Eleni Foureira said YES to the Cypriot Broadcaster (RIK) and will travel to Lisbon this May. Alex Papaconstantinou, the composer of the Cypriot entry this year, wanted a famous and experienced singer for his song. Eleni Foureira was asked as third option – and an agreement was made.
After cancelling the whole procedure of the Cypriot National Final, RIK approached the 2005 Eurovision winner Helena Paparizou as well as Tamta. Both of them refused the honorable proposal, despite the fact that according to them, the song which Alex Papaconstantinou composed is a super dance hit. The third singer the broadcaster then approached was Eleni Foureira (Alex’s personal choice). She, with her company, PANIK Entertainment, agreed and are now ready to represent Cyprus in Lisbon.
This is not the first time Eleni Foureira shows desire for the Eurovision stage. In 2010 she came close to represent Greece together with Manos Pyrovolakis and their song Noah’s Ark, but they ended second in the National Final.
In 2013, Eleni Foureira collaborated with Ruslana in the Greek National Final. They sang a new version of Wild Dances. Eleni, apart from a singer is a very good dancer too. Last year she was one of the judges in the Greek edition of So You Think You Can Dance, so we can probably expect some nice moves on the stage in Lisbon in May.
The Cypriot entry is titled Fuego and people of RIK consider it ‘the strongest song they have ever sent to the Eurovision Song Contest’. We will not get to hear until the beginning of March. First they want to film the video for the song.
Notable Swedish director Sacha Jean Baptiste will be the director of the Cypriot entry this year. Sacha has directed more than 10 songs in the contest the last three years. Her biggest success being last year’s Bulgarian entry Beautiful Mess, which ended up in the second place.
Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since making its debut in 1981. Since then they have missed the contest only in 1988, 2001 and 2014.The country’s best result is three fifth-place finishes, in 1982 with Anna Vissi, 1997 with Hara & Andreas Constantinou and 2004 with Lisa Andreas.
Since the introduction of semi-finals things have been a little tough for Cyprus who failed to reach the final four years in a row from 2006 to 2009, and again in 2011 and 2013.
After their return to the contest in 2015, they managed to reach the final three years in a row. Last year, Cyprus was represented by Hovig and his Gravity, which reached the final but finished 21st.
This will be the 4th time in the Eurovision’s history, that Cyprus will be represented by a Greek artist ( after 1986, 1989 and 2006). Will Eleni Foureira bring the first victory for Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest?
In the video below you can watch last year’s Cypriot entry in a special Full Stage View where you can study how the lights, the backdrop and the camera movements are being used to compliment the performance.
