CyBC, the Cypriot national broadcaster, has officially confirmed today that Eleni Foureira will represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song “Fuego”.
Eleni had previously been rumoured to have been this year’s Cypriot representative after reports that Eurovision winner Elena Paparizou and Tamta both turned down offers to represent the country. Both Helena and Tamta are said to have liked the song and believe it has the potential to be a major hit.
Eleni Foureira has attempted to represent Greece at the contest multiple times in the past 10 years. Her first attempt was in 2010, where she came second in the Greek national final show. In 2013, she starred once again in the national final, performing “Wild Dances” with Ruslana. Most recently, she attempted to represent Greece in 2016 and 2017, but was rejected by the broadcaster. Her song “Anemos Agapis” (Wind of Love) was selected to represent Greece in the OGAE Video Contest 2014, where it finished in third place.
Eleni’s song for Lisbon, “Fuego”, was written by Greek-Swedish composer Alex P. He has a number of notable writing and producing credits including “I Like How It Feels” by Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez’s hit “Live It Up”. This will not be his first Eurovision experience, as he wrote “Yassou Maria” (Greece 2007) and “La La Love” (Cyprus 2012). Sacha Jean-Baptiste will also be the artistic director for the Cypriot delegation in Lisbon. The song will be released in the coming weeks.
Source: Eurovision.tv
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
Cyprus debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981. Their best result in the contest came in the form of three fifth place finishes. Their highest points finish came in 2004 when Lisa Andreas performed “Stronger Every Minute” in Istanbul, Turkey. She finished 5th in the final scoring 170 points, which included 12 points from Greece. Cyprus withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 due to financial difficulties, but returned again in 2015 where they were represented by John Karagiannis.
