She’s the Greek-Georgian beauty who exploded onto the Eurovision scene when she was internally selected to represent Cyprus with the banging dance track “Replay”. Finishing in 13th place, just shy of the Top 10, Europe felt the rhythm from the Med.
However it’s Tamta’s kind soul and charisma that the Wiwi Jury, and many of the fans who attended Eurovision in Tel Aviv, can’t get out of their heads. With that in mind, the Wiwi Jury is pleased to announce that Tamta has won the 2019 Vision Music Award for Miss Congeniality! This award was voted on by members of wiwibloggs who were on-the-ground in Tel Aviv and had the opportunity to shimmy and shake with this year’s singers — on camera and off.
The Eurovision Song Contest was founded to bring Europe together following the carnage of World War II. This award honours the contestant whose press conferences and off-stage appearances did the most to honour the Eurovision tradition of peace and camaraderie. Daria Kinzer flopped out in ESC 2011, but she stayed throughout the week and partied her claw-nail toes off until the wee hours of the morning with her hardcore fans. She truly embodied the spirit of her song “Celebrate”. Tamta continues the tradition of performance with personality, stardom with a soul.
Tamta: Miss Congeniality 2019
We first met Tamta in Athens, all the way back in January, when Wiwibloggs conducted her first ever Eurovision interview. She was more than happy to tell Deban all about her English-language hit single “Unloved”, her judging roles on the X-Factor, fashion, and how she got involved with CyBC.
One Wiwibloggs reader, Konstantina _ commented: “She’s such a precious human being..”
Ain’t that true!
Whilst in Tel Aviv, Tamta didn’t let the pressure of the Eurovision bubble or the exhausting rehearsal schedule dampen her energy when she sat down for a chat with our Deban. Her first concern was that Deban had recovered from all the drama of his last-minute change in flight schedule! What a considerate Queen!
One of our readers, Nathan Constable, commented: “I love how open she was about the second rehearsal not going to plan but she just oozes positivity! Love her!”
We couldn’t agree more!
Tamta closed the show at the Wiwi Jam bringing not only her Eurovision track, but an entire set equipped with dance routines, costumes and backing dancers. This girl doesn’t do a performance by half! Even though it was *early in the morning, early in the morning*, Tamta made sure our audience maintained full energy-levels until the very last song.
Of course, there was plenty of time for selfies as she stuck around to meet and greet the fans who had waiting till the early hours before she took to the stage. No one forced her to do that. She did it out of love — and from the bottom of her heart.
Miss Congeniality is one of three Vision Music Awards that is decided by the Wiwi Jury, who were on the ground in Tel Aviv. It’s clear to see from our deliberations that we all have Tamta’s love on replay!
“Love Tamta. She stayed at the Wiwi Jam for about an hour afterwards. She loves her fans and they love her. She’s a wise queen who can talk about a lot more than music. Nothing about her is fake. Among the most sincere performers we’ve been lucky enough to meet.” – William.
“There is no doubt that Tamta is absolutely divine. I love her to bits and she has always been good.” – Deban.
“Tamta is such a nice person! And a great performer!” – Cinan.
“She was just an amazing person who had time for everybody.” – Sebastian.
“She was at the EuroClub for the Grand Final afterparty and spent the whole night taking photos with fans. Much respect for that. Tamta is approachable and always open. When the lights go out, who’s still got the big smile?” – Kevin.
Vision Music Awards 2019
This award is just one of a dozen awards we have launched as part of the Vision Music Awards 2019 (VMAs). Our 13 categories — from best dressed to most wronged at ESC — identify the contestants who left the biggest impression on Eurovision fans, regardless of whether they won the contest or not.
You can watch the nominations video and read more about the awards here.
She’s a sweetheart <3 And "Replay" indeed belongs to the 3 songs I listen to regularly in the post-2019-season (with my beloved Zero Gravity and Scream). Love everything about it!
hello wiwibloggs people! are there plans to do a make up edition of the Vision Music Awards for Eurovision 2018?? Or maybe even a like VMAs champions of champions where you put all the winning acts from each award up against eachother to claim the ultimate prize?
I know that’s not what the award is about, but “just shy of the top 10”, really? Sure, Eurovision’s televoters felt the rhythm so much that they placed her 20th, beating heavy hitters such as the UK and Germany. You can spin anything into a success that way.
I mean, she got 12 points from Georgia and Greece (unsurprisingly), 7 from San Marino and a single point from the United Kingdom which means that in many ways she got just one point from the public vote, so something went terribly wrong here and Tamta deserved better. “Replay” is such a bop but could’ve been better executed on the stage. Glad she avoided total embarrassment in the televote though.
What Cyprus 2019 (and Switzerland) proved most of all is that SJB isn’t the one responsible for the success of the song, it is the performer. Luca would have slayed Replay, Eleni would have done the same. And Tamta would have ruined Fuego and She got me.
Replay would have done better if it was sent another year. Sending Tamta just one year after Eleni and especially with a song that similar to Fuego was the worst decision Cyprus could take. They should have waiter some years, cause nearly everyone compared both Replay and Fuego and Tamta and Eleni. Since Eleni set the bar too high last year, people were kinda disappointed with Tamta’s performance (which I also was, it was not bad, but Replay could have been performed much much better with another staging). So, yeah, if Tamta had sung in 2022 or whatever, I do… Read more »