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Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Cyprus
Cyprus
Participating broadcasterCyBC
Participation summary
Appearances37 (31 finals)
First appearance1981
Highest placement2nd: 2018
External links
CyBC page
For the most recent participation see
Cyprus 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

Table key
2
 Second place
◁
 Last place
X
 Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Title 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 & Constantina "I agapi akoma zi" (Η αγάπη ακόμα ζει) Greek 16 26
1984
 Andy Paul "Anna Maria Lena" (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) 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
 Yiannis Savvidakis & Fani Polymeri "Apopse as vrethoume" (Απόψε ας βρεθούμε) Greek 11 51 No semi-finals
1990
 Haris Anastazio "Milas poli" (Μιλάς πολύ) Greek 14 36
1991
 Elena Patroklou "SOS" Greek 9 60
1992
 Evridiki "Teriazoume" (Ταιριάζουμε) Greek 11 57
1993
 Kyriakos Zympoulakis & Dimos Van Beke "Mi stamatas" (Μη σταματάς) Greek 19 17 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994
 Evridiki "Eimai anthropos ki ego" (Είμαι άνθρωπος κι εγώ) Greek 11 51 No semi-finals
1995
 Alex Panayi "Sti fotia" (Στη φωτιά) Greek 9 79
1996
 Constantinos "Mono gia mas" (Μόνο για μας) Greek 9 72 15 42
1997
 Hara & Andreas Constantinou "Mana mou" (Μάνα μου) Greek 5 98 No semi-finals
1998
 Michalis Hatzigiannis "Genesis" (Γένεσις) Greek 11 37
1999
 Marlain "Tha 'nai 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 (Come Baby)" (Ελα Ελα) English 18 46 Top 12 previous year[a]
2006
 Annet Artani "Why Angels Cry" English Failed to qualify 15 57
2007
 Evridiki "Comme ci, comme ça" French 15 65
2008
 Evdokia Kadí "Femme Fatale" Greek 15 36
2009
 Christina Metaxa "Firefly" English 14 32
2010
 Jon Lilygreen & 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[b] 2 436 2 262
2019
 Tamta "Replay" English 13 109 9 149
2020
 Sandro "Running" English Contest cancelled[c] X
2021
 Elena Tsagrinou "El Diablo" English[d] 16 94 6 170

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Further information: 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 Turkey Istanbul
[6]
2018 Artistic Award[e] "Fuego" Alex Papaconstantinou, Geraldo Sandell,
Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov Didrick 		Eleni Foureira 2 436 Portugal Lisbon
[7]

Conductors

Year Conductor[f] Notes Ref.
1981 Greece Michael Rozakis [8]
1982 United Kingdom Martyn Ford
1983 Greece Michael Rozakis
1984 Luxembourg Pierre Cao [g]
1985 Greece Charis Andreadis [h]
1986 United Kingdom Martyn Ford
1987 Belgium Jo Carlier [i]
1988 Australia John Themis [j]
1989 Greece Charis Andreadis
1990 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Stanko Selak [k] [9]
1991 Bulgaria 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
[11]
2003 Marios Skordis
[12]
2007–present Evi Papamichael
[13][14][15][16]

Commentators and spokespersons

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
[18][19]
2019 Evridiki and Tasos Trifonos
[20][21]
2021 Louis Patsalides TBA Loukas Hamatsos
[22]

Photogallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Although the lyrics are in English, the Spanish title 'Fuego' (fire) is repeated throughout the song.
  3. ^ The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. ^ Contains repeated words in Spanish
  5. ^ Voted by previous winners.
  6. ^ All conductors are of Greek-Cypriot nationality unless otherwise noted.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Also conducted the Greek entry.
  9. ^ Host conductor
  10. ^ Prior to "Thimame"'s disqualification, the intention was to have Themis conduct and, additionally, play the guitar solo.
  11. ^ 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

  1. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (3 October 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Cyprus will not participate in Copenhagen". ESCtoday. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Cyprus to make Eurovision come back in 2015". eurovision.tv. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  3. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (14 July 2014). "Cyprus: CyBC confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  4. ^ Xifaras, Billy (14 July 2014). "Cyprus confirms participation, takes cues from Melodifestivalen". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  5. ^ "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)
  6. ^ "Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Here are the winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2018!". eurovision.tv. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  8. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  9. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  10. ^ "Heads of Delegation". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  11. ^ Bronson, Fred (22 May 1999). "Eurovision's Hitmaking Power Endures". Billboard. p. 8. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  12. ^ Barak, Itamar (19 May 2003). "Stelios Constantas is feeling alive in Riga". ESCToday. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Christos Mylordos (Cyprus) 2nd press conference". Eurovision.tv. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Israel to perform as 14th in the Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  15. ^ "The Voting Results Of The 2nd Season Of Depi Evratesil". Eurovision.am. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  16. ^ a b "The HoD Spotlight: In Conversation With Cyprus' Evi Papamichael". ESC Insight. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  17. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Washak, James (14 April 2021). "🇨🇾 Cyprus: Louis Patsalides Revealed as Commentator For Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 15 April 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ a b Mantzilas, Dimitrios (9 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2005: Οι Hi-5 έγιναν… Χριστοφόρου και η Πατρόκλου… Κωνσταντοπούλου". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  24. ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (18 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2008: Η Ευδοκία Καδή με ελληνικό ηχόχρωμα: ρεμπέτικο και bossa nova". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  25. ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (21 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2009: η άπειρη Χριστίνα Μεταξά δεν απέφυγε τον αποκλεισμό". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  26. ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (29 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2011: Ο Χρίστος Μυλόρδος στο "χρονικό ενός προαναγγελθέντος αποκλεισμού"". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Η Ήβη Αδάμου αναχωρεί το Σάββατο για το Μπακού". kathimerini.com.cy (in Greek). 8 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  28. ^ a b Mantzilas, Dimitrios (6 February 2019). "Κύπρος 2013: η Δέσποινα Ολυμπίου κι ο "πόλεμος" από τον πρώην της Μιχάλη Χατζηγιάννη". infegreece.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  29. ^ Weaver, Jessica (6 April 2016). "Cyprus: Sacha Jean-Baptiste appointed as Artistic Director". EscToday. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  30. ^ Jordan, Paul (21 October 2016). "Hovig to represent Cyprus in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  31. ^ van Ee, Dennis. "Eleni Foureira for Cyprus with stage director Sacha Jean-Baptiste". escdaily.com.
  32. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (27 March 2019). "Cyprus: Tamta to be accompanied by four dancers on stage in Tel Aviv". EscToday. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  33. ^ Vautrey, Jonathan (3 February 2020). "Cyprus: Marvin Dietmann – Conchita Wurst's artistic director – will stage Sandro's Eurovision 2020 entry". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  34. ^ Adams, William Lee (25 November 2020). "Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou will sing "El Diablo" at Eurovision 2021". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  35. ^ Mantzilas, Dimitrios (11 January 2019). "Κύπρος 2006: Αννέτ Αρτάνι με σκάνδαλα, μπάχαλα, σούφερα, σκύβαλα και ντράβαλα". infegreece.com (in Greek). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  36. ^ "Αυτός είναι ο Κύπριος fashion designer που ντύνει τους Minus One!". newsbomb.com.cy (in Greek). 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  37. ^ Agadellis, Stratos (18 April 2018). "Cyprus: Eleni Foureira goes into detail about her Eurovision staging". EscToday. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  38. ^ Pogiatzi, Antri (25 May 2019). "Η στυλίστρια της Τάμτα απαντά στα σχόλια για την εμφάνιση της στη Eurovision". alphanews.live (in Greek). Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  39. ^ "Σίλια Κριθαριώτη: Η έμπνευση πίσω από τη δημιουργία που θα φορέσει η Έλενα Τσαγκρινού απόψε στην Eurovision". Madame Figaro (in Greek). 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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