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The Eurovision artists who have performed at the Olympic Games

Writer's picture: aussievisionaussievision

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris is set to take place overnight.


It's a spectacular that sees the athletes presented to the world plus artistic displays and performances.


Eurovision artists throughout the years have made appearances at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer and Winter Olympics.


Let's take a look at those who have graced both the Olympic and Eurovision stage.


1992 Summer Games in Barcelona


Peret



Peret was a Spanish Romani singer and guitarist who competed at Eurovision 1974 with Canta y sé feliz.


He finished in 9th place behind ABBA and Waterloo.


Peret was born in Barcelona and was honoured to play a medley of songs at the closing ceremony of the 1992 Olympics in his city.


1996 Summer Games in Atlanta


Celine Dion



The 1988 Eurovision winner sang The Power of the Dream at the Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics.


Although it was the official song of the Olympics, it failed to have the same success as another theme track that year ('Reach' by Gloria Estefan) but still managed to chart at no.30 in Japan and no.49 in Quebec.



2000 Summer Games in Sydney


Olivia Newton-John



After an incredible career that included finishing 4th at Eurovision for the UK in 1974, Olivia performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.


Joining another Australian musical artist John Farnham on stage, the duo sang one of the official songs Dare to Dream.


The day before Newton-John had run with the Olympic flame in front of both the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge - fitting for an Australian legend.


Although the single didn't chart, the Olympic soundtrack featuring the song went no.1 in Australia.


Vanessa Amorosi



Ok, Vanessa Amorosi didn't compete at Eurovision, but since she is an Aussie who competed at Eurovision - Australia Decides in 2020, we had to include her.


Vanessa belted out the power ballad Heroes Live Forever at the Opening Ceremony in Sydney.


She backed this up by also performing her smash hit Absolutely Everybody at the Closing Ceremony. A fantastic achievement by Vanessa who had just turned 19 the month before.


The song had reached no.6 in Australia but was released internationally after the performance going Top 10 all over Europe including no.7 in the UK.


2004 Summer Games in Athens


Marinella



Marinella is Greece’s first ever Eurovision entrant who sung Krasi, thalassa ke t'agori mou at Eurovision 1974 and came 11th.


She performed at the Athens 2004 Closing Ceremony at 66-years-old where she sung a traditional big hit ‘ΑΝΑΨΕ ΤΟ ΤΣΙΓΑΡΟ’ which translates to Light My Cigarette.


The song is a traditional Greek song by rebetiko songwriter and singer Gerasimos Klouvatos.


Anna Vissi



Greek-Cypriot singer Anna Vissi is a Eurovision veteran. She competed three times. The first time representing Greece with the song Autostop which finished in 13th place in 1980. She returned two years later representing Cyprus at Eurovision 1982 in Harrogate with the song Mono i agapi, finishing in 5th place. In 2006 she made a huge comeback representing Greece in Athens with Everything finishing in 9th place.


She was treated like a superstar at the Closing Ceremony in Athens where she performed an array of songs where you would have thought you were watching an Anna Vissi live concert instead of the Olympic Games.


Her most notable songs performed were Eisai which topped the charts in Greece and Cyprus. The English version of Eisai, Call Me went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart in the US in 2005.


Anna Vissi also performed Misirlou with Michalis Hatzigiannis. Michalis represented Cyprus at Eurovision 1998.


Sakis Rouvas



Sakis Rouvas represented Greece at Eurovision twice first time in 2004 with the iconic Shake It and the second time in 2009 with the energetic This Is Our Night. Both entries made the top 10 during Greece’s golden age at Eurovision in the 2000s with eight entries making the Top 10 in that decade.


At the Athens 2004 Olympics, Sakis, the former pole vaulter, had the honour of carrying the Olympic torch through Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, the birthplace and location of the modern Olympic Games back in 1896.


During the Athens 2004 Closing Ceremony was one of the big stars of the show, like Nikki Webster he flew through the air within the stadium held by cables. He sung a traditional Greek song Karapiperim a rebetiko song by Giannis Papaioanou. Sakis gave a high energy performance that saw him stumble, but he recovered and to continue dancing and singing.


Michalis Hatzigiannis



Michalis Hatzigiannis represented Cyprus at Eurovision in 1998 with his self-penned song Genesis he finished in 11th place.. At the Athens 2004 Closing Ceremony Michalis sang one of his hit songs Gia Sena.


2014 Winter Games Sochi


t.A.T.u



t.A.T.u finished 3rd at Eurovision in 2003 and were also guest performers at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.


Five years later with the world's eyes on Russia again, the pair performed inside the stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Although their set wasn't included in the TV broadcast, they were still very much part of the Olympic experience.


2024 Summer Games Paris?


Will we see Eurovision artists perform tonight? Celine Dion has been heavily rumoured and Amir from France (Eurovision 2016) has already carried the torch, could he perform as well?





We'll find out overnight!


The Opening Ceremony will be broadcast on Channel 9 in Australia from 3:30am (7:30pm Paris time).


For continued updates on all Eurovision news follow Aussievision on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet



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