My Number One" is the 2005 winning song of the 50th Eurovision Song Contest. It was performed in English by Elena Paparizou and the first Greek to win in Eurovision. The song was written by Christos Dantis, with lyrics by him and Natalia Germanou. It also contains music from a traditional Greek instrument, such as the lyra.

The song is an up-tempo love song, with Elena telling her lover that he is "my number one" and "the only treasure I'll ever have". Interestingly, BBC commentator Terry Wogan quoted alternative lyrics prior to Elena's performance ("You're the most impressive person I've discovered").

Before Eurovision

"My Number One"
Single by Elena Paparizou
from the album My Number One
B-side(s)	"I Don't Want You Here Anymore (Anapandites Klisis)", "O.K."
Released	2005 August 22, 2006
Format	CD Single
Recorded	2005
Genre	Pop, Dance
Length	2:58
Label	Sony BMG, Moda Records, Bonnier Music
Writer(s)	Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou
Producer(s)	Christos Dantis
Chart positions
#1 (Greece, Sweden) #4 (Romania) #8 (US Hot Dance Club Play) #10 (Belgium) #11 (Brazil, Netherlands) #15 (Switzerland) #19 (Denmark, Russia) #27 (Estonia) #37 (Germany) #44 (Austria)
Elena Paparizou singles chronology
"Anapandites Kliseis"(2003) "My Number One"(2005) "The Light in Our Soul"(2005)
Alternate cover
European cover for My Number One

Before Eurovision, ERT used an internal selection method to choose Elena. They chose her, and then had composers submit songs. They then picked 4 songs with Elena for her to sing at a Greek National Selection. At the Greek National Selection, Elena would have to sing the 4 songs, and the public would vote via televoting with a special jury, that would determain 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 disqualifed from the selection prossess, leaving it to 3 songs to choose from.

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, Elena went on a European promotional tour. Elena 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.

Song Title Authors Points Result

"My Number One" Christos Dantis & Natalia Germanou 66.47% 1

"OK" Christodoulos Siganos & Valentino 24.55% 2

"Let's Get Wild" Douglas Carr 8.98% 3

"The Light in Our Soul" Kostas Bigalis Disqualified N/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, Elena did a stage show of the song. Some of the best remembered visuals from the show include her dancing a traditional Greek Pontian dance, 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.

"My Number One" also holds 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 to date. This record was previously held by Yugoslavia in 1989 with the song "Rock Me".

The second one "My Number One" holds, is the record for most 12 points given out to one country. "My Number One" received 10 12 points, tieing 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).

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, Elena did a stage show of the song. Some of the best remembered visuals from the show include her dancing a traditional Greek Pontian dance, 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.

"My Number One" also holds 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 to date. This record was previously held by Yugoslavia in 1989 with the song "Rock Me".

The second one "My Number One" holds, is the record for most 12 points given out to one country. "My Number One" received 10 12 points, tieing 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).

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 the 2004 Eurocup, 2005 Eurobasket and when Greece won the silver medal in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. When Elena 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 number one in both Sweden and Greece for 4 weeks and was certified gold Greece. The song was played constantly in Greece all through the summer. The sucess of the single is credited to the popular remix from Chris "The Greek" Panaghi which Sony (Greece) commisioned for the remix.

After the release of "My Number One", a Swedish album followed which contained "My Number One" and in Greece Elena 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.

US Release

In early 2006, it was announced that "My Number One" and "Mambo!" would be remixed and released in the USA by Moda Records. On August 22, a maxi CD single was released to all record stores, featuring 10 remixes, and the original song. The mixes have also been released in US iTunes Music Store. It has peaked on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart at number eight (#8) and number twenty-five (#25) on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales.

Music Video

The music video of "My Number One" is now showing in the US. There are 2 separate videos showing. 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.

Track listing

Remixes of "My Number One" on the CD single:

1. Josh Harris Radio Mix – 3:38
   
2. Norty Cotto's My Radio Lover Mix – 3:29
   
3. Original Radio – 2:55
   
4. Georgie's #1 Radio Anthem Mix – 3:18
   
5. Mike Cruz Radio Mix – 4:03
   
6. Chris "The Greek" Panaghi Radio Mix – 3:35
   
7. Valentino's Radio Epic Mix – 3:02
   
8. Josh Harris Vocal Club Mix – 6:53
   
9. Norty Cotto's My Clubber Lover Mix – 6:57
   
10. Georgie's #1 Anthem Mix – 7:00
    
11. Mike Cruz Vox Mix – 9:44
    
    

Charts

Charts (2005)	Peak position
Greece	1
Sweden	1
Top40-Charts.com Web Top 100	1
Romanian Airplay Chart	4
Belgian Singles Chart	10
Dutch Tip Parade Chart	11
Scandinavian Dance Chart	14
Swiss Singles Chart	15
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	17
Danish Singles Chart	19
Russian Airplay Chart	19
Estonian Airplay Chart	27
Top40-Charts.com Internet Sales	27
German Singles Chart	37
Austrian Singles Chart	44
Charts (2006)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	8
Brazilian Dance Charts	11
World Dance / Trance Top 30 Singles	22
US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales	25

Brazilian Dance Charts