"Last Dance"
Single by Stefania
Released10 March 2021 (2021-03-10)
Recorded2020–2021
StudioVox Studios
GenrePop,[1] Synthwave[2]
Length3:00
LabelK2ID
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Stefania singles chronology
"Friday"
(2020) 		"Last Dance"
(2021) 		"Mucho Calor"
(2021)
Music video
"Last Dance" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
6th
Semi-final points
184
Final result
10th
Final points
170
Entry chronology
◄ "Supergirl" (2020)
"Die Together" (2022) ►
Official performance video
"Last Dance (Second Semi-Final) on YouTube
"Last Dance (Final) on YouTube

"Last Dance" is a song recorded by Greek-Dutch singer Stefania, digitally released on 10 March 2021. It was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, songwriting team Arcade and Sharon Vaughn. The song represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Stefania was once again selected as the country's representative by the Greek public broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), after the cancellation of the previous edition.

Background and composition

On 18 March 2020, the day of the 2020 contest's cancellation, ERT was one of the first four broadcasters (the others being the Netherlands' AVROTROS, Spain's RTVE and Ukraine's UA:PBC) to confirm their participation in the next edition and to announce their continued cooperation with their 2020 artist, Stefania.[3] "Last Dance" was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, songwriting team Arcade, consisting of Anastasios Rammos, Diveno, Gavriil Gavrilidis, Pavlos Manolis, Egion Parreniasi and Loukas Damianakos.[4] and Sharon Vaughn. On 7 January 2021, "Last Dance" was announced as the title of selected song,[1][5] with its release planned for 10 March.[6] On March 10, 2021, the official video clip premiered through ERT's hybrid platform ERTFLIX, and later was released on YouTube and the streaming media platforms.[7]

Music video

The music video was filmed in Athens in February 2021 and was released at the same time as the premiere of the song, on 10 March 2020. Konstantinos Karydas, who was directed the official music video of "Supergirl", was chosen again to direct this year's video. He revealed information about the style of the video clip, which will be shot in studios and outdoors, aesthetics from paintings, dream images and many effects.[8] Also, he said that the video clip tells a fantastic and dreamy story, which presses on the song's message that everything in life is transient and that each end brings a new beginning.[8]

The official music video premiered on March 10, 2021, at 17:00 EET through ERTFLIX, ERT's hybrid platform and through Stefania's official channel on YouTube at 22:00 EET. "Using elements from Greek mythology, such as Pegasus and Atlas, given in a dreamy, but at the same time modern way", the central message of the song is highlighted, which is the phrase "Every end is always a new beginning".[9][10]

Eurovision Song Contest

Main article: Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Internal selection

On March 18, 2020, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) announced Greek-Dutch singer Stefania as the Greek representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.[3] Stefania was to represent Greece in the previous cancelled edition of the contest. On March 10, 2021, the song "Last Dance" was officially released.[11]

In Rotterdam

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 18 and 20 May, and the grand final on 22 May 2021.[12] According to the Eurovision rules, each participating country, except the host country and the "Big Five", consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the grand final.[13] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020, which was held on 28 January 2020, was used. Greece was placed into the second semi-final, which was held on 20 May 2021, and performed in the first half of the show.[14] After placing fifth in the semi-final, the song advanced to the Grand Final where it finished joint tenth with 170 points.[a]

Fokas Evangelinos was announced as the artistic director for the entry, responsible for the country's stage performance.[15] Stefania was joined on stage by four dancers: George Papadopoulos (stage director for the Greek entry at the 2014 Contest[16]), Nikos Koukakis, Markos Giakoumoglou and Costas Pavlopoulos.[17]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from YouTube.[18]

Locations

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for "Last Dance"
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[19] 30
Greece (IFPI)[20] 24
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[21] 36
Lithuania (AGATA)[22] 35
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 45
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 79
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[25] 75

Release history

Release history for "Last Dance"
Country Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 10 March 2021
K2ID [26][27]
12 March 2021 [26][28][29]

Notes

  1. ^ The EBU officially recognises the song as finishing tenth outright as it received more points than Bulgaria's entry in the televoting.

References

  1. ^ a b Gallagher, Robyn (7 January 2021). "Greece: Stefania will sing "Last Dance" at Eurovision 2021, with an 80s pop sound". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Ranked: The Top 17 Songs of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest!". Scandipop. 2021-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-04-30.
  3. ^ a b Muldoon, Padraig (29 March 2020). "Eurovision 2021: All confirmed acts (29 March)". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Tidal, credits of "Last Dance" by Stefania". Tidal. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Με το τραγούδι "Last dance" και τη Stefania η Ελλάδα". To Vima (in Greek). 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  6. ^ Adams, William Lee (22 February 2021). "Save the date! Stefania's Eurovision song 'Last Dance' set for March 10 release". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Ανακοινώθηκε το "Last Dance" με τη Stefania που θα εκπροσωπήσει την Ελλάδα" (in Greek). Ethnos. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Eurovision: 10 Μαρτίου η επίσημη παρουσίαση του "Last Dance"" (in Greek). Eleftheros Typos. February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Στον αέρα το βίντεο του "Last Dance" με τη Στεφανία". Euronews (in Greek). March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  10. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Η Στεφανία παρουσίασε επίσημα το video clip του "Last Dance"". Proto Thema (in Greek). March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  11. ^ van Lith, Nick (March 10, 2021). "🇬🇷 Stefania reveals Eurovision song "Last Dance" for Greece". ESCXTRA. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  12. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest–Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Rules–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  14. ^ Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  15. ^ Fotopoulos, Akis (29 March 2020). "FΦωκάς Ευαγγελινός: Θα είμαι στο πλευρό της Στεφανίας στη Eurovision το 2021". Ethnos (in Greek). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Eurovision 2014: Yiorgos Papadopoulos announced as the choreographer for the Greek entry". Bizz News. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  17. ^ Luukela, Sami (2021-02-22). "'Last Dance' by Stefania to be released on March 10th". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22.
  18. ^ "Stefania – LAST DANCE (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 10 March 2020. See the video description
  19. ^ "Stefania %5BGR%5D – Last Dance" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 21/2021" (in Greek). IFPI.gr. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Tónlistinn – Lög" [The Music – Songs] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  22. ^ "2021 21-os SAVAITĖS (gegužės 21-27 d.) SINGLŲ TOP100" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Stefania %5BGR%5D – Last Dance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Stefania %5BGR%5D – Last Dance". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Stefania Music".
  27. ^ Spotify - Last Dance - Single by Stefania
  28. ^ iTunes - Musik - Last Dance - Single av Stefania
  29. ^ Deezer - Last Dance - Single by Stefania
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