Elena Tsagrinou will represent Cyprus at Eurovision 2021 with her song “El Diablo”.
CyBC announced Elena as its representative for Rotterdam last November. However, fans had to wait until the end of February to hear the entry, which received its worldwide premiere on a local afternoon chat show.
And now we’ve compiled 10 facts about Elena Tsagrinou. Let’s do this!
Cyprus at Eurovision 2021: Facts about Elena Tsagrinou
1. She’s Greek
Born in Athens on 16 November 1994, the 26-year-old is an established singer. She was involved in music since childhood and even attended a music high school. Aged just 14, Elena became a semi-finalist in Ellada Eheis Talento (Greece’s Got Talent).
2. She was the voice of OtherView
In the summer of 2013, she successfully beat 200 people to join the dance-pop group OtherView. Founding members Vassilis Koumentakos and Dimitris Isaris had organised the auditions to replace their previous lead singer Crystallia. And thus Elena became their new front woman. In 2014, they released their first track together entitled “What You Want”. A few months later, they released “O giros tou kosmou” (Around the World). Several more hit singles followed. In an interview with wiwibloggs, Elena revealed that she’s still in touch with the boys and they’ve wished her luck for Eurovision.
3. She was a professional singer on Just The 2 Of Us
In 2014, while still with OtherView, Tsagrinou participated as a professional on the music show Just The 2 Of Us — the Greek version of the British talent show Just the Two of Us. The programme involved non-singing celebrities teaming up with professional singers to sing a duet. One pair was eliminated at the end of each episode. Elena was paired with Actor Ivan Svitailo. They just missed out on a podium position, finishing in fourth place.
4. She went solo in 2018
In 2018, Tsagrinou announced her departure from OtherView. After five years with the band, she wanted to focus on her solo career. She signed with Panik Records — the same label behind beloved Eurovision acts like Demy, Eleni Foureira, and Anna Vissi — and released her first solo track “Pame Ap’ Tin Arhi”. There was also an English version called “Summer Romance”. The lyrics were written by Nikos Moraitis and the music by Eurovision maestro Dimitris Kontopoulos. The Greek version of the song has over 1.7 million views on YouTube.
5. She’s worked with music industry heavyweights
Elena has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the Greek music industry, including Konstantinos Argiros and the band MELISSES. In 2019, she released the single “Pare Me Agalia” (Give Me A Hug) with the hip-hop artist Mike. He’s also her other half, and she’s shared many loved-up shots of them both on Instagram. Elena continues to work with the best at Eurovision. Her songwriting team includes Thomas Stengaard (“Only Teardrops” – Eurovision 2013 winner), Jimmy “Joker” Thornfeldt (Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull), Laurell Barker (“She Got Me” — Eurovision 2019) and Oxa.
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6. She does her bit for charity
Elena is also a very charitable person. In December 2018, she featured alongside a host of Greek stars on “Ela tin protochronia”. The collective, which also included Elias Vrettos, Giorgos Kartelias, Elina Papila, Bo, REC and OGE, was known as Sok FM & Friends, after the radio station which organised the campaign. The song’s aim was to raise funds for Ark of the World. This is a voluntary, non-profit organization for special care and protection of mothers and children.
7. She’s a TV presenter
Elena isn’t just a voice on record. She’s also a regular face on TV. She was the backstage presenter for The Voice of Greece during the 2016-2017 season. She also appears on MAD TV’s K-POP Stars, which explores one of her favourite genres of music. MAD TV is the leading music TV station in both Greece and Cyprus.
8. She’s a Smurf
Elena is triple threat. Not only can she sing and present but she is also a voice actress in films. Elena’s vocals can be heard on the Greek dubs of several popular animated movies. She plays Jenny on 2013’s Free Birds. Jenny is a wild turkey, originally voiced by American comedian Amy Poehler. In 2017, Elena took on the role of Smurflily in Smurfs: The Lost Village — Modern Family’s Ariel Winter voiced the character in the Hollywood version.
9. She loves Eurovision
Eurovision isn’t just a random gig for Elena. She’s a huge fan of the contest and understands the significance of what she’s about to take on. Over the summer, Elena went public with her love of Eurovision, telling HELLO! Cyprus that she would love to go — but only if she had the right song. “Eurovision is an institution and I’ve been following it for several years – it is amazing to see so many artists and so many different types of music in one big and spectacular celebration,” she said. “If the right song is found, it would be a great pleasure and honour for me to take part in the competition.” She tells wiwibloggs that three of her favourite 2021 acts are Bulgaria’s Victoria, Malta’s Destiny and Australia’s Montaigne.
10. She has a dog named Poo
A deep dive into Elena’s Instagram shows that she’s very much a dog person. She even reveals to Eurovision.tv that she has a dog named Poo. Thankfully, there’s a perfectly innocent explanation behind her canine’s name — its a poodle! Several other puppers grace her timeline, but it’s unclear whether all of them belong to her.
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What do you think “El Diablo”? Let us know below.
Actually, the facts about her aren’t very interesting. So far, she hasn’t produced any solo hits in Greece and Cyprus that’s why PANIK records wants to boost her career with Eurovision, which is a smart choice.
I think the staging will be on fire and she will easily qualify to the final. I am curious to hear the live vocals, hope they have them figured out considering it’s difficult song.
I don’t know how cyprus can do this year, very unpredictable. I think juries won’t like it.
Her vocals won’t be good, considering her past live performances with Otherview. However, she is quite young, which means that it is possible she improved since 2017.
The problem with “El Diablo” is that it will be really hard to perform it live. The studio version relies on a lot of vocal distortions and electronic manipulations, so how will they be able to do this on a live stage?
We’ll see ….
Prerecorded backing vocals 😉
I think Norway managed it in 2017
The EBU gave Norway special permission to use electronic vocals in 2017
and we all know how EBU gives special permissions to mostly Sweden and Norway.
When Cyprus 2007 wanted to use a slow motion effect, EBU rejected it. Then, Loreen and Sweden used it in 2012…
Well EBU is increasingly allowing things that can manipulate the result, no surprises here
By the way, many times, Cypriot aritsts have represented Greece, so that’s not actually an issue, especially, by the times music record companies in Greece work with both Greece and Cyprus in Eurovision and not only.
Exactly. Cypriot singers have represented Greece and vice versa. Basically, Cyprus does not have a music industry, the Greek one is for both countries.
My only objection is when RIK selected Sandro for 2020, it was a wtf moment because he is completely unknown without prior discography and no connections to Greece and Cyprus. He’s unknown in Greece too. So it was a very weird decision.
Other than that, the other selections were very good!
It’s an ok song. At first I liked it but the more Iisten the more boring and repetitive I find it
From 1987 to 2017, there is exactly one entry, where Cyprus didn‘t send a cypriot singer (or directly connected to Cyprus) and that was 2010, Jon Lilygreen. It was just recently, when Cyprus started to send Greek (or greek connected) singers
Also, in 2020 Sandro was going to represent Cyprus, who actually had no connections neither to Cyprus nor to Greece (apart from the fact that has some small roots from Zante)
Elena herself said she s gonna perform after the commercial break
So we expect smth good
I can’t see Cyprus qualifying.
5 female artists with pop uptempo songs in this semi final (Malta, Israel, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus). Maximum 3 will qualify.
Malta is the one.
Croatia (with around 40 points in their pocket from Slovenia and North Macedonia)
and Azerbaijan (with around 40 points in their pocket from Russia and Ukraine) have far more chances than Cyprus, that is going to suffer with the juries due to the obvious similarities the song has with Bad Romance
Like yourself Im not really into the song, but I will admit this one of the handful of songs of that semi that are sure qualifiers. More than both Croatia and Isreal which I personally love
Cyprus is gonna qualify juries do not care of songs are similair they care about quality also Cyprus finished second in 2018 with one neighbour.
I never thought of that. I think you are right
I totally agree but Croatia/Azerbaijan/Israel are not sure qualifiers, so maybe Cyprus can go through instead of Croatia or Azerbaijan (I really hope not, but juries may prefer it as it’s more basic, remember what they did with Tamta, they basically ignoranza it was a bad remix of Fuego)
Cypriots are ethnically Greek. It’s like if the Faroe Islands competed and they sent a Danish act or Monaco sent a French act… not a big deal!
Also, all of those acts you listed all have connections to either Greece or Cyprus. Hovig grew up in Cyprus, Eleni is an Albanian-born Greek, Tamta emigrated to Greece…
Fact : Cypriots are ethnically Greek , Turkish , Maronite , Armenian . It’s not a Greek island , it’s an island of many ethnic backgrounds . The large majority are Greek Cypriots and then Turkish Cypriots . They are all Cypriots first with a very different dialect than the mainland .
Cyprus is very much a Greek island, albeit a separate country. If you remove the illegal settlers, you get about 70% Greek and 30% others (with many of these “others” being sister cultures to the Greeks).
Why are people even debating if she’ll qualify… OF COURSE SHE WILL.
The only worry I have is her placement in the GF. I don’t know if she’ll either tank like Tamta or get a high placement like Eleni. It really depends on the staging, so I hope they have something good in store for us!
She won’t qualify. There are far better pop songs in her semi final.
She will her pop song is best produced
It will obviously be in top 5 of the juries and the televoting will depend on her live performance. The female bop that won’t qualify will be between Croatia and Israel.
She will obviously be in top 5 in juries in the semi. The televoting will depend on her live performance. The female bop that won’t qualify will be between Croatia and Israel.
IF she qualifies, I doubt she will rank as high as Tamta, unless the vocal performance is really good which I doubt
She was vocally amazing on the Live on Tape Video done in Sofia. That’s how it was described to me by different reliable sources so no worries in that department.
No, i disagree with the comparison Tamta/Eleni. I think she will neither be in top 3 nor end very low like Tamta.
I think she will be somewhere in the middle, perhaps do much better in televoting than Tamta but worse with juries. Curious about the live vocals.
‘Has Cyprus ever send a Cypriot artist?’ Hmm ever since their debut, around 30?
In all seriousness though, it’s nice seeing broadcasters take the contest seriously but I do hope we see a Cypriot-born artist next year…
Hovig is Cypriot born and raised. Armenians in Cyprus are 2% of the population
Off topic but arcade just crossed 300 million streams on spotify
Arcade made it to the Billboard top100 List and the last Eurovision winner song who can achieve this was ”The Voice” from 1996. Also Arcade is shaking global music lists lately , he even performed in Ellen Show. The interesting thing is why after 2 years Arcade is being a global hit ? Why not in 2019 ? Because sadly it is not being popular because of Eurovision but because of TikTok.. TikTok runs the music industry now
If it weren’t for eurovision it wouldn’t be popular even on tiktok, before it went viral there it had more then 130 million streams on spotify tiktok just gave it a push on the western industry such as USA Canada
People really down voting this, nothing ever baffels me as much as eurovision fans being toxic and not appreciating other artist’s success if it is not their fav lol..
The last Eurovision song to be on the Billboard top 100 list prior to “Arcade” wasn’t “The Voice” but “Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit”.
Last Eurovision WINNER
I still don’t like the song
Me too
So ?…
She won’t qualify. The song is a track Lady Gaga would reject in 2009 and I can’t see any jury voting for it.
i think you’re gonna be disappointed with how your ‘prediction’ turns out
I also think Cyprus will NQ. Semi 1 has way better and much more original uptempo songs plus she was placed in the worst possible spot.
Not sure how original Croatia and Israel are supposed to be but alright everyone has their own takes. I’m just gonna say there’s a reason she’s performing after the break.
The break will probably split the semi final in three (approximately) equal parts, so no way the commercial break is between Lesley and Elena. It will be most likely between Vasil and Lesley or at worst between Montaigne and Vasil.
Depends. If Ireland and/or Cyprus have props that need to be carried off the stage quickly there could be a break between them
But they created the running order with that already in mind, meaning there is not problem with Ireland and Cyprus being one after another
Have the breaks been announced?
While they determine the running order, they also know where the breaks are gonna be… Elena said she’s performing after the break so unless she got confused, I don’t think she would be ‘lying’.
I think that it’s a fair assumption that the juries probably won’t have Cyprus on the very top of their lists. I am also assuming that at least Malta, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania and likely Australia ahead. Perhaps Slovenia too, for her grand vocals. I do think, however, that the televote will eat this up. Malta, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Azerbaijan will also likely score high on the televote, but I can see Cyprus even outscoring some of them. Around 10th place on the jury vote and around 4th in televote, around 6th overall feels plausible so far.
Bearing in mind how much I liked the song, Tamta was a disappointment to me. I found the performance aloof and cold. The staging was tame after all the buildup.
She will never be a favorite to win
Upbeat dance songs are always the hardest to predict so you cant really know what Elena will bring to the contest.
So far, I’d agree, as Malta, Sweden, Belgium, Australia, Lithuania, Romania look like a safe top 6 with juries, Slovenia may be 7th as Ana is a great performer, so that leaves Cyprus maximum in 8th place. In my opinion the juries will certainly put Cyprus among their qualifiers (so 7th-10th) as they don’t like risky entries, such as Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan or Norway, but for the televoters it will depend a lot on the performance and the vocals, Tamta had a stronger song and she only qualified because the semi was weak and Greece, Georgia and San Marino were… Read more »
Lol…for the safe top 6 of juries.
Who is going to be in juries top 5 for you?
In televoting 15th to 10th…in juries 10th to 15th.
With the difference that Tamta almost got NQ in an ”easy” semifinal, while Elena is in a bloodbath semi, just like Foureira. I feel that she will easily reach the finals, but I expect her to finish around Tamta’s palcement, or even a bit higher
I’m calling it now: she may actually be the surprising NQ. I mean at the end she can qualify, but it’s not like this kind of songs always qualified in the past, even Tamta who was as much as hyped as Elena only placed 9th in a much weaker semi final with more voting allies
I agree that Tamta was way worse than Elena, but this doesn’t say much, since Tamta deserved bottom 5 in a very weak semi final
Obviously she’s going to qualify. The worry is how her placement will be in the grand final, I think she’ll tank like Tamta did…
Juries will have this for sure in the top 5, not going to tell about top 3 (alongside Malta and Sweden)
The fact that you don’t like the song does not mean it won’t qualify
Everyone will boo when she gets 12 points from Greece but the song is all over the radio and she has some hits in Greece. People will vote for what they know and like. Many countries exchange points like this (hello moldova-romania), but people only judge Greece and Cyprus because that’s trendy.
she will first need to qualify to get 12 points from Greece.
the song is not all over radio in Greece. It is not even in the top 20 radio chart. What are you talking about?
I don’t think …to see exchange of 12s beteween Greece and Cyprus this year.
So where do you expect to go the ”douze points”?
to Malta or San Marino the televoting from Greece
to France the jury vote from Greece
Delusion, convince yourself
Maybe…but we’ll see soon
Malta will not get more than 12 points in combined juries and televoters from Greece. If Cyrpus will be in the finals, I expect the jury vote be like: Cyprus France Switzerland Moldova San Marino Bulgaria Malta Italy Albania (maybe?) Serbia As for the televoters, I expect to see it as: Cyprus San Marino Albania Switzerland (or they might swap with Albania) France Serbia Iceland Finland Malta 10.Italy (maybe?) About Cyrpus, the juries will be like: Greece San Marino Sweden Malta France Switzerland Israel (if they reach the finals) Serbia Lithuania Italy For the televoters: Greece San Marino Italy France… Read more »
She loves Montaigne’s song!
Yay!
I have high hopes for her! I’m sure she’s gonna do amazingly in ESC both vocally and choreo-wise! 🙂
Fact #11: She will get 24 points from Greece.
Let’s hope so. Greece and Cyprus are best friends and they’ve been giving 24 points to each other every year.
Not every year.
I wouldn’t be so sure about the Greek jury. ERT is not happy with the CEO of panik records who admitted that Foureira went with Cyprus because ERT didn’t want an Albanian. Don’t be surprised if Albania or Moldova gets 12 by the jury
Oh interesting ! I did not know about that. Thanks for the info!
In 2019, Greece still gave Cyprus 24 points. Doesn’t seem like they had much of a grudge left from 2018.
He did not admit anything, he made a wild speculation, which is perfectly untrue, since Eleni has been part of the national final, even earlier in her career. ERT has sent multiple artists with a foreign background, f.ex. Riskykidd or Sarbel, Shaya was also in a national final, so stop inventing silly theories.
If Cyprus is not going to get 12 points (something that if happens will cause anger towards ERT, because Elena is going to wil the televoters by a huge margin of votes) from Greece then only Moldova could get them because Kontopoulos, you know. But the juries aren’t involved in neither ERT nor Panic Records