In preparation for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest to be held in November, Cyprus has voted for its favourite song to represent them. And, in true Eurovision style, Cypriots have chose a song with the most ridiculous title, “Whoopee Yia“, sung by Elena Mannouri and Charis Savva.
The two pony-tailed kids from Cyprus clearly enjoy dancing around to this energetic mix of classic Brittany pop with a solid rock beat. In fact, they may stand a very good chance. Their song is irritatingly catchy, and as the adult Eurovision Song Contest contest has proved in the past, catchy can win.
For example, who would have predicted that a song by a group representing Sweden comparing a love affair to the defeat of the great general Napoleon would sweep the board? (”Waterloo”, by Abba, of course, 1974)
Or that a little Scottish singer would win over Eurovision hearts with the noisily-titled march “Boom-bang-a-bang.”? (Lulu, 1969)
Or that Europe would sing along with a Dutch Abba sound-alike, when Teach In’s “Ding a Dong” won in 1975?
The UK have won the Eurovision Song Song contest five times (1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997), whereas Morocco were so disappointed with their poor results in 1980, they never entered again! Norway are much more resilient; having been bottom no less than ten times, they have also won the contest twice, most recently in 1995.
Not everyone who wins Eurovision enjoys instant stardom, but it was definitely better late than never for a young Canadian singing in French on behalf of Switzerland, who years later enjoyed a Titanic hit. (Celine Dion, 1988, “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.”)
Cyprus have never won the competition (yet!), but have been in the top five four times, so maybe this year in Belgrade will be the grown-ups’ lucky night.
In the meantime, Cyprus’ Junior contenders Elena and Charis will perform their song in the 6th Junior Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Limassol in November 2008, hosted by CyBC. We wish them all the best with their song, which certainly has a more upbeat title than the Spanish winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest back in 2004, when the song title translated as “Better Dead Than Normal”…
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