Eleni Foureira finally reaches Eurovision stage

Eleni Foureira

Everything comes to she who waits. It’s especially true for Greek singer Eleni Foureira, who after complaining of being snubbed by her own state broadcaster, has accepted the invite to sing for Cyprus at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

She’ll be there with a song called ‘Fuego’, composed by Swede Alex P. Staging is in the capable hands of fellow Swede Sascha Jean-Baptiste.

Foureira has made several attempts to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010, she came second in the Greek national final with Manos Pyrovolakis. She considered bidding for a place in 2015, but dropped out. In 2016 ERT rejected her song “Come Tiki Tam”. She was also snubbed last year.

Since the beginning of her career, Foureira’s ethnic origin has been the subject of speculation in Greece. When she launched her career as a member of Mystique, she claimed to be Brazilian. However, she later began claiming that her father was from Athens and her mother from Ioannina, although she had some Mexican ancestry as well. In 2010, reports of Foureira attempting to naturalize as a Greek citizen further increased speculation regarding her origins.

In 2013, it was reported she was actually born in Albania and that her birth name was Entela Fureraj. Foureira confirmed these reports a year later, claiming she hid her roots due to what she called Albanophobia in Greece.

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