Cyprus Rumored To Have Chosen Entrant For Eurovision 2018
While the majority of participants in the yearly Eurovision Song Contest are chosen through some form of national final, many countries choose to select their entrant internally, with this decision being made by its public broadcaster. On January 24, rumors began swirling that popular Greek singer Eleni Foureira will represent her adopted nation in Lisbon, Portugal, this May.
As reported by ESCToday, the announcement was initially made by Greek news website AlphaNews, who published a story Thursday evening stating that Cypriot broadcaster CyBC had made the decision to send the Albanian national to the semi-finals. Eurovision Song Contest officials, however, have yet to officially confirm this news.
Originally, the plan was for Cyprus to hold a national final, but in recent weeks, CyBC honchos are said to have decided that internal selection was the better way to go, as they may have a bigger shot at advancing to the final and possibly winning this way. Two other major Greek music stars were then invited to participate in Eurovision 2018, but both declined this offer. Helena Paparizou, winner for Greece in 2005 and the reigning contest champion for the country, debated saying yes to CyBC, but ultimately decided it would not be the best career move for her at the current time. Georgian-Greek singer Tamta Goduadze was also approached, but responded in a similar manner.
Eleni Foureira is certainly no stranger to the spotlight herself; her musical career began over a decade ago when she joined Greek girl band Mystique, performing with them for two years before the group members went their separate ways. After this time, she pursued a solo career, which was an instant success. Her debut studio album, released in 2010, was quickly certified platinum in Greece and was produced by Universal Music. Two years later, she switched record labels to Minos EMI and went on to release two more albums, which also did quite well in Cyprus, with the singer’s fanclub in this nation growing rapidly. In 2015, she moved onto her third record company, Panik Records, releasing Vasilissa just last year.
The majority of Eurovision fans are excited at the idea of Eleni Foureira representing Cyprus this year, as they feel it would be a nice change from the male lineup the nation has chosen the past three years in a row, not having participated in the contest in 2014. Given that the 30-year-old is quite popular in the area, Greeks and Cypriots alike believe Cyprus may have a decent shot at winning the 2018 edition, or at least placing top 10.
