Eurovision: Chatting To The Entrants - Victor Vernicos

Belgium's 1986 entrant, Sandra Kim, remains to date the youngest contestant (and winner) on the main Eurovision stage. However, young performers have time and again proven that they can stand as strong competitors on the huge stage. As this year's youngest entrant, 16 year old Victor Vernicos will be representing his home country, Greece, with the self-penned and self-produced What They Say. A faultless radio anthem from one of arguably the most distinctive vocalists in the 2023 contest, the next few weeks are going to be a very thrilling experience for Victor. We caught up with him to learn a little bit more about him and his Eurovision ambitions.

Hi Victor, how are you?

I'm good. Very very excited and getting ready for Liverpool.

2023 is turning into a big year for you. What's the highlight for you so far?

The highlight so far is, for sure, being selected for Eurovision. Another highlight is to finally release this song after nearly two years of holding on to it. I have been the writer and producer, so it's very much a feeling of relief.

What They Say really stands out to us. Did you write it specifically for Eurovision?

Not at all. I just wrote the song trying to express an emotion. It was nearly a year and a half later that I realised I wanted to submit it for consideration for Eurovision. I deemed that this was the most real and authentic song I could enter Eurovision with. it is how I wanted to represent myself. It is quite energetic. So overall, I just thought it was a good choice.

Have you always been a big fan of Eurovision?

More recently I've gotten into depth with it, but I've always loved Eurovision since I was a really small kid. The first song I ever sang live, when I was 8 years old at my local summer camp here in Greece, was Heroes by Mans, who won in 2015. That was a big experience for me. It gave me a lot of confidence to keep singing and trying to follow something in music, in general.

Would Heroes be your favourite ever entry of Eurovision?

Probably because I have an emotional connection to it. It is close to my heart because of that experience. In general, I love a lot of other Eurovision entries and musically there are a lot of others that inspire me too.

Greece has done really well over the years at Eurovision. Is there an entry you felt should have done better than it did?

I'm a big believer of what is meant to be, is meant to be. I can't think of a song that should've won that didn't win. I think Helena Paparizou was supposed to win, but Amanda last year wasn't supposed to. Before the contest I loved the song and I wanted her to win. But you go to Eurovision and it becomes another game. It isn't just about how you perform on the night, but also about how everyone else performs on the night. It's also about the music that night. Music is so subjective. It was the case the Stefania and Spaceman expressed more to people that night than Die Together did. That's just how it is.

This year we aren't in the favourites in the build up, in the way that Amanda was last year. But I'm not worried at all. I think in some ways the fact I am 16 and going to Eurovision can put a lot of unreliability into people's minds before they can see what I am able to deliver. I'm just focussing on putting everything together for the best performance and hopefully things turn around then. On the night everything can change.



Who do you see as your biggest competition?

I am sure Loreen is going to put on a great performance. She has won the contest before, she knows how it works and she has a great song. She's a great performer. She's one of the ones you can bet on as you know what you can expect, she has a great song and she has. You don't always know with the other ones.

I'm definitely a wildcard. I'm 16. I've not been to Eurovision and I have a song that might not be deemed a Eurovision song. It may be a little too acoustic. However, it does stand out a little bit in the mix as it wasn't written for Eurovision. A lot of the entries have been written for Eurovision. Mine was just written as something authentic to me, which is the reason I believe in it. In the same way, if you'd have asked me in 2021 if Maneskin would win Eurovision, I would have said never. That type of song doesn't normally win Eurovision, but they did. They just went on stage and ruled the stage. They just said this is us and that was it!

You are clearly very level-headed about the Eurovision experience. Do you have a specific ambition for the competition?

That's a tricky question. I want to go and showcase myself. I want to do the best of my abilities. I believe anything is possible. Everybody has the possibility to go for the win, if they capture their song on stage correctly. My goal is to perform to the best of my ability, enjoy the experience and learn from it. At the end of the day it's up to the people. We, as artists, can only control what we do on stage. I fully believe the win goes to the person who hits their peak on the night and whoever the public relates to the most.

We are very excited to see you at Eurovision, but we want to hear more from you afterwards. What do you have planned?

I'm definitely planning for the future. Strategy is also always running in my mind, I'm very much that type of person. I just want to spread my music to as many people as possible. I am very much looking forward to releasing more music after Eurovision. I have songs I've been working on for a long time, and those I started working on yesterday. I write songs all the time, so I hope I have a lot to share after Eurovision.