Eurovision 1999 Cyprus

[@daraghc15]

What a brilliant song. Should have won. Omg 22 years old no2 but still seems modern

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

I would've thought at least 10 years older, very surprising.

[@Anthony_Gx]

I remember loving this song so much back then. I was 12 still look for it occasionally

[@antonioplasencia6701]

This song, that was by far the big favorite back then was harmed by the slot by draw that was used back then. This was sandwiched between Iceland and Sweden in the middle of the show and obviously one of the 3 would bomb.

[@Euroviking86]

That's very likely, but I also think that using the English version "In the Name of Love" would have been a better move. But yeah, Cyprus was unlucky, and there's something to be said for the arranged order done nowadays.

[@TwistofTrafficJam]

What were they thinking...????

[@Mike-wx8dj]

@@TwistofTrafficJam i can answer you ;) Cyprus get 12 point from greece its truth but every year this is what they say..😀 no because the song its bad or is good

[@morbidsearch]

​@@Mike-wx8dj Greece got relegated in 1999 tho

[@klarinetta]

Nope both bad composition and bad performance. Much better in the Cypriot national final.

[@TwistofTrafficJam]

This is peak 1999 in perfect way I wasn't born then,but I just know it

[@marcosm9118]

That’s the problem when you are among the two strongest countries. She was the favourite on the Internet the weeks before, but her performance could have been better. What a pity! She deserved a better position.

[@undulathovo]

I love this song!!!

[@inktpot35]

Underrated. And sweden overvalued.

[@stefanmellstrom9096]

lol please compare performances :)

[@ΕυάγγελοςΚαραμπιτσάρης]

@@stefanmellstrom9096 He compares performances

[@morbidsearch]

I never knew "overvalued" was a word until I saw non English speakers use it

[@basicelement]

@@stefanmellstrom9096 Swedish performance was no interesting at all.. Very week winner.

[@eurossocial]

Here is the English version => kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHW1nXeqqs5oiM0

[@JeSuisRene]

Loved the introduction part of the song!

[@TheShislon]

It should've done much better - a great song and performance.

[@eurossocial]

Here is the English version => kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHW1nXeqqs5oiM0

[@chr04]

It was the absolutely favourite in all internet polls to win

[@aleksanderpagels288]

There were internet polls back then?

[@dramaticScar]

@@aleksanderpagels288 Yeah Iceland and Cyprus were favourites.

[@AlirioAguero2]

The question is why. It's very poorly structured...

[@eurossocial]

Here is the English version => kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHW1nXeqqs5oiM0

[@bobosong]

@@AlirioAguero2 you should consider that back then dance and electronic music in Eurovision was very very rare and therefore looked very contemporary. However, the arrangement of this song was very weak and was not enhanced after winning the National final.

[@A.Man.From.Cyprus]

What the hell went wrong that year? The song was great! Unfair! :-(

[@viewerlife]

Θωμάς Χριστοδούλου Ηταν ωραιο τραγουδι, αλλα η σκηνικη παρουσια υστερουσε. Πολυ λαδωμενη που φαινοταν σαν ιδρωτας κ παρα την εξαιρετικη φωνη της, φαλτσαρε σε καποια σημεια. Πρωτη χρονια με ελευθερη γλωσσα κ ερμηνευσε στα ελληνικα, ενω η μουσικη τεριαζε πιο πολυ σε αγγλικο στιχο, η θεση που τραγουδησε αναμεσα σε Ισλανδια κ Σουηδια κτλ. Πολλα πηγαν λαθος, παρα το ωραιο τραγουδι κ την καλη φωνη της.

[@stefanmellstrom9096]

Her performance killed an obvious winner :(

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

But she's got a nice rack.

[@Aikebln1]

Her performance was really bad and amateur

[@Aikebln1]

@@A.Man.From.Cyprus Well, she should have been heard that night, plus the backing dance steps were really basic. I believe this song was just eurofan favourite but not attractive to mainstream.

[@arctouros]

Το πρώτο της καρδιάς σου καλοκαίρι... 💗

[@DoktorChaos81]

Underrated!!!

[@MrEurocat]

shame our group is no more ........it was fun while it lasted :) thanks Tasosk3, ESCsince1968, Mangoteppe, Setheurovision94 & others for the memories

[@Euroviking86]

Yeah, it seems Tasosk3 was the glue that held us together. I was a bit disappointed how quiet it was in the aftermath of my trip to the 2014 Eurovision. I guess our heavy debate and opinion-exchanging days are numbered... at least for now. Likewise thank you - and I'll still be here, keeping watch.

[@vesthovden7450]

Tha'nai Erotas Sti poli tremosvini to fengari Ki an tin antehis ti skini Ta matia su dhio stales ehun pari Ap 'ti vrohi tin broini Pare t' asteria t' uranu Stolise ti matia tu Angikse to anthos tu lotu Fonakse t' onoma tu, ke tha 'ne erotas Sti poli tremosvini kapio asteri Ki esi apomines na zis, ne, na zis Sto proto tis kardhias su kalokeri Stis angalies tis Kiriakis Pare t' asteria t' uranu Stolise ti matia tu Angikse to anthos tu lotu Fonakse t' onoma tu (Omos mi rotas), tha 'ne erotas Omos mi rotas, tha 'ne erotas (Pare t' asteria t' uranu) Stolise ti matia tu Angikse to anthos tu lotu Fonakse ke tha 'ne erotas Tha 'ne erotas (Tha 'ne erotas, tha 'ne erotas, tha 'ne erotas)

[@victorbethencourt5898]

❤❤❤❤

[@dramaticScar]

they´re placing really killed cyprus cause it was placed between iceland and sweden the the top winners.

[@LucianaShadow]

I love her '90s hair.

[@mrjdsworld80]

I remember all the internet forums raving about this song in '99, this was definitely winning, and I recall a lot of aggression towards those who disagreed. What exactly happened that it did so bad? Not singing in English probably didn't help, though neither did Croatia, and they did fine. The performance is a bit iffy, and the dance moves aren't good. Also, as a few have already stated, it was sandwiched between the hot favourites. So it does seem like a combination of factors, as opposed to just one.

[@eurossocial]

Here is the English version => kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHW1nXeqqs5oiM0

[@eliasdismamisan5464]

As someone from Cyprus, though I wasn't born at the time, we were gutted that Marlen only got 2 points. We were all confident we would be battling Iceland for the victory but they did not win either (which is a shame for Selma). There obviously were bad things that happened: 1. The song itself. The lyrics are very pretty and so is the beginning part, and the rest of the melodies are great, but the pop part should've been rearranged, it sounds quite clunky. Maybe it would've been better to have the live orchestra kept, but too bad. 2. Maybe she was just nervous because she normally sings very well, but the live performance was average and sometimes she was just screaming. But her vocals definitely weren't the worst of the year. The choreography was not very exciting and the backing singers were visibly messing them up. In fact, the national final performance sounded much better, but she doesn't move around a lot in stage. (it WAS held in a nightclub in the middle of Lemesos) 3. We went in between Iceland and Sweden. Why? 4. Maybe it was the switch to televote. Most of the time we only do well in televote if it's an ethnic song, or the style is popular. But EBU had very good reasons to remove juries, especially because of lots of cheating in the 90s. 5. The English lyrics might have helped to get more votes, but I am happy we decided on Greek language that year. Plus, Croatia came 4th without English that year. Even with these, I have no idea why she ended 22nd and not at least in the middle. Our broadcaster stopped selecting songs that might do well, which explains how low we ended in 2000-2013, and now it's happening again since Andromachi failed to qualify. But at least Marlen had a successful career in the group "Hi-5" in Greece and Cyprus and she also works as an actress :)

[@danijetman]

I'm glad to know that Marlene keeps working after Eurovision, I always loved this song

[@EntexniKritikopoula]

Τα μάτια μου δακρύζουνε.. πονούν τα σωθικά μου, σα βλέπω άλλη ν' αγαπάς.. ματώνει η καρδιά μου!

[@hatridmunpitaa]

It was the recap montage that killed it

[@Euroviking86]

That's a very good point. They chose a very ineffective part of the song for the crucial recap footage. Then again, ours (Iceland) wasn't much better.

[@hatridmunpitaa]

@@Euroviking86 Seeing the 1999 recap for the first time, I hadn't known the whole song, and the part shown there made me perceive it as a depressing post-Disney ballad. Meanwhile, there's one moment in the whole song - the rave-ish bridge at 2:16 exactly - which itself is far stronger than the actual winner of that year... Speaking of Iceland, its recap piece sounded like Lazytown series, so it's not all obvious

[@AlirioAguero2]

And yet, Turkey won in 2003, from a 4th place, with the clip in the recap showing only a part of the verses...

[@thomasyogayoiii3759]

Exact

[@rpl8882]

Miles better than Sweden, only received points from UK and Malta I remember. So underated.

[@Euroviking86]

Their 2 points all came from the UK. Yes, very underrated.

[@MyMagyarorszag]

not from greece? cant imagine. cyprus is greek.

[@rpl8882]

@@MyMagyarorszag Greece wasn't in ESC in 1999 so that'll be the reason. I was wrong it was UK who gave Cyprus their only votes.

[@MyMagyarorszag]

@@rpl8882 ok rich welsh man. thanks for info. cyprus is greek forever.

[@rpl8882]

@@MyMagyarorszag I'm not Welsh lol and I know Cyprus is Greek 👍🏻

[@danieljorge8377]

why isn't it on spotify??

[@manuelbonilla7348]

This song deserved better!

[@greeko25]

I think that bad coverage by the Israeli tv and that high screech at 2:30 killed this one . Also that line about “ touching the lotus flower”... is it a sex metaphor or something;) ?

[@arctouros]

She's singing about love, NOT sex. That's the difference. And flowers always puts us in a such a mood.

[@moriturama96]

it's a shame that if she performed at another part of the running order, she easily could've broken into the top 10 even if she didn't perform that well

[@mitrowguy1]

You've changed a bit now Marlain👌🌹

[@MyMagyarorszag]

so fat now or what? cyprus is greek.

[@dramaticScar]

The problem is the singer itself... her voice is a bit weak... The placing absolutly killed any chances of doing better... If it was performed later on the show perhaps in place of Bosnia it would have faired much better... I think even the hosts wanted this to do well, the camera crew, actually did a good job filming this

[@arctouros]

Τουλάχιστον, η Κύπρος είχε τα παντελόνια να στείλει εκπροσώπηση με ελληνικό στίχο. Θυμάστε, μήπως, πότε ήταν η τελευταία φορά που η Ελλάδα έστειλε κάποιον να τραγουδήσει στα ελληνικά; Γιατί εγώ δεν θυμάμαι. Ξιπαστήκαμε όλοι με τα εγγλέζικα. Μια χαρά είναι το τραγουδάκι, απλά θα μπορούσε να έχει καλύτερο πακέτο (χορογραφία, κλπ.). Είναι απόλυτα λογικό για την Μάρλαιν να μην μπορεί ν' αποδώσει το ίδιο καλά, όπως στ' αγγλικά, καθώς γεννήθηκε και μεγάλωσε στο εξωτερικό. Απ' αυτή την άποψη, θα δεχόμουν τον αγγλικό στίχο. Ωραία μουσική, ωραίος ρυθμός, υπέροχοι στίχοι. Ό,τι δηλαδή χρειάζεται ένα κομμάτι για να κάνει καριέρα. Δεν γίνεται να έρθουν όλοι πρώτοι. Τα τραγούδια κρίνονται απ' τον χρόνο. Θα μπορούσε, με κατάλληλη προώθηση φυσικά, να γίνει hot dance hit σε όλη την Ευρώπη. Εμείς όμως ποντάρουμε στο ή όλα, ή τίποτα. Αυτό είναι το κακό των Ελληνοκυπρίων.

[@florianfreitag9407]

Hard to tell what exactly went wrong there. Yeah, coming in-between Iceland and Sweden did them no good. But the dark costumes and the aggressive dance moves certainly didn't help either. Pity.

[@some.random.baldie2111]

Happy to have been one of the tele voters who contributed to her only two points from the UK (that was my 14 year old self at the time and I felt at least she was sending something different). Sadly the performance wasn't very good, and she was flat at parts in the song. The choreography was messy, the backings were off-putting especially the one that keeps smiling. I think it was nerves and the pressure got to her being a favourite. Also the draw had a huge part to play too. A shame as this is a good little dance pop song.

[@morbidsearch]

I don't understand what was so bad about this performance that made people turn against it. Norway was completely out of tune and still scraped 35 points.

[@Euroviking86]

I recently rewatched this contest and agreed, Norway's performance was abysmal, and even 35 points was way too many.

[@ElinChristinBakke]

Where Can I listning to it?

[@ruibento7045]

I clicked because I like her and her hair style

[@nikosparasxos8285]

This song destroyed with the Greek lyrics. The 2/3 of the song should be in English and only the end be in Greek. I think also that if the dancing part was more energetic and her vocals better, the song would do much better.

[@elenakoumbari8788]

Τα αθώα μας χρόνια..τότε θα ήμουν Γυμνάσιο 🤍🤍🤍🤍

[@alexischristodoulou4355]

Και εγώ!

[@saalvosegg8171]

Better than Sweden's song.

[@ryglegrykkmykk2donkeykong832]

Why sweden won idont now why

[@Ntinton]

Omg..

[@dramaticScar]

íd like to point out that if Cyprus was sang in english they would have had a bigger chance because the highest placing that greek language songs get in this contest hasn´t been higher than 5th place so.... yeah this song would destroy eurovision 1999 if it was in english

[@stefanmellstrom9096]

This was indeed the fan favourite in 1999, at least in the pre-season, an excellent song but the singer totally ruined the song on the big night. A horrified performance and singing. Too bad on an obvious winner - by a landslide...

[@cryformebyMB]

I disagree. I only like the beginning. It deflates as it goes on. The song is just OK and the performance as IFFY. I do think it was slightly underrated, however.

[@Conjujo1]

Όταν ένα τέλειο τραγούδι το σκοτώνει πλήρως η σκηνική παρουσία! Τα φωνητικά λες και υποστήριζαν μία μπαλάντα. Αν είναι δυνατόν!

[@Jai05]

There was no Greece to save Cyprus and they were placed between Iceland and Sweden in the running order, yet the sheer power of Spain’s ugly dress saved them from last place

[@malcolmpeters6647]

WTAF? Still don't get why it only got 2?? I take some comfort that it was us in the UK that gave it 2 but still. However, it was a backing singer and dancer fail. They were beyond awful. The moves were not complicated and they still couldn't get them right. Without doubt one of the underrated songs in ESC.

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

And Spain just 1 point, a total disgrace looking at that awful top 5 and we all know why that crappy 'German' song got all those votes.

[@annakobuk3618]

Far too static in dynamic parts. They should dance! With energy!

[@DISMISSED375]

BOOTS CATS...BOOTS CATS....BOOTS CATS...BOOTS CATS...

[@timothyhh]

Hey! They're stealing CatCat's moves!

[@christosapostolou239]

Cool song - BAD Performance.

[@JoosticeVoorFloor]

*Farid knows your location

[@pandemits]

How to destroy a wonderful song and performance by an uninspired (to say the least) stage appearance. The (plain) national final appearance would do much better...

[@BorislavVeselinov]

Don't forget the atrocious placing. Got smushed between iceland and sweden, and it was pretty obvious that one of the three would imminently bomb.

[@diamondalmas2211]

If Greece was in that year then 12 points

[@גילעדאפשטיין]

Am I the only one who don't really like the song?

[@ryglegrykkmykk2donkeykong832]

This song got 200points ❤

[@ryglegrykkmykk2donkeykong832]

No i mean 2 points

[@giavk3607]

Her Greek pronunciation is HORRIFIC! I can’t understand a single word. No wonder it ended second last.

[@omerfaruksimsek1238]

nigerian back vocals ha ha ha.

[@Aikebln1]

When a bad performance kills all the chances

[@klarinetta]

This composition is very bad

[@giorgioandgiorgio7287]

She should have sung better.