Helena thanks the world
Press conference reaction
An emotional Helena was welcomed to the press conference by an
excitable press pack - many of whom were Greek, of course. Before she
could take questions, the cheering journalists insisted that she stand on
the press conference table with a flag draped around her. She was happy to
oblige. "First of all I\'d like to thank the EBU and Eurovision for this
beautiful competition," Helena said, after sitting down. "I\'m very happy
that it\'s finally come to Greece. I\'m so happy, as an ambassador of the
Greek tourist industry, to invite you all to Greece next year." But the thanks didn\'t end there.
"I\'d like to thank Christos Dantis for writing such a beautiful song -
I wouldn\'t have represented Greece with this song, if I hadn\'t believed in
it - and I want to thank my dancers and choreographer, and the Greek
Tourism Ministry for whom I\'m proud to be an ambassador. I\'d also like to
thank Kyiv for organizing the contest so beautifully and thanks to all
countries who voted for us. I hope you want it to be in Greece as much as
I do!" Helena also acknowledged the support of her friends, fans and the
members of the Greek delegation "This is My Big Fat Greek Family," she
said. "There are too many Greeks everywhere!" As for her emotions on stage during the Final, Helena says they changed
with every passing moment: "My first emotion was that I was so happy
because, before the music started I heard people shouting, \'Helena!
Helena!\'" she said. "Then just before I started, I felt so nervous. But
then I felt so beautiful - I was the only girl with five dancers and they
treated me like a princess. And at the end, it seemed to have happened so
fast. I thought, \'Did I sing yet, or not?\'" Helena was asked whether she agreed that her performance was similar to
Ruslana\'s the previous year. "Ruslana made all the countries feel more proud of their traditions and
nationality," she said. "She gave a lot of inspiration in that way. But
\'My Number One\' is a very typically Greek song done in a modern way." She also spoke warmly of the reception she\'s received from her home
country, Sweden, and other nations. "I got 12 points from Sweden," she said. "It\'s a big honour for me -
I\'m happy to be raised as a Swedish-born Greek. I\'d love to make the song
in the language of all the countries. Languages are very easy for me. It\'s
sometimes important if they don\'t understand English and if you want to
have a big hit." She was also asked whether she thought there was a trend developing,
given that a woman has won the contest for the third successive year.
Perhaps women have an advantage? "They used to say that Eve was made out of part of Adam\'s body," she
said. "This means that we women might have some secret that the men don\'t
have!" One journalist described her as the new Madonna - only taller, younger
and prettier. "I\'m a very big fan of Madonna," she said. "I\'d love to have a career
like her but it\'s hard! I\'m going to try very hard and, if something
happens, we\'ll know it came from Europe, and not from America this time." Helena reserved special praise for Malta\'s representative Chiara, who
yet again has come so close to winning the contest. "I think Chiara has to come to the Eurovision Song Contest once more to
get first place," she said. "She\'s such a lovely person. Last night in my
hotel, I was watching the TV and her song came on. And it was so soothing,
I fell asleep." Songwriter of \'My Number One\' Christos Dantis admitted that he felt
sure that the song would do well. "If we\'d had a song called \'My Number One\' that came third, it would
have been absurd," he said. "So it was a gamble." One journalist commented that Christos seems to come every five years.
So what\'s his plan for 2010? "Let\'s concentrate on 2006 first! And then for 2010, who knows?
Cyprus?" he said. Once again, Helena took the opportunity to invite everyone to Greece in
2006. "Greece is more than ready to host next Eurovision Song Contest in
Athens," she said. "After all, Greece did invite the world for the
Olympics. But I think having Eurovision will be even better!"
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