Zari (song)

"Zari" (Ζάρι, ; ) is a song by Greek singer Marina Satti. It was co-written by Satti alongside eight other songwriters, and released on 7 March 2024 by Golden Records as the second single off her extended play P.O.P. It at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, where it placed 11th at the grand final with 126 points.

The song has been described by Satti as a song that aims to tell the "real characteristics" of young Greek people and their culture. The song was met with a heavily divided response in Greece and the international community, with praise being awarded towards the song for mixing multiple styles of music. However, it was also met with heavy criticism, with the song being viewed as confusing. Criticism was also levied on the song's stance regarding the reliance of tourism relating to the Greek economy. "Zari" drew commercial success, peaking at number one in Greece. It was additionally certified quadruple diamond by IFPI Greece.

Background and composition
"Zari" was written by Gino Borri, Jay Lewitt Stolar, Jordan Richard Palmer, Konstantin Plamenov Beshkov, Manolis Solidakis, Satti, Nick Kodonas, Oge, and Vlospa. The song was created by selecting a few snippets from around 200 submissions and remixing them to create "Zari". It features traditional Greek music, instruments and a "thrumming urban" beat. In the past, Satti had been asked by Greek broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), three times; however, she rejected all calls until 2024 because she felt that "I felt readier now."

In press statements given out by Satti, she expressed desires of wanting to mix old and new cultures and traditions of Greece. She also has stated that the song focuses on the theme of luck. In statements given to Greek media, she expressed a desire to break stereotypes about Greek culture with the song. The song was released on 7 March 2024 by Golden Records. Musically, Wiwibloggs ' Georgia Efthymiadou wrote that the song was about the "sense of uncertainty and a willingness to embrace whatever comes next, even if it brings pain or difficulty", with the die representing how one's life is out of control in the hands of fate.

Music video
Along with the song's release, an accompanying music video was released on the same day. It was filmed in various landmarks around Greece, including the Acropolis, Plaka, Monastiraki, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Omonoia, Mount Lycabettus, Rafina and the Athens International Airport. The music video features Satti along with Scott "the American", a longtime American fan of Satti who had previously appeared in several tourism advertisements for Greece. In the video, Scott acts as an Australian tourist while Satti represents a Greek tour guide.

In an analysis by Nicholas Zois of Kathimerini, Zois wrote that the music video poked fun at the reliance of tourism for the country of Greece "without denying it or clearly condemning it", with the tourist presented in the video representing how tourists want "clichés of an outdated national image" when they visit Greece. Despite this, Satti stated that she wanted to show the true culture of Greece that she grew up and loved, stating that "my dream is to show the new Greece of today... [especially] the urban culture [because] we all grew up in the city". In another analysis by Matt Wrather of Overthinking It, he viewed Satti as a tour guide working to gain the approval of tourists by showing them a stereotypical and touristy view of Greek culture by degrading the local people. Nevertheless, the tourist in the end gets shown "the real Greece" when Satti drifts him around in a car, with the tourist enjoying the experience.

Greek media and personalities
Proto Thema's Michalis Stoukas wrote a negative review on "Zari", commentating that the eight songwriters "worked together to write a song that few understood to which musical genre it belongs... we didn't send a song based on traditional rhythms or even a (t)rap, but preferred a song without an identity". In a commentary by four Kathimerini editors, the song was met with mixed reception. Multiple editors wrote in their reviews that they thought the song was too confusing, with the song's modernistic composition being compared to the discography of Rosalía. Another Kathimerini writer, Dimitris Rigopoulos, wrote that the common reaction amongst the international community was that "Greece finally sent a 'Greek in the soul' song... [it has] won them over, something that they seem to have missed a lot from the Greek entries of the last years". Matt Wrather stated that "the way [Greece] was depicted in the music video", particularly its stance on the reliance of tourism regarding the Greek economy, made many Greeks within the country angry, viewing the song as a sign of disrespect towards Greece.

Eurovision-related and other media
In a Wiwibloggs review containing several reviews from several critics, the song was rated 7.27 out of 10 points, earning 11th out of 37 songs on the site's annual ranking. Another review conducted by ESC Bubble that contained reviews from a combination of readers and juries rated the song tenth out of the 16 songs "Zari" was competing against in its the Eurovision semi-final. ESC Beat 's Doron Lahav ranked the song 18th overall, writing that the song was "one of the most modern songs this year" but also acknowledging that "I found the whole package a bit messy and hard to digest in some cases." ESC Insight 's Ewan Spence stated that he thought the song was a "girl bop".

Vulture's Jon O'Brien ranked the song 23rd overall, describing it as a "collage of disparate sounds than a fully formed song, lurching from snake-charming flutes and reggaeton beats to video-game synths and operatic Middle Eastern melodies without any particular focus". On the other hand, Erin Adam of The Scotsman gave it an 8 out of 10, calling it "unique" and pointing out that "there's nothing else remotely like this in [that year's] contest". The Independent's Roisin O'Connor included the song in their ten favourites to win the contest, writing that while it "might sound strange to some listeners", it was a "very contemporary pop jam that could easily make its way onto our summer playlists".

Internal selection
Greece's broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), officially announced their intention to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on 15 September 2023. A month later on 24 October, ERT announced on television show Studio 4 that they had internally selected Satti to represent the country. The songwriting process started the following day, with the song being reported as "Zari" on 13 February 2024.

At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. During the allocation draw on 30 January 2024, Greece was drawn to compete in the second semi-final, performing in the first half of the show. Satti was later drawn to perform third, ahead of 's Besa and before 's Nemo. For its Eurovision performance, Fokas Evangelinos was appointed as the staging director. The performances features Satti along with four backing dancers along with a singular backing vocalist. Satti wears a purple dress and skirt, with the background dancers wearing black clothing. The performance starts in a 9:16 screen ratio, which was interpreted by ESC Insight 's Ewan Spence as "if we are watching it live streamed from someone’s phone", symbolizing the showcasing of Greek culture from her phone. The majority of the performance was filmed on one camerashot. "Zari" finished in fifth, scoring 86 points and securing a position in the grand final.

Satti performed a repeat of her performance in the grand final on 11 May. The song was performed in 12th, ahead of 's Dons and before the 's Olly Alexander. The performance received mixed reactions. Loukas Yorkas, the Greek representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, stated in Proto Thema that "[the Greek delegation] presented this year's song in the best possible way". Greek singer Kostas Bigalis, the Greek representative in 1994, stated that although "[Marina] did whatever she could based on her song", it "never plays an actually important role". He further went on to criticize the contest in general and the musical quality of "Zari", stating that the era for Eurovision being based on the quality of music was past, adding, "we called it a 'song contest', as if". Greek representative for the 1987 contest, Thanos Kalliris, also gave positive remarks on Satti's vocal abliities but admitted that "due to my age, I was one of those who did not like the Greek participation... it was like a jumble of many things".

After the results were announced, she finished in 11th with 126 points, with a split score of 41 points from juries and 85 points from public televoting. Regarding the former category, the song received one set of the maximum 12 points from. It also received another set of 12 points from the public televote, with it being awarded by. In response to her finish, Satti stated satisfaction, proclaiming that "I was glad that in the end the presentation in the final was good." Katy Garbi, representative for Greece in the contest in 1993, proclaimed that "I felt sorry for Greece, I believed in our song and I think we deserved to do better."

Track listings

 * Streaming/digital download – original
 * 1) "Zari" – 3:00


 * Streaming/digital download – EP
 * 1) "Zari" – 3:00
 * 2) "Zari" (live from Peristeri, Greece / 2024) – 3:12
 * 3) "Zari" (a capella) – 3:00
 * 4) "Zari" (instrumental) – 3:00
 * 5) "Zari" (sped up) – 2:36