NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – A man has been accused of making threats and causing harassment after attacking the grounds of the Cypriot public broadcaster to protest what he said was the “blasphemous” entry of the country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, police said Sunday.
Police told The Associated Press that the man, who has not been named, was released after being charged with four offenses, including verbal abuse.
Police said witnesses to Saturday’s incident informed investigators that the man had verbally approached his employees outside the news department of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. Apparently, he was upset that the station had selected the song “El Diablo” (“The Devil”) performed by Greek singer Elena Tsagrinou to represent Cyprus, as she said it was an affront to Christianity.
The amateur video of the man facing CyBC staff showed him shouting at several employees in the courtyard, wondering how they could justify supporting this song.
The title of “The Devil” and his lyrics – “I gave my heart to the devil … because he tells me I’m his angel” – have touched a raw nerve with some of the Mediterranean island nation oriental, which he considers to be full of satanic connotations.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, an association representing theologians who teach in high schools expressed their “disgust” for the song and called for it to retire because it “promises lifelong devotion and professes love for Satan. “.
The agency also reported that the station received phone calls threatening that it would “burn out” because of the song.
The far-right political party ELAM issued a statement saying that even if the lyrics of the song are metaphorical, “it attacks and insults our faith in a dark way.”
Meanwhile, others took to social media to mock “El Diablo” as a good song, defend it as a simple scoundrel over a “burning love story” or label their detractors as religious fanatics.
Cyprus ’best performance in the popular music competition was runner-up in 2018 with the song“ El Fuego ”by singer Eleni Foureira.
The annual Eurovision Song Contest is a European institution loved by millions of people that often includes songs that are controversial, of questionable taste, or simply bad.