Cyprus selected their Eurovision act super early for 2017. They were the first off the block, and I must say, I was hopeful in their choice of Hovig due to the fact that I really enjoyed his national final song a few years back. That in combination with the fact that Thomas G:son would be once again collaborating with Cyprus gave me a lot of hope for what they would create. We saw teasers of the song as the release date approached, and the short clips from the video clip really got me excited. It looked slick, modern and something that would bring Cyprus to the final for the third year in a row.
So now that the song is released, has my feeling changed towards the Cypriot song, or is the hype I created for myself justified? Upon first listen, I will admit I had some disappointment. The song is modern and slick, but it’s super repetitive, and it took a few listens to get over that hurdle. Sometimes repetition in a song can cause it to feel like a million minutes long, and that in Eurovision is never successful. I feel that with a very short 3 minutes, the songs need to develop and reach this point where you just go ‘wow’ and I don’t think this song has it’s wow moment but it’s not far off, it just needs some diversity in that last minute of the song to take it to the next level. I’m actually kind of surprised that it doesn’t have that climax considering some of Thomas G:son’s other work, including Euphoria which had the ‘wow’ moment which won the contest in 2012. On the flip side, having a song that repeats a simple chorus like this song does means that listeners can very quickly catch on to the lyrics and sing along. I have found that this song has creeped into my head, and I think that’s why it has grown on me over each listen.
The film clip for the song is super modern and matches the song perfectly, and I would love to see a similar vibe for the staging in Kyiv. I think the simplicity of the film clip captures the simplicity of the song, and it will be up to Hovig to pull it all together with strong vocals. A carefully thought out light show might really bring this song the extra life that it could benefit from. I probably wouldn’t be surprised if we see a dancer, or dancers on stage during this performance, and as some fans have suggested, they could borrow Montenegro’s dancer from 2016!
Overall, I have grown to like this song. I don’t think it’s a winning Eurovision song, however it is pleasant, and a certain crowd will really go for this. Being in the first semi-final is going to prove to be a strong advantage I believe, as there aren’t a clear 10 qualifiers at least in my eyes. As someone of Cypriot background, I do wish success for them, and with the 2016 Cypriot song among my favourites of the year, I really do think Cyprus is heading in the right direction, and I hope they keep it up in their future Eurovision participations.
For me, Cyprus is in the 7/10 territory. It’s above average, but it’s still not cracking my Top 10.
