Posts Tagged ‘Cyprus’

Aww, bless. Judging from this remix of “Life Looks Better In Spring” and from Cyprus’ official preview video, the country’s national broadcaster isn’t giving its contestants as much money as, say, Azerbaijan. There may not be the gloss or the high-end choreography, but there’s still something very likable about Jon Lilygreen. And it’s not just that his song reminds me of Tom Dice’s.

Belgium and Cyprus are both looking for a hero: Cyprus hasn’t qualified for the Eurovision final since 2005, and Belgium hasn’t made it past the semi-finals since 2004. This year the two Eurovision stalwarts have both chosen mellow guitar tunes sung in English. Fans of both singers are already worried that Tom Dice (from Flemish-speaking Eeklo) and Jon Lilygreen (from Wales, but representing Cyprus) have such similar entries that they will cancel each other out to Eurovision voters. The general thinking is that Belgium has a better chance of making the final because it appears in the first semi-final and will appear fresh and original. Cyprus, however, must perform in the second semi-final and may sound too familiar to voters who have already seen the first semi. Of course, it’s possible both countries will make the final. Then what will happen? Watch each of the performances below and then cast your vote.

Cyprus:

Belgium:

What do you think?

Watch all of this year’s Eurovision contestants here on Wiwi’s Video Player!

For Wiwi, the biggest surprise on the third day of rehearsals came from 17-year old Christina Metaxa, the second youngest contestant at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The teenage Cypriot and her producers have brought some pretty elegant staging. Christina twirls around like a ballerina, wears an age appropriate dress and climbs on top of illuminated boxes to sing the song’s final lyric: Jump! (Let’s hope she doesn’t: Eurovision does not need a lawsuit).

Why Cyprus May Win:

(1) Christina is totally innocent. A lot of Europeans are sick of Eurovision sex kittens who make the performance more about their cleavage than their song. Compare this image of Christina with one of Ukraine’s Svetlana Lobodova. Who do you think a middle-aged housewife would rather vote for?

(2) Firefly is slow, easy listening. It totally contrasts with the endless number of non-stop dance and pop anthems on show this year.

(3) Christina has kept a low profile. The Eurovision press has been talking about Greece’s Sakis Rouvas, Norway’s Alexander Rybak and Turkey’s Hadise for months. Voters may be sick of hearing about them by the time May 16 rolls around, paving the way for an outsider like Christina. And no one has anything bad to say about her! (But her song is a different matter. See below.)

Why Cyprus May Not Win:

(1) Christina is inexperienced. She may crack under pressure and end up falling off those stacked boxes.

(2) Her voice was really, really weak during rehearsal. It sounded like she was asleep. And when she hit the high notes I thought someone was dying.

(3) The lyrics to Firefly suck. “And the firefly comes to you, sits on your finger. It shatters and shakes, but she wants you to go with her now. Follow her, out there, hm…” Um, what? If a firefly starts talking to you, you may have schizophrenia. Wiwi advises that you see a doctor.

(4) Fireflies are so ugly. When I’m eating dinner on May 16 I do not want to see a pretty girl singing about an ugly insect whose behind lights up. No thank you, ma’am!