Cyprus kicked off rehearsal day 2, and they began with a bang. Elena is looking stunning on stage, with the wavy blonde hair and a diamond style dress that makes it look like she is dripping in diamonds. We expected a super sexy performance, and while it was sexy, they didn’t overdo it. Elena is joined on stage by four backing dancers, who are all wearing red. This forms the theme of the performance, which is based solely on the colours Red, Black and White.
The group remains front and centre on stage for the entire performance, but behind them is a mirror effect which looked seamless between stage and backing screen. At times the screen is mirrored, so it’s like we are seeing double, but there are different projections at different times of the song. In the bridge, the backing screen has el diablo written, and in the final chorus, the song title is also featured but in bigger letters.
Vocally, Elena struggled in the first run through that was broadcast to the press. Her microphone pack fell out mid performance, and so we saw the rehearsal cut short while they fixed that. They allowed her another take, and her vocals seemed stronger in the final run through. There’s room for improvement, but I would still place Cyprus as a qualifier.