Cyprus hopes to repeat the success of ‘Fuego’ with Tamta’s ‘Replay’
The delegation of Cyprus must have thought to never change a winning (or in this case close to winning) team in Eurovision. After they reached 2nd place last year with Eleni Foureira’s ‘Fuego’, they invited over half of the composer team back for their 2019 entry. You can’t blame them to try and ride the same wave, as it was their best Eurovision result ever! This year, Tamta (who was offered to perform ‘Fuego’ last year, but had to turn it down because of conflicting commitments) is flying the flag for Cyprus with the track ‘Replay’, which was also written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Geraldo Sandell and Viktor Svensson with the addition of Albin Nedler and Kristoffer Fogelmark. ‘Replay’ is a song in the same style as ‘Fuego’, but will it be as successful?
Trying to recreate a past success in the Eurovision Song Contest has proven to be a tricky business, but I don’t think Cyprus should be worried about flopping. ‘Fuego’ was arguably the biggest hit after last year’s contest and it is evident that the general public is here for this type of bop. Sure, the viewers will hear the similarities in structure to ‘Fuego’ with the swinging verses, excellent catchy chorus and instrumental drop, but it is not a 1 on 1 copy. In comparison, ‘Replay’ has a more electronic vibe as opposed to the latin infused style ‘Fuego’ had going on. ‘Replay’ is well produced with a contemporary touch and although far from original, the track instantly takes over your brain which is a big plus in Eurovision. These solid hooks will make Cyprus’s entry stand out amongst the competition and it is a banger in its own right.
Eleni Foureira’s ‘Fuego’ was not one of the hot favourites until the rehearsals in Lisbon started. Team Cyprus showed last year that they are perfectly capable of putting on an exciting show that takes the song to a higher level. If the same people could help out Tamta with an eye catching choreography and a memorable staging, I could see her give Cyprus its second top 10 result in a row. It might be too predictable to snatch the trophy, but another success in the final seems very possible.
Review on semi-final performance:
‘Replay’ is definitely one of the strongest bops in the contest, but vocally there is still room for improvement. Especially at the start of the chorus before the beat drops, Tamta sounds shrieky. Visually however, this was one of the stronger performances of the night. Tamta has star power and knows how to play with the cameras. Cyprus serves choreography, fireworks, some visual replay effects and an overall sexy performance. The crowd in Tel Aviv sure seems to love her, judging by the cheers during her performance. Not sure if this performance is top 5 worthy, but a thoroughly deserved spot in the final nonetheless.
Review on final performance and result:
Cyprus brought one of the best bops of this edition to the stage. Tamta is one of the most charismatic performers of this year’s contest. That woman is a star! Vocally she delivers a stronger performance than in the semi-final, but it did not help her reach the top 10. Maybe televoters were thrown off by the similarity to last year’s entry ‘Fuego’ as they put Tamta in 20th position. Juries were friendlier which resulted in place 13 overall.
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