This Europe: Greek singer threatens to sue producers over Eurovision flop

The Eurovision Song Contest may be over but controversy rages on in Athens, where the Greek entrant has threatened to sue after accusing producers of sabotaging his performance.

Michalis Rakintzis' "S.A.G.A.P.O." – from the Greek for "I Love You" – finished 17th out of 24, meaning Greece will miss next year's competition.

In a bitter attack on the the organising country, Estonia, and the Swedish production company, DM Audio, the highly strung singer alleged that bad sound mixing, not bad singing, had caused his Europe-wide flop. "I came close to throwing down my microphone and walking off the stage," the ageing rocker revealed.

The distraught performer declared his dismal night a "personal Waterloo", with no trace of irony at his reference to the Swedish superband Abba and their 1974 winner of the same name. "The song heard in Tallinn was not the song I set out to sing," he moaned.

The bizarre leather-clad, foot-stomping performance was derided by Greek music critics, with one calling "a bad Duran Duran tribute meets Mad Max".

Rakintzis and his backing group were only rescued from last place thanks to the award of 12 points from Cyprus, which always exchanges top marks with its neighbour in the competition's longest-standing back-scratching tradition.

Controversy dogged the songwriter's challenge throughout. Fellow national finalists claimed that the veteran performer had mimed with the connivance of producers. He threatened to resign over the claims but was persuaded to stay by the national broadcaster, ERT.

"I am more professional than the others, which is why I will risk being confident enough to say I will champion Greece at Eurovision and win first place," he boasted.

The bad omens did not end there. On arrival in Tallinn, a practice stage collapsed under the band during a heavy-footed rehearsal, and Rakintzis clashed with a British journalist who asked if his costume had a sado-masochist theme.