Last night’s voting board was in flames when Cyprus’ entry Fuego and Israeli’s Toy were head to head fighting for the top spot. As surprise to many, first time in history, Cyprus managed to achieve second place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
Cyprus made its debut at Eurovision in 1981 finishing sixth. While managing to reach the top 10 a number of times, Cyprus has never managed to gain a top 3 position. This was changed this year when Eleni Foureira with a song “Fuego” achieved an honorable second place and a Marcel Bezençon Artistic Award.
Eleni Foureira is an Albanian-born Greek singer, actress, dancer, and fashion designer. Her music career dates back to 2007 when she was a member of a Greek girl group Mystique. In 2009, she signed a solo contract with Universal Music Greece and in 2010 released her self-titled debut album, which received a platinum certification in Greece. Currently she is a successful performer in Grreece and Cyprus, with four studio albums all which were well-received in both countries.
Fuego by Eleni Foureira was the smashing hit to place second at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 grand-final. The song was composed by Greek-Swedish producer and songwriter Alex P, and the music video premiered on 2 March 2018. The melody employs the millennial whoop pattern. Prior to the official announcement of Foureira representing Cyprus, there were various rumors of other artists, including the two-time singer of Greece and one-time Eurovision winner Helena Paparizou. A demo of Papariziou singing Fuego leaked prior to the announcement, which was soon after removed but reuploaded by fans after the official announcement.
Fuego has been a commercial success reaching top 10 in four countries and top 100 in numerous others. Foureira has continued promoting the single across Europe, performing it as part of Mad VMA 2018 award show, Super Music Awards 2018, Barcelona Pride, Madrid Pride, and many others.
