Cyprus is under pressure to withdraw its Eurovision song entry that has upset many Orthodox Christians in the country. The state broadcaster has blamed critics for misinterpreting the lyrics.
Cyprus' official Eurovision Song Contest entry for this year has triggered controversy within the island nation, and one anonymous caller threatened to "burn down" national broadcaster CyBC on Friday.
The song, "El Diablo" (Spanish for The Devil), has triggered among some of the country's devout Christians who say the dance mix has scandalized the faithful with its references to the devil.
CyBC informed the police about the caller's threat to "burn the building down" in protest over the song, the Cyprus News Agency reported.
Police said they were investigating the matter.
Caller apologizes for threat
The person who called CyBC later apologized for making the threat.
"I was in a state of shock and angry with the lyrics of the song that will represent Cyprus at Eurovision," he told the Greek-language Politis newspaper. "The reference to Satan made me feel angry, and so I reacted with a boiling soul and said something for which I apologize."
The man added that he still disagreed with the song, "but I do not believe in violent reactions and reassure my fellow citizens that I will not carry out my threats."
What do critics say?
State broadcaster CyBC announced "El Diablo" as its pick to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision contest on Wednesday.
An association of religious teachers blasted the song, urging CyBC to withdraw it from the contest. It expressed "abhorrence," questioning why a song "of such low quality" chosen rather than one that promotes the culture of Cyprus in Europe.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Verka Serduchka
The Ukrainian comedian and performer dressed in drag, and a futuristic sequined ensemble with a star atop her silver spangled swim cap, during the 2007 contest in Helsinki. Singing the upbeat "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" with her band who wore complementary outfits, she won second place but upset Russian fans — and officials — for apparently singing the lyric "Russia Goodbye."
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Sandie Shaw
By today's standards, the stage dress of the British singer Sandie Shaw is rather cute. But in 1967 two things caused minor public outraged. First, the singer wore a mink dress. Second, Shaw performed her song "Puppet On A String" barefoot. Nevertheless, she won. Many have since performed barefoot at the ESC, including the German candidate Levina in 2017. But it didn't help — she was next to last.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Abba
What look to us today like a collection of damaged Mardi Gras costumes was considered state-of-the-art style in the 1970s. Swedish pop band Abba scored points with these daring combinations of velvet, polyester and platform boots. Their song "Waterloo" won the contest in 1974 — and thus began one of the most successful careers in pop music history.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Nicole
The 80s were the decade of big hair, shoulder pads and bright colors. Not so with Nicole. In 1982, in the British spa town of Harrogate, the German contestant seated herself with her guitar in a brave black dress with a white lace collar and chanted "A little peace" before winning the contest — and reaching number one on the British pop charts.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Guildo Horn
In 1998, Guildo Horn, a long-time Schlager music satirist, performed for Germany in a garish turquoise velvet suit. The sweaty, long-haired contestant sang "Guildo hat euch lieb!" (Guildo loves you!) before tearing off his jacket and scaling a pole on the side of the stage. Horn placed seventh.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Dana International
The transgender singer from Israel upstaged Guildo Horn's velvet suit in 1998 with a bolero featuring colorful plumage. With her song "Diva" she made a stand for tolerance and gender fluidity and won the competition. Her black dress with feather sleeves was designed by French fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier and will be long-remembered by the Eurovision faithful.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Lordi
Many Eurovison fans might have been initially shocked by the appearance of the masked Finnish monster band in 2006. But the fainthearted audience ultimately embraced Lordi's outre horror garb, cheering the ghoulish band on as they easily won the 2006 song contest in Athens with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah."
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
3 + 2
Oslo 2010: At first, the three ladies and two gentlemen from Belarus stood on stage in the standard way and sang their sugary ditty "Butterflies." But suddenly butterfly wings shot out of the backs of the singers; the act of kitsch was punished with second-last place. German contestant Lena won that year — maybe because she wore a rather simple dress.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Aliona Moon
In 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, the Moldavian contestant stood tall in high-tech fashion as she was hoisted onto a pedestal while donning a dress onto which LED lights projected fiery visual montages. Singing her flaming heart out on the epic ballad, "A Million," Aliona Moon's only problem was that she wasn't allowed to move for fear of revealing herself.
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Fashion faux pas at the Eurovision Song Contest
Conchita Wurst
In 2014, Austrian singer and drag queen stunned the song contest in Copenhagen in a dazzling gold-laced dress set off with her signature beard. The transgender performer triggered some conservatives across Europe when she won Eurovision with her uplifting power ballad "Rise Like A Phoenix." Soon after, the diva featured on the runway at Paris fashion week.
Author: Silke Wünsch (sb)
"If the only thing we are angling for is the top place, we shouldn't participate at all if we are representing ourselves with every and any diabolic sub-culture," the association said.
The song, performed by Greek singer Elena Tsagrinou, includes lyrics including "I fell in love… I gave my heart to El Diablo" and "I gave it up because he tells me I'm his angel," calling the relationship spicy and hotter than sriracha, a hot sauce.
"This is scandalous to us Christians," said Demetris P, who started a petition on a popular Cypriot website calling on the broadcaster to ditch the song.
His petition had received more than 2,500 signatures until Friday afternoon.
What was the broadcaster's response?
CyBC defended the song saying the critics had misinterpreted the lyrics and that the track was about people in toxic relationships.
It was about "a girl who is in an exploitative relationship with a freeloader she calls El Diablo," the broadcaster said in a statement, adding that the song was inspired by the "eternal struggle of good versus evil."
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision 36 times since 1981 but has never won. It came close in 2018, when Eleni Foureira's "Fuego" finished in second place, losing to Israel.
This year, the Eurovision contest is set to be held this year in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in May.
adi/sms (AFP, Reuters, local media)
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