Marina Satti will represent Greece in Malmö with her song “Zari”.
Marina was internally selected by the Greek Broadcaster ERT back in October of last year, and for the first time since 2018, Greece is sending a song predominately in Greek to Eurovision. 2024 also marks the 50th anniversary of Greece’s first participation at the contest.
Born in 1986 in Athens, she is a Greek singer, songwriter, and actress of Sudanese and Greek decent. She started playing the piano as a child and studied music at university with degrees in both classical music and jazz composition.
Starting her career in 2008, her big break came in 2016 with the song “Koúpes” (“Cups”) in which reached more than 27,000,000 views on YouTube. Her next popular singles were “Mantissa” (“Fortune Teller”) in 2017 (with 55,000,000 views), and “Pali” in 2022 (6,000,000 views) which also secured a top 20 placement in the Greek music charts. In 2023, her single “Tucutum” became a viral hit in the Balkans with close to 2,000,000 views. She has released 14 singles to date, one album, and has worked with a lot of local artists on their songs as well.
The song “Zari” - translated into English as “dice” - is a mix of traditional sounds with a modern feel to represent contemporary Greece and Greek music. Written by a team of lyricists including Marina herself, the song is upbeat and rhythmic incorporating zournas with reggaeton and some Balkan hip hop thrown in.
“Zari” is all about taking a risk, taking life and love as it comes, and literally “rolling the dice”. While the song and video clip have faced mixed reviews online, Marina has stuck to her musicality without changing her style to “fit” a Eurovision mould.
The video which fully leans into the stereotypes of tourists visiting Greece as a travelogue of popular Greek destinations (complete with a postcard written by Marina herself at the end) was directed by Australian born New York based Zac Wiesel, who primarily focuses on music videos and branding. It’s a good-natured satire piece with a lot of heart.
Can’t wait to see if Greece’s “bet” pays off in May. Best of luck, Marina, and as you say “let it bring us whatever comes next”!