Eurovision 2021 Reviews – Cyprus

The Cypriot efforts at Eurovision have certainly been reinvigorated, thanks to the 2nd place finish of Eleni Foureira back in 2018. The nation has demonstrated that they are ready to win Eurovision, having participated fairly consistently since 1981. This year, Cyprus was quick to announce that 2020 representative Sandro would not be returning to represent the nation, but instead, Elena Tsagrinou would take that spot. She will be singing the song El Diablo at Eurovision this year, but will she be head and shoulders above the rest?

Anita (Eurovision Union) 

Song and Vocals 

Gone are the days where Cyprus flies completely under the radar. The nation is starting to find what works for them at the contest, and the catalyst was certainly Eleni Foureira. Internal selections seem to be working in their favour, with the last few years producing a number of great entries. Post-Eleni, the nation is certainly relying more on strong female artists (with the exception of Sandro), strong choreography, and upbeat pop songs that appeal to the masses. Elena is serving up just that, with El Diablo being one of the stronger upbeat songs of this year. 

El Diablo starts extremely strong, with a taste of the catchy chorus. The verses are slick, and the pre-choruses do a great job at setting up the chorus. On first listen, I found the transitions between all these elements to be a bit jarring, but after a few listens, it doesn’t even cross my mind. While the song is extremely catchy, by the end, the chorus does start to get a bit repetitive. The saving grace is Elena hitting those bigger notes, and I hope she is able to nail those on stage in Rotterdam. 

We are yet to hear this song performed live in full, only snippets, and there’s definitely a lot of promise here. For a song like this, I don’t necessarily believe that the live vocals are the most important thing. While important, a song like this shines more as a whole performance. Eleni Foureira and Tamta are  good examples of that. 

Performance and Act

Cyprus have proven that they take staging seriously, and again, that can be seen with Eleni and Tamta. It’s likely we will see Elena on stage with a group of dancers, and rightfully so. This song definitely benefits from strong choreography. Speaking of, the choreography in the music video is strong, but I hope they improve on the styling. With that said, I have high hopes that Cyprus will deliver on all aspects of the performance. 

Conclusions

The Lady Gaga-esque song is another strong Cypriot entry that has a wide appeal, and coupled with a strong performance, it will be a public vote magnet. Cyprus should comfortably qualify to the final this year, and a Top 10 finish in the final wouldn’t be surprising. 

Rating

8.5/10

Dennis (ESCDaily)

Song and Vocals

With the latino styled song ‘El Diablo’, Cyprus continues on the musical path from 2018 and 2019, when respectively Eleni Foureira and Tamta took part. That latino strategy has served them well in recent years, so it makes sense. I don’t know yet how capable Elena Tsagrinou is at giving a live televised performance. 

Performance and Act

Elena will most likely be joined on stage with a couple of dancers, four perhaps just like Eleni and Tamta. For Eleni they were very visible and present in the performance, as for Tamta this was slightly less the case. Either way, a lot of dancing and fireworks is to be expected during the Cypriot performance. How they will visually present the ‘children’ singing at the end of the song is something that I am also interested in.

Conclusions

Cyprus sticks with the formula that served that well in the last couple of years and I feel their qualification for the final is a very safe bet at this point. I don’t see Elena coming as close to victory or top-3 as Eleni did in Lisbon, but I also recall that Cyprus wasn’t seen as a favourite until their first rehearsal. I hope to again be surprised in Ahoy in the first week of rehearsals.

Rating

7.5/10

Additional Scores from Eurovision Union and ESCDaily editors: 

Steef:: 5/10

Joshua: 9/10

Selim: 6/10

Heath: 10/10

Kaitlin: 10/10

Average Score:  8/10

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