Koza Mostra feat. Agathonas will represent Greece at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Alcohol Is Free”.

In a national final that spanned almost as many hours as it contained entries, the winner of the combined jury and televote was announced quickly and almost without fanfare – but that might have been for the best after a marathon, if mostly enjoyable, show.

It was the best part of an hour before the first competing song was even presented, the Mad TV-produced show having begun with special guests Ruslana, Marija Šerifović, Alexander Rybak, Dima Bilan and Elena Paparizou singing their winning ESC songs together with various figures from the Greek music scene.

And the entertainment continued during the 25-minute voting break, with Eleftheria Eleftheriou and Ivi Adamou performing a medley of the former’s “Aphrodisiac” and the latter’s tribute to Bulgarian athlete Ivet Lalova.

There was also a first live performance of this year’s Cypriot entry, “An me thimase”. Our chatroom op SamB wrote this excellent blog on the merits of Eurovision promo tours; it remains to be seen whether Despina Olympiou’s appearance on Greek TV tonight will lead to Cyprus receiving 12 points from Greece in May.

There then followed what came across like the weirdest edition of the Jerry Springer Show ever, with several painful minutes of awkward multilingual talking between the hosts and the aforementioned Eurovision winners perched on stools in the middle of the stage. Ruslana kept butting into the conversation like a drunk aunt at a wedding, while Alexander Rybak ensured a thoroughly awkward moment by informing the Greeks that, while they may have no money, they still “have sexy”.

It was something of a relief when Vicky Leandros wandered on-stage to perform a cover version of Gene Pitney’s “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” (as you do), followed by a duet with Paparizou on “Après toi”. Leandros then had the honour of opening the envelope (well, reading from the tablet screen) and announcing Koza Mostra’s victory.

“Alcohol Is Free” will be performed in the second half of the second semi-final of ESC 2013, to be held on Thursday May 16th.