NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) –
Dozens of Orthodox Christian believers held up wooden crosses on Saturday and sang ecclesiastical hymns outside Cyprus’s state broadcaster to demand the withdrawal of the country’s controversial participation in the Eurovision Song Contest – titled “El Diablo” – which they believe promotes Satanic worship.
Some protesters, including families, held up signs saying in Greek, “We protest peacefully, no to El Diablo,” “Repent and return to Christ,” and “Christ saves, kills Diablo.”
The song’s broadcaster and singer insist it has been misinterpreted and the song is actually about an abusive relationship between two lovers.
The protest came days after the powerful Orthodox Church called for the retraction of the song that it claimed mocked the country’s moral foundations by advocating “our surrender to the devil and promoting his worship.”
The Holy Synod, the Church’s highest decision-making body, said in a statement that the song “essentially praises people’s fatalistic submission to the devil’s authority” and urged the state broadcaster to replace it with a song that “expresses our history, culture, traditions and our claims.”
Last week, police accused a man of making threats and causing unrest when he raided the grounds of the public broadcaster to protest what he condemned as a “blasphemous” song that was an affront to Christianity.
The state broadcaster insisted that the entry would not be withdrawn, but the board chairman, Andreas Frangos, admitted that the organizers should have done better by explaining the song’s core message, captioned: ‘I gave my heart to el diablo … because he tells me I’m his angel. ”
Even the Cypriot government has waded into controversy, with presidential spokesman Viktoras Papadopoulos saying that while the views of dissenters are respected, the government cannot destroy freedom of speech.
“The government fully respects creative intellectual and artistic freedom that cannot be misinterpreted or limited by the title of a song, and no unnecessary dimensions should be assigned,” Papadopoulos said in a written statement.
The artist of the song, Greek artist Elena Tsagrinou, said the song is about a woman who screams for help after falling for a “bad boy” known as “El Diablo” and has come to identify herself and form a band. wants to build with her abuser. Tsagrinou insisted that any other interpretation is “unfounded”.
“The song sends out a strong message, one against any kind of abuse, like the one in ‘El Diablo,'” Tsagrinou told The Associated Press in a written statement. “In these ‘Me Too Movement’ times, that message is extremely relevant and can be felt not only in Cyprus, but throughout Europe and beyond.”
She added that she is a Christian and her faith was very important to her.
Tsagrinou addressed the song’s detractors, saying, “we must all embrace the song’s true and intended message” and that people are now coming forward with their own stories of abuse.
“Music unites and gives strength. Let’s focus on that and leave behind the important issues around us and misinterpretations and dark thoughts, ”said Tsagrinou.