PREVIOUS WINNER:Now That I Found You-Sundayman (Greece)
Grybop welcomes you to Heraklion
RULESHeraklion, or Heraclion also Iraklion (Greek: ???????? Greek pronunciation: [i?raklio]) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece.
Heraklion is the capital of Heraklion regional unit. The ruins of Knossos, which were excavated and restored by Arthur Evans, are nearby. The Heraklion International Airport is named after Nikos Kazantzakis.
Heraklion is close to the ruins of the palace of Knossos, which in Minoan times was the largest centre of population on Crete. Though there is no archaeological evidence of it, Knossos may well have had a port at the site of Heraklion as long ago as 2000 BC.
The present city of Heraklion was founded in 824 AD by the Saracens who had been expelled from Al-Andalus by Emir Al-Hakam I and had taken over the island from the Eastern Roman Empire. They built a moat around the city for protection, and named the city ??? ??????, rab? al-?andaq ("Castle of the Moat"). The Saracens allowed the port to be used as a safe haven for pirates who operated against Imperial shipping and raided Imperial territory around the Aegean.
In 961 Imperial forces under the command of Nikephoros Phokas, later to become Emperor, landed in Crete and attacked the city. After a prolonged siege, the city fell. The Saracen inhabitants were slaughtered, the city looted and burned to the ground. Soon rebuilt, the town of Chandax remained under Greek control for the next 243 years.
In 1204, the city was bought by the Republic of Venice as part of a complicated political deal which involved among other things, the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade restoring the deposed Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac II Angelus to his throne. The Venetians improved on the ditch of the city by building enormous fortifications, most of which are still in place, including a giant wall, in places up to 40 m thick, with 7 bastions, and a fortress in the harbour. Chandax was renamed Candia and became the seat of the Duke of Candia, and the Venetian administrative district of Crete became known as "regno di Candia" (kingdom of Candia). The city retained the name of Candia for centuries and the same name was often used to refer to the whole island of Crete as well. To secure their rule, Venetians began in 1212 to settle families from Venice on Crete. The coexistence of two different cultures and the stimulus of Italian Renaissance led to a flourishing of letters and the arts in Candia and Crete in general, that is today known as the Cretan Renaissance.
After the Venetians came the Ottoman Empire. During the Cretan War (1645–1669), the Ottomans besieged the city for 21 years, from 1648 to 1669, perhaps the longest siege in history. In its final phase, which lasted for 22 months, 70,000 Turks, 38,000 Cretans and slaves and 29,088 of the city's Christian defenders perished.[3] The Ottoman army under an Albanian grand vizier, Köprülü Faz?l Ahmed Pasha conquered the city in 1669. Under the Ottomans, the city was known officially as Kandiye (again also applied to the whole island of Crete) but informally in Greek as Megalo Castro (?????? ??????; "Big Castle"). During the Ottoman period, the harbour silted up, so most shipping shifted to Chania in the west of the island.
In 1898 the autonomous Cretan State was created, under Ottoman suzerainty, with Prince George of Greece as its High Commissioner and under international supervision. During the period of direct occupation of the island by the Great Powers (1898–1908), Candia was part of the British zone. At this time the city was renamed "Heraklion", after the Roman port of Heracleum ("Heracles' city"), whose exact location is unknown.
In 1913 with the rest of Crete Heraklion was incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece.
01. This is a monthly contest.
02. You can pick ANY country in the world.
03. The song cannot have been a UK/US Top 40 hit, as it would give it an unfair advantage.
04. PLEASE try and choose a song not everyone would know, the point is to discover new artists.
05. The song cannot have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
06. The song can be a remix.
07. At least HALF of the people from your act must be from the country you are representing.
08. The song cannot be a cover version.
09. The song should not be from 2000 to the present. It could be from any other date
10. Everyone MUST vote, anyone who doesn't will be disqualified.
11. Discussion about one's favourites during the contest is NOT ALLOWED as it has the potential to influence the voting.
12.If your song uses a prominent sample please state it clearly, so the other contestants can decide early on whether it is acceptable or not.
REVISED TIMELINE (PLEASE READ)
01 - 10 | PICK & PRESENT: Present your entry or just reserve your country. Last month's top 5 get their choice from last month reserved, so nobody may choose these countries until they let them go:
- Code: Select all
01. GREECE (Grybop)
02. Slovakia (nekoo3372)
03. Germany (mondflug)
04. Mexico (jio)
05. Australia (chun1702)
11 - 14 | PRESENT: Present your entry only (last month's Top 5 are free now unless their reservation has been confirmed)
15 - 28 | Vote!
29 - 29 | Late Vote: Whoever votes on this date will receive a 10 points penalty
30 - 30 | Very Late Vote: Whoever votes on this date will receive a 15 points penalty. Whoever fails to vote by this date (Heraklion time) will be disqualified
TIMELINES AND PENALTIES WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED
ENTRIES:
-Australia (Virgostar) | Coma-Max Sharam
-Austria (chun1702) | Da Juchitzer-Hubert Von Goisern & Die Alpinkatzen
-Canada (Wardo) | Companion-Wide Mouth Mason
-Croatia (nyla) | I've Got A Feeling-Kasandra
-Czech Rep. (nekoo3372) | Sexy Dancers-Jim Jim
-Egypt (naughty) | Nari Narain-Hisham Abbas feat. Jayashri
-France (Benny) | Foule Sentimentale-Alain Souchon
-Greece (Grybop) | Stin Piso Tsepi Tou Blue Jean-Katerina Kyrmizi
-Hungary (vercotti) | Requiem-Karthago
-Italy (grooveboy) | Senza Pietà-Anna Oxa
-Japan (KevinScream) | Forbidden Colours-David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto
-Poland (Matti88) | Biala Armia-Bajm
-Russia (marat2408) | Vorona-Linda
-Spain (mondflug) | Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte-Mecano
-Sweden (Vindrag) | Murder In Maryland Park-Stina Nordenstam
-Turkey (Dumheten) | Belalim-Mahsun Kirmizgül
-USA (crazycrazy) | Palm Desert-Van Dyke Parks
-West Germany (jio) | Need Your Passion-Sweet Connection
