A Greek song for Europe
For the last three years, Cyprus has failed to make it through to the final round of the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s entrant, Evdokia Kadi, hopes to change that
The Eurovision Song Contest is the perfect excuse to invite everyone round for a drink and a laugh. Will it ever be more than that though? Since Lisa Andreas, the young English-Cypriot sung her heart out in 2004 and gained fifth place, Cyprus seems to have lost its Eurovision touch. With poor lyrics and pitiable melodies, we have failed since then to get through the semi finals. Bowing to popular demand, the CyBC (those responsible for preparing a local entrant) will this year present Evdokia Kadi, a talented young songstress, who will perform a Greek song in Belgrade on Thursday.
The song ‘Femme Fatale’, which praises women and their ability to spellbind men, was written for Evdokia by her good friends, Nicos and Vangelis Evangelou. “When I decided to enter the competition, I knew Nicos and Vangelis were the only people who could give me a song that would represent me and my taste in music,” the 27 year old says. Evdokia began singing in 2001 at student caf?s and the University of Cyprus, where she studied French. She has been an avid fan of Greek music since a young girl; her passion for the oldies is also evident in the song. “It’s a mixture of different types of music but the basic rhythm is Greek-oriented,” she explains. “There’s baglama (a type of bouzouki) and a rhythm similar to rumba, which is in fact a rhythm that was very popular back in the old days in Greece.
“Because it is a colourful song that reflects our culture, we knew it was important to play on the theatrics, so what you will see on the stage in Belgrade is reminiscent of a taverna, where, as you know, people dance on tables and are very expressive.”
However, all those who have heard the song have not loved it. “I do realise it’s a peculiar song,” says Evdokia, “and the fact that it has created such a stir is not all bad because it’s a matter of taste; some love it, some don’t. I think it’s important to remember that it is the public that voted for us, however, so that gives me a great deal of strength and confidence.” Evdokia was selected to represent Cyprus by a two-pronged voting procedure, by a panel of judges and televoting, meaning the public was involved. The jury placed Evdokia in third place and it was the public that gave an astonishing nod to ‘Femme Fatale’, pushing it into first place.
With the expansion of Europe, the Eurovision Song Contest has grown in recent years and now all contestants are not guaranteed a place in the final. In the last three years Cyprus has failed at the final hurdle, being eliminated in the semi finals. “The semi-finals are extremely important, that’s why we’ve been working so hard on developing and enriching the song in a number of ways,” explains Evdokia.
Which makes the CyBC’s decision not to do a promo tour this year seem a little odd. “Previous entries, such as Constantinos (2005), toured as many as 25 countries promoting the song and the result proved that PR didn’t make a difference because those countries still didn’t vote for us,” explains Evi Papamichael, Head of the Eurovision Department at CyBC. Evdokia says she is happy with the decision: “It gives us the opportunity to be calm and focus our energy on the performance and the presentation, which is the only part we care about right now.”
Rules have also changed as far as semi finals go. With a whopping 43 countries taking part, Eurovision officials are holding two semi finals to decide which 25 countries will go through to the final. Cyprus and Greece have been separated as have other traditional allies to avoid the typical voting based on neighbours and friendly connections.
Evdokia, who was working on her first album before Eurovision came along, also sings at a well-known nightclub in Limassol. So how does she feel as the big night draws near? “I’m no more stressed than I am when performing at a concert, for instance. The team and I realise this could go two ways, so we’ve decided to relax and enjoy the experience. Since the public voted for us, all we can do is do our best and be pleased with the result, whatever that will be.”
Eurovision Song Contest
Semi finals: Tuesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 22 at 9pm. Final: Saturday, May 24 at 9pm. All three stages will be shown live on CyBC
