Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut in 1981. The Cypriot participant broadcaster in the contest is the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC). Its first entry was "Monika" performed by the group Island, who finished sixth. The country's best result is a second-place finish with "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira in 2018. Cyprus holds the record for most editions competing in the contest without a single win to date.
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster | Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) |
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 40 (33 finals) |
First appearance | 1981 |
Highest placement | 2nd: 2018 |
External links | |
Cyprus's page at Eurovision.tv ![]() | |
![]() Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
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 its return to the contest for 2015, with the country then qualifying for the final every year since, a streak that lasted until its non-qualification in 2022. Cyprus once again returned to the final in 2023.
History
editThe Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Cyprus since its 26th edition in 1981.
Since its first entry, CyBC has participated every year except for 1988, 2001, and 2014. In 1988, CyBC withdrew its entry after it determined that the intended entry was ineligible; the song had been presented to jurors (but not selected) in the 1984 internal selection process, which was a violation of their 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 its return in 2015, Cyprus has only failed to qualify once, and even reached its best result with "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira coming second in 2018. Cyprus holds the record for most editions competing in the contest without a single win to date. 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 2007, in which "Comme ci, comme ça" by Evridiki was entirely in French. Additionally, in both 2018 and 2021, the songs had some phrases in Spanish.
Voting
editCyprus' exchange of the maximum 12 points with Greece has occurred regularly in the contest, which is often met with derision from the audience.[6] In the 31 instances (1981–2024) of Cyprus being able to vote for Greece in a final, it has voted Greece as having the best song on 26 of them (the exceptions being 1981, 1985, 1990, 1991, 2015 and 2024). Since the introduction of televoting in 1998, the two countries have consistently given each other the maximum 12 points except in 2015, when neither country gave their 12 points to the other, but both gave their maximum points to Italy.
Cyprus and Turkey never exchanged votes until 2003, a taboo attributed to the Cyprus dispute.
Popularity of the contest
editSince its first entry in 1981, Cyprus has had a mixture of varied 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 managed to reach the top 10 a number of times, something which made the Contest popular with the Cypriot public. Since 2004, Cyprus' performance has dropped notably. From 2006 to 2009 and again in 2011 and 2013, the country failed 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.
Participation overview
edit2 | Second place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Year | Entrant | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Island | "Monika" (Μόνικα) | Greek | 6 | 69 | No semi-finals | |
1982 | Anna Vissi | "Mono i agapi" (Μόνο η αγάπη) | Greek | 5 | 85 | ||
1983 | Stavros and Constantina | "I agapi akoma zi" (Η αγάπη ακόμα ζει) | Greek | 16 | 26 | ||
1984 | Andy Paul | "Anna Mari-Elena" (Άννα Μαρί-Έλενα) | Greek | 15 | 31 | ||
1985 | Lia Vissi | "To katalava arga" (Το κατάλαβα αργά) | Greek | 16 | 15 | ||
1986 | Elpida | "Tora zo" (Τώρα ζω) | Greek | 20 ◁ | 4 | ||
1987 | Alexia | "Aspro mavro" (Άσπρο μαύρο) | Greek | 7 | 80 | ||
1988 | Yiannis Dimitrou | "Thimame" (Θυμάμαι) | Greek | Disqualified X | |||
1989 | Fanny Polymeri and Yiannis Savvidakis | "Apopse as vrethoume" (Απόψε ας βρεθούμε) | Greek | 11 | 51 | ||
1990 | Anastazio | "Milas poli" (Μιλάς πολύ) | Greek | 14 | 36 | ||
1991 | Elena Patroklou | "S.O.S." | Greek | 9 | 60 | ||
1992 | Evridiki | "Teriazoume" (Ταιριάζουμε) | Greek | 11 | 57 | ||
1993 | Zymboulakis and Van Beke | "Mi stamatas" (Μη σταματάς) | Greek | 19 | 17 | Kvalifikacija za Millstreet | |
1994 | Evridiki | "Ime anthropos ki ego" (Είμαι άνθρωπος κι εγώ) | Greek | 11 | 51 | No semi-finals | |
1995 | Alexandros Panayi | "Sti fotia" (Στη φωτιά) | Greek | 9 | 79 | ||
1996 | Constantinos | "Mono gia mas" (Μόνο για μας) | Greek | 9 | 72 | 15 | 42 |
1997 | Hara and Andreas Konstantinou | "Mana mou" (Μάνα μου) | Greek | 5 | 98 | No semi-finals | |
1998 | Michael Hajiyanni | "Genesis" (Γένεσις) | Greek | 11 | 37 | ||
1999 | Marlain | "Tha'ne erotas" (Θα'ναι έρωτας) | Greek | 22 | 2 | ||
2000 | Voice | "Nomiza" (Νόμιζα) | Greek, Italian | 21 | 8 | ||
2002 | One | "Gimme" | English | 6 | 85 | ||
2003 | Stelios Constantas | "Feeling Alive" | English | 20 | 15 | ||
2004 | Lisa Andreas | "Stronger Every Minute" | English | 5 | 170 | 5 | 149 |
2005 | Constantinos Christoforou | "Ela Ela" | English | 18 | 46 | Top 12 in 2004 final[a] | |
2006 | Annet Artani | "Why Angels Cry" | English | Failed to qualify | 15 | 57 | |
2007 | Evridiki | "Comme ci, comme ça" | French | 15 | 65 | ||
2008 | Evdokia Kadi | "Femme Fatale" | Greek | 15 | 36 | ||
2009 | Christina Metaxa | "Firefly" | English | 14 | 32 | ||
2010 | Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders | "Life Looks Better in Spring" | English | 21 | 27 | 10 | 67 |
2011 | Christos Mylordos | "San aggelos s'agapisa" (Σαν άγγελος σ'αγάπησα) | Greek | Failed to qualify | 18 | 16 | |
2012 | Ivi Adamou | "La La Love" | English | 16 | 65 | 7 | 91 |
2013 | Despina Olympiou | "An me thimasai" (Aν με θυμάσαι) | Greek | Failed to qualify | 15 | 11 | |
2015 | John Karayiannis | "One Thing I Should Have Done" | English | 22 | 11 | 6 | 87 |
2016 | Minus One | "Alter Ego" | English | 21 | 96 | 8 | 164 |
2017 | Hovig | "Gravity" | English | 21 | 68 | 5 | 164 |
2018 | Eleni Foureira | "Fuego" | English | 2 | 436 | 2 | 262 |
2019 | Tamta | "Replay" | English | 13 | 109 | 9 | 149 |
2020 | Sandro | "Running" | English | Contest cancelled[b] X | |||
2021 | Elena Tsagrinou | "El Diablo" | English | 16 | 94 | 6 | 170 |
2022 | Andromache | "Ela" (Έλα) | English, Greek | Failed to qualify | 12 | 63 | |
2023 | Andrew Lambrou | "Break a Broken Heart" | English | 12 | 126 | 7 | 94 |
2024 | Silia Kapsis | "Liar" | English | 15 | 78 | 6 | 67 |
2025 | Confirmed intention to participate †[7] |
Awards
editMarcel Bezençon Awards
editYear | 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[c] | "Fuego" | Alex Papaconstantinou, Geraldo Sandell, Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov Didrick |
Eleni Foureira | 2 | 436 | Lisbon |
Related involvement
editConductors
editYear | Conductor[d] | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Michael Rozakis | [10] | |
1982 | Martyn Ford | ||
1983 | Michael Rozakis | ||
1984 | Pierre Cao | [e] | |
1985 | Charis Andreadis | [f] | |
1986 | Martyn Ford | ||
1987 | Jo Carlier | [g] | |
1988 | John Themis | [h] | |
1989 | Charis Andreadis | ||
1990 | Stanko Selak | [i] | [11] |
1991 | Alexander Kirov Zografov | ||
1992 | George Theophanous | ||
1993 | |||
1994 | |||
1995 | |||
1996 | Stavros Lantsias | ||
1997 | |||
1998 | Costas Cacogiannis |
Heads of delegation
editEach participating broadcaster 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.[12]
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
1999 | Marios Skordis | |
2003 | Marios Skordis | |
2005 | Tasos Trifonos | |
2007–present | Evi Papamichael |
Commentators and spokespersons
editThis section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2020) |
Year | Television commentator | Radio commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | Unknown | Did not participate | [20] | |
1975 – 1980 | No broadcast | |||
1981 | Fryni Papadopoulou | Neophytos Taliotis | Anna Partelidou | |
1982 | ||||
1983 | ||||
1984 | Pavlos Pavlou | |||
1985 | Themis Themistokleous | |||
1986 | Themis Themistokleous | Fryni Papadopoulou | ||
1987 | Themis Themistokleous | |||
1988 | Daphne Bokota (for ERT and RIK) | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | |
1989 | Neophytos Taliotis | Pavlos Pavlou | Anna Partelidou | |
1990 | ||||
1991 | Evi Papamichael[19] | |||
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[21] | |||
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 | Loukas Hamatsos | ||
2022 | Melina Karageorgiou and Alexandros Taramountas | |||
2023 | ||||
2024 | Melina Karageorgiou and Hovig |
Stage directorsedit
Costume designersedit
|
Photo gallery
editSee also
editNotes
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ^ 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
edit- ^ 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.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Our View: No significance to be read into Eurovision | Cyprus Mail". Cyprus Mail. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (12 July 2024). "Cyprus: CyBC confirms participation at Eurovision 2025". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. July 2019. 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. Vol. Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Viniker, Barry (17 May 2005). "Cyprus ready to win". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 25 November 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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- ^ "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.
- ^ 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. Vol. Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
- ^ Christodoulides, Louis (22 January 2004). "Cyprus releases details about 2004 selection". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 18 February 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ 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). "🇨🇾 Cyprus: Louis Patsalides Revealed as Commentator For Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (14 March 2022). "Cyprus: Melina Karageorgiou and Alexandros Taramountas to Commentate on Eurovision 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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- ^ Van Dijk, Sem Anne (3 April 2024). "Cyprus: Melina Karageorgiou and Hovig Commentators for Eurovision 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
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- ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (9 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2005: Οι Hi-5 έγιναν… Χριστοφόρου και η Πατρόκλου… Κωνσταντοπούλου". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
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- ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (9 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2005: Οι Hi-5 έγιναν… Χριστοφόρου και η Πατρόκλου… Κωνσταντοπούλου". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
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External links
edit- National Final Cyprus
- Points to and from Cyprus eurovisioncovers.co.uk
- Music.net.cy - Cyprus National Finals 2010 (in Greek)