Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Cyprus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Member station | CyBC |
| National selection events | show
Internal selection show
National final |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 37 (31 finals) |
| First appearance | 1981 |
| Best result | 2nd: 2018 |
| External links | |
| CyBC page | |
| Cyprus's page at Eurovision.tv | |
 For the most recent participation seeCyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 | |
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 38 times since making its debut in 1981. Cyprus' first entry was the group Island, who finished sixth. The country's best result in the contest is a second-place finish with Eleni Foureira in 2018.
Between 2006 and 2013, Cyprus failed to qualify from the semi-final round six times, before withdrawing in 2014. On 14 July 2014, CyBC officially confirmed Cyprus' return to the contest for 2015, with the country then qualifying for the final every year since 2015.
History[]
Since its first entry, Cyprus has participated every year except 1988, 2001 and 2014. In 1988, Cyprus withdrew its entry after broadcaster CyBC determined that the intended entry was ineligible; the song had been entered (but not selected) in the 1984 national selection process, which was a violation of the Cypriot selection rules. In 2001, the country did not qualify for the contest due to insufficiently high average scores in previous contests, according to the qualification process at the time. In 2014, the broadcaster decided to not participate in the contest and cited public indifference, public opinion regarding the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis, and related budget restrictions as factors for not taking part.[1] On 14 July 2014, CyBC officially confirmed their return to the contest in 2015.[2][3] Cyprus hosted the Eurovision Song Project, which included 2 semi-finals, 1 second chance round and a final.[4][5]
Since their return in 2015 the country has never failed to qualify, and even made their best result with Eleni Foureira coming second in 2018. As of 2019, Cyprus held the record for the most times competing in the Eurovision Song Contest without a single win with 36 entries into the contest. Most of the Cypriot entries have been sung in Greek or English; the exceptions are in 2000, in which the song "Nomiza" included both Greek and Italian, and in the 2007 contest, in which Evridiki performed "Comme Ci, Comme Ça" entirely in French. Additionally, in both the 2018 contest and the 2021 contest, the songs have some phrases in Spanish.
Voting[]
The annual exchange of the maximum 12 points with Greece in the Semi Final and Final has become an amusingly predictable occurrence which is now often met with derision from the audience, but there have been exceptions. The last time Cyprus gave Greece fewer than 12 points was in 2015 (8 points). Since the advent of televoting in 1998, the two countries have consistently given each other the maximum 12 points until the 2015 Contest, where neither country gave their 12 to the other, but curiously both gave them to Italy.
Cyprus and Turkey never exchanged votes until 2003, a taboo attributed to the ongoing Cyprus dispute.
Popularity of the contest[]
Since its first entry in 1981, Cyprus has had a mixture of good and bad results. The best result achieved so far is a second place, reached by Eleni Foureira at the 2018 Contest.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Cyprus had managed to reach the top 10 a number of times, something which made the Contest become popular in the Cypriot public. Since 2004, Cyprus' performance has dropped notably. From 2006 to 2009 and again in 2011 & 2013, the country didn't manage to reach the final.
At the same time when Cyprus' performance in the contest dropped vertically, Greece's performance improved very fast by one win and seven top ten results in one decade. This created a shift of interest, with the Cypriot public being more interested in the success of the Greek entry. This is probably because Greece, since 2004, seems to send very popular singers that have a well established fan-club in Cyprus, while Cyprus usually elects their contestants through an open talent contest, which often results in somewhat unknown artists representing the country.
Contestants[]
2
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Second place |
◁
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Last place |
X
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Entry selected but did not compete |
| Year | Artist | Title | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island | "Monika" (Μόνικα) | Greek | 6 | 69 | No semi-finals | ||
| Anna Vissi | "Mono i agapi" (Μόνο η αγάπη) | Greek | 5 | 85 | |||
| Stavros & Constantina | "I agapi akoma zi" (Η αγάπη ακόμα ζει) | Greek | 16 | 26 | |||
| Andy Paul | "Anna Maria Lena" (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) | Greek | 15 | 31 | |||
| Lia Vissi | "To katalava arga" (Το κατάλαβα αργά) | Greek | 16 | 15 | |||
| Elpida | "Tora zo" (Τώρα ζω) | Greek | 20 ◁ | 4 | |||
| Alexia | "Aspro mavro" (Άσπρο-μαύρο) | Greek | 7 | 80 | |||
| Yiannis Dimitrou | "Thimame" (Θυμάμαι) | Greek | Disqualified X | ||||
| Yiannis Savvidakis & Fani Polymeri | "Apopse as vrethoume" (Απόψε ας βρεθούμε) | Greek | 11 | 51 | No semi-finals | ||
| Haris Anastazio | "Milas poli" (Μιλάς πολύ) | Greek | 14 | 36 | |||
| Elena Patroklou | "SOS" | Greek | 9 | 60 | |||
| Evridiki | "Teriazoume" (Ταιριάζουμε) | Greek | 11 | 57 | |||
| Kyriakos Zympoulakis & Dimos Van Beke | "Mi stamatas" (Μη σταματάς) | Greek | 19 | 17 | Kvalifikacija za Millstreet | ||
| Evridiki | "Eimai anthropos ki ego" (Είμαι άνθρωπος κι εγώ) | Greek | 11 | 51 | No semi-finals | ||
| Alex Panayi | "Sti fotia" (Στη φωτιά) | Greek | 9 | 79 | |||
| Constantinos | "Mono gia mas" (Μόνο για μας) | Greek | 9 | 72 | 15 | 42 | |
| Hara & Andreas Constantinou | "Mana mou" (Μάνα μου) | Greek | 5 | 98 | No semi-finals | ||
| Michalis Hatzigiannis | "Genesis" (Γένεσις) | Greek | 11 | 37 | |||
| Marlain | "Tha 'nai erotas" (Θα 'ναι έρωτας) | Greek | 22 | 2 | |||
| Voice | "Nomiza" (Νόμιζα) | Greek, Italian | 21 | 8 | |||
| One | "Gimme" | English | 6 | 85 | |||
| Stelios Constantas | "Feeling Alive" | English | 20 | 15 | |||
| Lisa Andreas | "Stronger Every Minute" | English | 5 | 170 | 5 | 149 | |
| Constantinos Christoforou | "Ela Ela (Come Baby)" (Ελα Ελα) | English | 18 | 46 | Top 12 previous year[a] | ||
| Annet Artani | "Why Angels Cry" | English | Failed to qualify | 15 | 57 | ||
| Evridiki | "Comme ci, comme ça" | French | 15 | 65 | |||
| Evdokia Kadí | "Femme Fatale" | Greek | 15 | 36 | |||
| Christina Metaxa | "Firefly" | English | 14 | 32 | |||
| Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders | "Life Looks Better in Spring" | English | 21 | 27 | 10 | 67 | |
| Christos Mylordos | "San aggelos s'agapisa" (Σαν άγγελος σ'αγάπησα) | Greek | Failed to qualify | 18 | 16 | ||
| Ivi Adamou | "La La Love" | English | 16 | 65 | 7 | 91 | |
| Despina Olympiou | "An me thimasai" (Aν με θυμάσαι) | Greek | Failed to qualify | 15 | 11 | ||
| John Karayiannis | "One Thing I Should Have Done" | English | 22 | 11 | 6 | 87 | |
| Minus One | "Alter Ego" | English | 21 | 96 | 8 | 164 | |
| Hovig | "Gravity" | English | 21 | 68 | 5 | 164 | |
| Eleni Foureira | "Fuego" | English[b] | 2 | 436 | 2 | 262 | |
| Tamta | "Replay" | English | 13 | 109 | 9 | 149 | |
| Sandro | "Running" | English | Contest cancelled[c] X | ||||
| Elena Tsagrinou | "El Diablo" | English[d] | 16 | 94 | 6 | 170 | |
Awards[]
Marcel Bezençon Awards[]
| Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) |
Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Composer Award | "Stronger Every Minute" | Mike Konnaris (m & l) | Lisa Andreas | 5 | 170 |  Istanbul
|
|
| 2018 | Artistic Award[e] | "Fuego" | Alex Papaconstantinou, Geraldo Sandell, Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov Didrick |
Eleni Foureira | 2 | 436 |  Lisbon
|
Related involvement[]
Conductors[]
| Year | Conductor[f] | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |  Michael Rozakis
|
[8] | |
| 1982 |  Martyn Ford
|
||
| 1983 | Michael Rozakis
|
||
| 1984 |  Pierre Cao
|
[g] | |
| 1985 | Charis Andreadis
|
[h] | |
| 1986 | Martyn Ford
|
||
| 1987 |  Jo Carlier
|
[i] | |
| 1988 |  John Themis
|
[j] | |
| 1989 | Charis Andreadis
|
||
| 1990 |  Stanko Selak
|
[k] | [9] |
| 1991 |  Alexander Kirov Zografov
|
||
| 1992 | George Theophanous | ||
| 1993 | |||
| 1994 | |||
| 1995 | |||
| 1996 | Stavros Lantsias | ||
| 1997 | |||
| 1998 | Costas Cacogiannis |
Heads of delegation[]
The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others.[10]
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Marios Skordis | |
| 2003 | Marios Skordis | |
| 2007–present | Evi Papamichael |
Commentators and spokespersons[]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2020) |
| Year | Commentator | Radio commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Unknown | Did not participate | [17] | |
| 1975 – 1980 | No broadcast | |||
| 1981 | Fryni Papadopoulou | Neophytos Taliotis | Anna Partelidou | |
| 1982 | ||||
| 1983 | ||||
| 1984 | Pavlos Pavlou | |||
| 1985 | Themis Themistokleous | |||
| 1986 | Neophytos Taliotis | Pavlos Pavlou | ||
| 1987 | Fryni Papadopoulou | |||
| 1988 | Daphne Bokota (for ERT and RIK) | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | |
| 1989 | Neophytos Taliotis | Pavlos Pavlou | Anna Partelidou | |
| 1990 | ||||
| 1991 | Evi Papamichael[16] | |||
| 1992 | ||||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1994 | ||||
| 1995 | Andreas Iakovidis | |||
| 1996 | Marios Skordis | |||
| 1997 | ||||
| 1998 | Marina Maleni | |||
| 1999 | ||||
| 2000 | Loukas Hamatsos | |||
| 2001 | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | ||
| 2002 | Pavlos Pavlou | Melani Steliou | ||
| 2003 | Loukas Hamatsos | |||
| 2004 | No radio broadcast | |||
| 2005 | Melani Steliou | |||
| 2006 | Constantinos Christoforou | |||
| 2007 | Vaso Komninou | Giannis Haralambous | ||
| 2008 | Melina Karageorgiou | Hristina Marouhou | ||
| 2009 | Nathan Morley | Sophia Paraskeva | ||
| 2010 | Christina Metaxa | |||
| 2011 | No radio broadcast | Loukas Hamatsos | ||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | Melina Karageorgiou | |||
| 2014 | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | ||
| 2015 | Melina Karageorgiou | Loukas Hamatsos | ||
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 | Tasos Tryfonos and Christiana Artemiou | Tasos Tryfonos and Christiana Artemiou | John Karayiannis | |
| 2018 | Costas Constantinou and Vaso Komninou | No radio broadcast | Hovig | |
| 2019 | Evridiki and Tasos Trifonos | |||
| 2021 | Louis Patsalides | TBA | Loukas Hamatsos | |
Stage directors[]
|
Costume designers[]
|
Photogallery[]
Alex Panayi in Dublin (1995)
Lisa Andreas in Istanbul (2004)
Evdokia Kadí in Belgrade (2008)
Christina Metaxa in Moscow (2009)
Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders in Oslo (2010)
Despina Olympiou in Malmö (2013)
Eleni Foureira in Lisbon (2018)
Elena Tsagrinou in Rotterdam (2021)
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
- ^ Although the lyrics are in English, the Spanish title 'Fuego' (fire) is repeated throughout the song.
- ^ The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ^ Contains repeated words in Spanish
- ^ Voted by previous winners.
- ^ All conductors are of Greek-Cypriot nationality unless otherwise noted.
- ^ Host conductor; according to performer Andy Paul, he originally intended to have co-arranger Les Vandyke conduct the entry, only for CyBC to refuse to pay his fee.
- ^ Also conducted the Greek entry.
- ^ Host conductor
- ^ Prior to "Thimame"'s disqualification, the intention was to have Themis conduct and, additionally, play the guitar solo.
- ^ Host conductor; several television commentators erroneously stated that the song's composer and co-arranger, John Vickers, was the conductor. He was one of the backing musicians at the Eurovision final.
References[]
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (3 October 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Cyprus will not participate in Copenhagen". ESCtoday. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ^ "Cyprus to make Eurovision come back in 2015". eurovision.tv. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (14 July 2014). "Cyprus: CyBC confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Xifaras, Billy (14 July 2014). "Cyprus confirms participation, takes cues from Melodifestivalen". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Here are the winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2018!". eurovision.tv. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ "Heads of Delegation". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ Bronson, Fred (22 May 1999). "Eurovision's Hitmaking Power Endures". Billboard. p. 8. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Barak, Itamar (19 May 2003). "Stelios Constantas is feeling alive in Riga". ESCToday. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Christos Mylordos (Cyprus) 2nd press conference". Eurovision.tv. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ "Israel to perform as 14th in the Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ "The Voting Results Of The 2nd Season Of Depi Evratesil". Eurovision.am. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The HoD Spotlight: In Conversation With Cyprus' Evi Papamichael". ESC Insight. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Granger, Anthony (5 March 2018). "Cyprus: CyBC Reveals Commentary Team For Eurovision 2018". eurovoix.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (1 February 2018). "Cyprus: Hovig Announced as Eurovision 2018 Spokesperson". eurovoix.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Kostikas, Giannis (11 March 2019). "Κύπρος: H Ευρυδίκη κι ο Τάσος Τρύφωνος στον σχολιασμό της φετινής Eurovision!". infecyprus.com (in Greek). Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (18 May 2019). "Cyprus: Hovig To Reveal The Cypriot Juries Results". eurovoix.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Washak, James (14 April 2021). "