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Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

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Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Country Cyprus
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)25 November 2020
Selected artist(s)Elena Tsagrinou
Selected song"El Diablo"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt
  • Laurell Barker
  • Cleiton "Oxa" Sia
  • Thomas Stengaard
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (6th, 170 points)
Final result16th, 94 points
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 • 2021 • 2022►

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) internally selected Elena Tsagrinou as its representative with the song "El Diablo". "El Diablo" was written and composed by Thomas Stengaard, Laurell Barker, Oxa, and Jimmy Thörnfeldt. Cyprus performed 8th in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, held on 18 May 2021, and placed 6th, receiving 170 points. The entry qualified for the final held four days later, where the nation placed 16th with 94 points.

Background

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Main article: Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2021 contest, Cyprus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-six times since the island country made its debut in the 1981 contest.[1] Its best placing was at the 2018 contest where Eleni Foureira placed second with "Fuego". Before that, Cyprus's best result was fifth, which it achieved three times: in the 1982 competition with the song "Mono i agapi" performed by Anna Vissi, in the 1997 edition with "Mana mou" performed by Hara and Andreas Constantinou, and the 2004 contest with "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. Cyprus' least successful result was in the 1986 contest when it placed last with the song "Tora zo" by Elpida, receiving only four points in total. However, its worst finish in terms of points received was when it placed second to last in the 1999 contest with "Tha 'nai erotas" by Marlain Angelidou, receiving only two points.[2] After returning to the contest in 2015 following their one-year absence from the 2014 edition due to the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis and the broadcaster's budget restrictions,[3] Cyprus has qualified for the final of all the contests in which it has participated.[2]

The Cypriot national broadcaster, CyBC, broadcasts the contest within Cyprus and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Cyprus has used various methods to select its entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. In 2015, the broadcaster organised the national final Eurovision Song Project, which featured 54 songs competing in a nine-week-long process resulting in the selection of the Cypriot entry through the combination of public televoting and the votes from an expert jury. Since 2016, however, the broadcaster has opted to select the entry internally without input from the public.[4]

Before Eurovision

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Internal selection

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On 25 November 2020, CyBC announced that they had internally selected Greek singer Elena Tsagrinou to represent Cyprus in Rotterdam with the song "El Diablo".[5] Tsagrinou previously participated in the second season of Ellada Eheis Talento where she progressed to the semi-final. Signed to Panik Records, she was a former member of the group Otherview. "El Diablo" was written by Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Laurell Barker, Oxa, and Thomas Stengaard. Barker and Stengaard have written several Eurovision entries for various countries with the latter having written the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winning song "Only Teardrops".[6] On 25 January 2021, Tsagrinou announced on her Instagram account that the song would be released exactly one month later, on 24 February 2021.[7]

A preview of "El Diablo" was presented to the public on 24 February 2021 during the RIK 1 programme Happy Hour, hosted by Andreas Giortsios. The official preview video for the song, directed by George Benioudakis was also available on the Panik Records mobile app and website.[8] The music video was hosted on the website until 27 February; on 28 February, the song and full length music video was officially released to the public.[9]

Reception

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Upon release, the song was controversial within Cyprus, with the Church of Cyprus calling for the withdrawal of song. The church stated that the song made an international mockery of country's moral foundations by advocating "our surrender to the devil and promoting his worship".[10][11][12][13] They felt that the song was offensive, disrespectful and unrepresentative, and demanded that the state broadcaster CyBC withdraw Cyprus' Eurovision entry.[14] In February 2021, Orthodox Christians in Cyprus launched an online petition to ask the withdrawal from the Eurovision Song Contest.[15] This was followed by a protest held in March outside of CyBC to demand the song's withdrawal,[16] and a petition signed by just over 20,000 people on Avaaz to urge for the cancellation of the country's Eurovision participation.[17] The government publicly rejected the reactions from religious and conservative groups, claiming it respects both spiritual rights but also the freedom of artistic expression.[18]

At Eurovision

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Elena Tsagrinou performing "El diablo" in the jury show for the first semi-final.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 18 and 20 May, and the final on 22 May 2021.[19] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests as determined by the contest's televoting partner Digame.[20] The semi-final allocation draw held for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 28 January 2020 was used for the 2021 contest; Cyprus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[21] Once all the competing songs for the 2021 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Cyprus was set to perform in position 8, following the entry from Ireland and preceding the entry from Norway.[22] Louis Patsalides served as the commentator for the broadcasts of the contest within Cyprus.[23]

Performances

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Marvin Dietmann was the artistic director for the entry, responsible for the country's stage performance.[5] Technical rehearsals for the performance took place the week prior to the contest, on 9 and 12 May 2021.[24]

The first semi-final was held on 18 May and Cyprus was announced as one of the ten countries to have qualified for the final.[25] It was later revealed that the entry placed sixth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 170 points.[26] Soon after, the EBU posted the running order for the final, placing Cyprus in the first position, preceding Albania.[27] At the close of voting for the final, held on 22 May, "El Diablo" placed 16th in the field of 26, receiving 94 points.[28]

Voting

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See also: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. The judges assessed each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which took place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[29] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form. Cyprus's jury consisted of Andreas, Marilena Charalambidou, Christiana Mitella, Alexandros Taramountas and Tasos Tryfonos [el].[30][31]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Cyprus in the first semi-final, as well as by the country in the final. In the first semi-final, Cyprus placed 6th with a total of 170 points, thus qualifying for the final. The performance received 78 televoting points, which included the maximum 12 awarded by Malta. The jury points added to 92, including 12 from Slovenia.[26] In the final, Cyprus placed 16th with 94 points, with two sets of 12 points from Greece (jury and televote) and one set from Russia's televote. Over the course of the contest, Cyprus awarded its 12 points in the first semi-final to Lithuania (televote) and Malta (jury), while in the final, both sets were awarded to Greece.[26][28] Loukas Hamatsos served as Cyprus's spokesperson for the voting portion of the final, announcing the country's jury vote.[32]

Points awarded to Cyprus

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Points awarded by Cyprus

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the Cypriot jury:[30][31]

  • Andreas
  • Marilena Charalambidou
  • Christiana Mitella
  • Alexandros Taramountas
  • Tasos Tryfonos [el]
Detailed voting results from Cyprus (Semi-final 1)[26]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  Lithuania 4 12 12 6 12 8 3 1 12
02  Slovenia 7 6 6 8 4 5 6 13
03  Russia 2 5 4 5 5 3 8 4 7
04  Sweden 5 13 2 10 2 4 7 8 3
05  Australia 14 14 10 13 8 14 14
06  North Macedonia 13 15 11 15 14 15 15
07  Ireland 3 9 15 14 9 9 2 12
08  Cyprus
09  Norway 15 11 9 4 10 12 10 1
10  Croatia 8 4 7 9 6 6 5 9 2
11  Belgium 10 1 13 7 15 7 4 11
12  Israel 9 8 5 12 11 10 1 2 10
13  Romania 6 3 1 1 3 2 10 6 5
14  Azerbaijan 12 7 8 11 7 13 7 4
15  Ukraine 11 10 14 3 13 11 5 6
16  Malta 1 2 3 2 1 1 12 3 8
Detailed voting results from Cyprus (Final)[28]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus
02  Albania 19 20 17 17 17 20 21
03  Israel 9 12 13 16 11 17 9 2
04  Belgium 11 1 14 15 18 7 4 20
05  Russia 5 5 6 7 6 5 6 8 3
06  Malta 2 3 4 3 3 2 10 10 1
07  Portugal 7 13 3 19 24 10 1 17
08  Serbia 25 21 23 21 13 22 12
09  United Kingdom 20 19 20 24 21 23 24
10  Greece 1 2 1 1 1 1 12 1 12
11   Switzerland 15 14 2 12 15 9 2 11
12  Iceland 10 6 18 11 19 15 15
13  Spain 21 24 12 23 20 21 22
14  Moldova 12 11 10 10 14 16 25
15  Germany 24 25 21 25 22 25 18
16  Finland 22 9 24 8 2 8 3 7 4
17  Bulgaria 14 8 9 2 23 6 5 4 7
18  Lithuania 6 16 15 20 7 13 6 5
19  Ukraine 18 22 25 4 10 14 5 6
20  France 3 7 8 6 5 4 7 3 8
21  Azerbaijan 17 17 19 14 16 19 14
22  Norway 16 18 16 18 8 18 16
23  Netherlands 23 23 22 22 25 24 23
24  Italy 4 4 5 5 4 3 8 2 10
25  Sweden 8 15 7 13 12 11 13
26  San Marino 13 10 11 9 9 12 19

References

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  1. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (3 August 2017). "Cyprus: Broadcaster reportedly will internally select songwriter for 2018". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Cyprus Country Profile: Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. ^ Psyllides, George (3 October 2013). "CyBC pulls out of 2014 Eurovision song contest". Cyprus Mail. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. ^ Granger, Anthony (7 September 2019). "Cyprus: CyBC to Begin Discussions Regarding Eurovision 2020 Representative in Mid-September". Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b Adams, William Lee (25 November 2020). "Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou will sing 'El Diablo' at Eurovision 2021". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  6. ^ Agadellis, Stratos (25 November 2020). "Cyprus: It's Elena Tsagrinou to Rotterdam!". ESCToday. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. ^ @elenatsagkrinou_official (24 January 2021). "Getting ready to shoot the video clip and I can't wait for you to listen to El Diablo... #Eurovision #ESC2021 #TeamCy #ElDiablo". Retrieved 24 January 2021 – via Instagram.
  8. ^ Granger, Anthony (24 February 2021). "Today: Cyprus Reveals Its Entry For Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. ^ "El Diablo: Δειτε Αποκλειστικα Τたうοおみくろん Music Video Της Κυπρου Γがんまιいおたαあるふぁ Τたうηいーたνにゅー Eurovision". Panik Records. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Cypriot church calls for 'devil' Eurovision song to be scrapped". The Guardian. 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021.
  11. ^ Braithwaite, Sharon; Liakos, Chris; Kolirin, Lianne (3 March 2021). "Church of Cyprus calls for country's entry to Eurovision to be dropped for promoting devil-worship". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Little sympathy for the Devil in Cyprus Eurovision song row". Reuters. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021.
  13. ^ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (28 February 2021). "Some upset in Cyprus over 'satanic' Eurovision song choice". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021.
  14. ^ Braithwaite, Sharon; Liakos, Chris; Kolirin, Lianne (3 March 2021). "Church of Cyprus calls for country's entry to Eurovision to be dropped for promoting devil-worship". CNN. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Cyprus Eurovision entry sparks backlash over 'satanic' lyrics". Deutsche Welle. 27 February 2021.
  16. ^ Dartford, Katy (7 March 2021). "Eurovision song protest: Orthodox Christians demand withdrawal of Cyprus' 'satanic' Eurovision entry". Euronews. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Eurovision: Απειλούν νにゅーαあるふぁ κάψουν τたうοおみくろんνにゅー σταθμό ΡろーΙいおたΚかっぱ γがんまιいおたαあるふぁ τたうοおみくろん τραγούδι 'El Diablo' της Κύπρου". Lifo (in Greek). Lifo. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  18. ^ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (6 March 2021). "Protesters say out with Cyprus' 'Satanic' Eurovision entry". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest–Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  20. ^ Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  21. ^ Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Semi-Final running orders revealed". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 30 March 2021. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  23. ^ Washak, James (14 April 2021). "Cyprus: Louis Patsalides Revealed as Commentator For Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Rehearsal Schedule". Eurovision World. 24 April 2021. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  25. ^ Qualifiers Annoucement [sic] - First Semi-Final - Eurovision 2021. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021.
  26. ^ a b c d e f "Results of the First Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Grand Final Running Order". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 21 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  28. ^ a b c d e "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Juries in the First Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  31. ^ a b "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Τたうοおみくろん πρόσωπο πぱいοおみくろんυうぷしろん "έκλεισε" γがんまιいおたαあるふぁ νにゅーαあるふぁ δώσει τたうηいーたνにゅー βαθμολογία της Κύπρου" (in Greek). Alpha TV Cyprus. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
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