Church of Cyprus calls for dropping country's entry to Eurovision

The Church of Cyprus has called for the country's official entry to the Eurovision Song Contest to be withdrawn, arguing that it promotes devil-worship, CNN reports.

Greek singer Elena Tsagrinou is due to represent the island nation in Rotterdam in May with the dance-y pop song "El Diablo." She rose to fame in 2009, making to the semifinal of "Greece's Got Talent" aged just 14.

According to the contest's official website, the song is "about falling in love with someone as bad as El Diablo."

The controversial entry includes lines such as "Tonight we gonna burn in a party, it's heaven in hell with you" and "I gave my heart to El Diablo ... because he tells me I'm his angel."

The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday in which it expressed "its intense disagreement and frustration" with the stance of national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) over the selection of the song.

It said the song "favored our global ridicule by advocating our surrender to the devil and promoting his worship," while praising the "fatalistic submission of humans to the devil's power."