at the Athens International Airport, where she held up a Greek flag and the trophy.

After the Eurovision Victory, the video for the song was released in several countries throughout Europe. It went to #1 in both Greece and Paparizou's native Sweden for 4 weeks and was certified gold in both countries. The song was played constantly in Greece all through the summer. The success of the single is credited to the popular remix from Chris "The Greek" Panaghi which Sony (Greece) commissioned for the remix.

After the release of "My Number One", a Swedish album followed which contained "My Number One" and in Greece Paparizou re-released her first album Protereotita featuring "My Number One" and the other songs in the running for Eurovision pre-selection. It has sold over 90,000 copies in Greece and was certified double platinum.

In 2006 the heavy metal band Dream Evil recorded a tongue-in-cheek cover of the song for their album United.

In 2009, "My Number One" made its way to the PlayStation 3 karaoke game, Singstar, as a downloadable content. It was previously released in the Swedish version of the game, but it is the first time it has become accessible to players from all over Europe. It is also the first time that a song from a Greek singer is included in the Singstar game.

In early 2006, it was announced that "My Number One" and "Mambo!" would be remixed and released in the United States by Moda Records. On August 22,[3] a maxi CD single was released to record stores, featuring 10 remixes, and the original song; the mixes were also released as digital downloads on June 4.[4] The song peaked on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart at number 8 and number 25 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales. In September 2006, the Georgie’s #1 Radio Anthem Mix was added to popular American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch's store playlist nationwide.[5]

In 2013, musician Manos Psaltakis announced that, a Greek court ruled in his favour as the rightful composer of 2005 Eurovision winner My Number One and against Christos Dantis, the artist so far credited as the main composer of the song.[6]

Track listings

Music video

The music video of "My Number One" premiered in the US in 2006. There were two separate videos. One is the original video, that was also shown in Europe. The second is a re-edited version of the same video, to the beat of the Josh Harris Remix from the CD Single.

Release history
Country Date Label Format
Greece March 24, 2005 Sony BMG
Sweden May 4, 2005[7] Bonnier Amigo CD single, digital download
Finland
Denmark May 30, 2005[7]
Norway
Germany Sony BMG
Austria
Netherlands June 6, 2005[7] CD single
Belgium
Portugal June 7, 2005[7]
Italy July 1, 2005[7] CD Single, digital download
United States June 4, 2006[4] Moda Digital download
August 22, 2006[3] CD single

Charts and certifications
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References
  1. http://www.greeksongs-greekmusic.com/my-number-one-helena-paparizou/
  2. Ivan Raykoff, Robert Deam Tobin A song for Europe: popular music and politics in the Eurovision song contest Ashgate Publishing Ltd Aldershot UK (2007) p.143
  3. Staff (2006-08-22). "My Number One [SINGLE]". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  4. Staff (2006-06-04). "My Number One (Dance Mixes)". iTunes. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  5. "Abercrombie & Fitch Store Music: 2006 Playlist By Month: September". EverythingAmbercrombie. 2008-08-04. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  6. Greek court judgement against credited composer of ‘My Number One’, EuroVisionary, 13 September 2013
  7. ""My Number One" all over Europe!". Archived from the original on 2011-09-29.(in Greek) MAD TV. Retrieved on July 25, 2005.
  8. "Austriancharts.at – Helena Paparizou – My Number One" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  9. "Ultratop.be – Helena Paparizou – My Number One" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  10. "Ultratop.be – Helena Paparizou – My Number One" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  11. "Musicline.de – Helena Paparizou Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  12. "Top 50 Singles Chart". IFPI Greece. 2005-07-30. Archived from the original on August 26, 2005. Retrieved 2011-08-01.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  13. "Hungarian Singles chart- My Number One".
  14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Helena Paparizou – My Number One" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  15. "Swedishcharts.com – Helena Paparizou – My Number One". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – Helena Paparizou – My Number One". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  17. "Digital Singles Charts - Turkey". Number One Top 20. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2005.
  18. "Helena Paparizou Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  19. "Jaaroverzichten 2005". Ultratop. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  20. "Årslista Singlar – År 2005" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  21. "Καλώς ήλθατε στην IFPI Greece". www.ifpi.gr. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  22. "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". www.sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
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