Fuego vs Replay vs El Diablo (Cyprus 2018, 2019, 2021)

[Apoca]

For the past three ESCs, Cyprus has blessed us with a trifecta of HOT FEMALE-LED BANGERS.







But which one is best? Yeah yeah, Eleni? TANTALISING TAMTA? Or noted devil's bride Elena?

Moopy, start voting now!

 

[Soldi]

What IS it with Cyprus and their singers being completely incapable of hitting the notes.

 

[dUb]

1. Fuego
2. El Diablo







3. The other one

 

[ZenGiraffe]

Fuego live, El Diablo recorded.

 

[Samanta TinAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAaaaA]

I love all three (obv), but that the TEMPTING (yet also TANTALISING) sounds of TAMTA literally used the Eurovision stage as her own personal hall of rapturous praise from 0.08-0.17 which is just too iconic and ridiculous for me to not love it the most.

I'm AMAZED that segment hasn't been made into a MEME!

 

[Samanta TinAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAaaaA]

Fuego is obviously technically best, but I never get the urge to play it. I guess I always root for the underDOGS It also seems to get reliably played in ANY gay bar I've ever been in outside of the UK

El Diablo really should have RAN with the early SHOCKING blasphemy headlines it generated. It started as a devilishly sizzling hot fave but sort of fizzled out by the time the contest rolled around.

 

[Apoca]

All three are great but the DEATH BY HORNS production on Replay might just push it ahead for me. But easily the best country of the past 4 years - even including pretty but useless SANDRO from 2020.

 

[RJN]

What IS it with Cyprus and their singers being completely incapable of hitting the notes.

But also what is it about them having songs where hitting the right notes is optional if not completely irrelevant

1. Replay
2. Fuego
3. El Diablo

All great of course

 

[Dark Carnival]

1. 2019 Eurovision winner
2. Head & Shoulders
3. Tamta

 

[Saltwater]

I think that technically Tamta had the best song and that on a good day she's the best vocalist of the three, but Eleni is phenomenal in a way that I think is incomparable to the rest. Elena is a distant third in every aspect.

1. Eleni
2. Tamata
3. El diablo

 

[ButterTart]

1. El Diablo
2. Fuego
3. Tamta

Although 1 and 2 are pretty much interchangeable.

 

[D5K]

Fuego live, El Diablo recorded.

Totally this.

 

[Kratz]

When El Diablo was revealed I thought it knocked spots off everything, but it hasn’t held up brilliantly for me. I still like it but I find Elena’s vocal on the chorus quite strange - and it came through in the live performance.

Fuego is still utterly imperial for me and I cannot help but think THAT was Cyprus’ moment to win. Replay has held up better than expected but I hardly ever listen to it.

 

[VoR]

El Diablo definitely had the shortest shelf-life for me, but I was all over it back in May.

Fuego is head and shoulders above, although obviously I do love me some TANTALISING TAMTA.

 

[dUb]

I can't really get over this photo

 

[Apoca]

I can't really get over this photo

ALL HAIL QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD

 

[Jacques]

Had El Diablo been the first of the three, or Fuego hadn't been quite the hit that it was, I think Elena may have been my favourite. But I can't quite bring myself to put her above Eleni as it is, so many memories with Fuego even if I've grown a tad tired of it.

1. Fuego
2. El Diablo


3. Replay

 

[Pingu]

All splendid in their own right, but I can't even compare Fuego, one of the ultimate ESC entries of recent times, to the other two.

It was just a case of absolutely everything going right, until the last moment and it was pipped to victory that is.

First there was the song, and the DELIGHT that someone had found a way to make the 2000s Eurovision ethnopop sound really work in 2018. Then the absolutely ridiculous Fyffes-sponsored music video with the exploding car. And then just when most fans were accepting of the narrative that she'd probably murder it live, she not only rises to the challenge but flies way above it, putting in one of the true STAR TURNS at Eurovision of recent years. Even though it didn't win, it was glorious to see it truly exceeding expectations and becoming a real contender.

Replay and El Diablo are great, but had Fuego been handled by a lesser performer and finished in standard slutpop mid-table territory, they probably wouldn't even exist.

 

[VoR]

I think my favourite part of being a Eurovision loon is those moments when a previously unfancied song just EMERGES in the final stretch.

Fuego is definitely one of the best ever examples of that.

 

[Kratz]

I think my favourite part of being a Eurovision loon is those moments when a previously unfancied song just EMERGES in the final stretch.

Fuego is definitely one of the best ever examples of that.

Totally. Such a good point. This is very anecdotal, but I don’t think it wasn’t fancied at all in the betting up until the semi-final performance? From there it sky-rocketed. Cannot help but think that a couple of more days of momentum and it could have overhauled Toy.

 

[D5K]

I think my favourite part of being a Eurovision loon is those moments when a previously unfancied song just EMERGES in the final stretch.

Fuego is definitely one of the best ever examples of that.

This feels like it could be a thread of its own; what other examples do we have? The pairing of Conchita and Common Linnets in 2014 coming from nowhere was also incredible.

 

[Pingu]

Totally. Such a good point. This is very anecdotal, but I don’t think it wasn’t fancied at all in the betting up until the semi-final performance? From there it sky-rocketed. Cannot help but think that a couple of more days of momentum and it could have overhauled Toy.

I think once she got out to Lisbon it started to climb the odds and was definitely fancied by the time her semi-final performance came around, but it was at that point it dethroned Toy as the favourite.

Definitely before rehearsals when there started to be whispers of it being a killer performance it was probably in a Sugar-esque “made for Eurovision obsessives but nobody else” placing with the bookies.

 

[Soldi]

Lovewave is another notable ones that comes to mind. I recall a lot of fans being disappointed when the song was released, only for everyone to do a 180 after her first rehearsal.

If anything I think she slightly UNDERPERFORMED, there were quite a few bugging her up as a WINNER and she was top three in the odds during Eurovision week.