Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

Cyprus

Cyprus

Member station CyBC
National selection events
Appearances
Appearances 33 (27 finals)
First appearance 1981
Best result 5th: 1982, 1997, 2004
Worst result Last: 1986
External links
CyBC page
Cyprus's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 33 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 three fifth-place finishes, in 1982 with Anna Vissi, 1997 with Hara & Andreas Constantinou and 2004 with Lisa Andreas.

Since 2006, Cyprus failed to qualify from the semi-final round for six out of eight years (2006–2013), before withdrawing from the 2014 contest. On 14 July 2014, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) officially confirmed their return to the contest in 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 withdraw from the contest and cited public indifference and the economic crisis for not taking part.[1]

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.

Withdrawal

On 3 October 2013, the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) withdrew from the 2014 contest. Reasons that were cited are public opinion regarding the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis and budget restrictions as factors that influenced this decision.[1]

Voting

Cyprus is famous for always exchanging 12 points with Greece in the Semi Final and Final, though there have been exceptions. The last time Cyprus gave Greece less 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 instead both gave them to Italy.

Cyprus and Turkey never voted for each other until 2004, 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 fifth place, reached by Anna Vissi in 1982, Hara and Andreas Constantinou in 1997 and Lisa Andreas in 2004. The lowest result was a last place in 1986, with the song "Tora Zo" sung by Elpida.

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 the last best result of the country in 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 contest, which often results in young and somewhat unknown artists representing the country.

2015 return

In May 2014, the ethnic radio station London Greek Radio announced that Cyprus were planning a return to the contest after a one-year break.[2] A few weeks later Eurovision website Wiwibloggs announced that Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) had confirmed their return.[3] However this confirmation was later dismissed following a further published report which stated that CyBC were still discussing whether to return, with an official decision expected to be reached sometime in July 2014.[4]

On 14 July 2014, CyBC officially confirmed their return to the contest in 2015.[5][6] Cyprus hosted the Eurovision Song Project, which included 2 semi-finals, 1 second chance round and a final similar to that of Sweden's Melodifestivalen.[7][8]

Contestants

Table key
  Winner
  Second place
  Third place
  Last place
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points
1981 Island Greek "Monika" (Μόνικα) 6 69 No semi-finals
1982 Anna Vissi Greek "Mono i agapi" (Μόνο η αγάπη) 5 85
1983 Stavros & Constantina Greek "I agapi akoma zi" (Η αγάπη ακόμα ζει) 16 26
1984 Andy Paul Greek "Anna Maria Lena" (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) 15 31
1985 Lia Vissi Greek "To katalava arga" (Το κατάλαβα αργά) 16 15
1986 Elpida Greek "Tora zo" (Τώρα ζω) 20 4
1987 Alexia Greek "Aspro mavro" (Άσπρο-μαύρο) 7 80
1988 Yiannis Dimitrou & Scott Adams Greek "Thimame" (Θυμάμαι) Withdrawn
1989 Yiannis Savvidakis & Fani Polymeri Greek "Apopse as vrethoume" (Απόψε ας βρεθούμε) 11 51
1990 Haris Anastazio Greek "Milas poli" (Μιλάς πολύ) 14 36
1991 Elena Patroklou Greek "SOS" 9 60
1992 Evridiki Greek "Teriazoume" (Ταιριάζουμε) 11 57
1993 Kyriakos Zympoulakis & Dimos Van Beke Greek "Mi stamatas" (Μη σταματάς) 19 17 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994 Evridiki Greek "Eimai anthropos ki ego" (Είμαι άνθρωπος κι εγώ) 11 51 No semi-finals
1995 Alex Panayi Greek "Sti fotia" (Στη φωτιά) 9 79
1996 Constantinos Greek "Mono gia mas" (Μόνο για μας) 9 72 15 42
1997 Hara & Andreas Constantinou Greek "Mana mou" (Μάνα μου) 5 98 No semi-finals
1998 Michalis Hatzigiannis Greek "Genesis" (Γένεσις) 11 37
1999 Marlain Greek "Tha 'nai erotas" (Θα 'ναι έρωτας) 22 2
2000 Voice Greek, Italian "Nomiza" (Νόμιζα) 21 8
2001 Did not participate
2002 One English "Gimme" 6 85
2003 Stelios Constantas English "Feeling Alive" 20 15
2004 Lisa Andreas English "Stronger Every Minute" 5 170 5 149
2005 Constantinos Christoforou English "Ela Ela (Come Baby)" (Ελα Ελα) 18 46 Top 12 Previous Year
2006 Annet Artani English "Why Angels Cry" Failed to qualify 15 57
2007 Evridiki French "Comme ci, comme ça" 15 65
2008 Evdokia Kadí Greek "Femme Fatale" 15 36
2009 Christina Metaxa English "Firefly" 14 32
2010 Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders English "Life Looks Better in Spring" 21 27 10 67
2011 Christos Mylordos Greek "San aggelos s'agapisa" (Σαν άγγελος σ'αγάπησα) Failed to qualify 18 16
2012 Ivi Adamou English "La La Love" 16a 65 7 91
2013 Despina Olympiou Greek "An me thimasai" (Aν με θυμάσαι) Failed to qualify 15 11
2014 Did not participate
2015 Giannis Karagiannis English "One Thing I Should Have Done" 22 11 6 87
2016 Minus One English "Alter Ego" 21 96 8 164
2017 Hovig
NOTES:
a. ^ In 2012, Cyprus and Ukraine were both awarded with 65 points each in the final, however, according to tie-break procedures, Ukraine finished 15th overall and Cyprus 16th because Ukraine received points from a greater amount of countries between the two.
b. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten with Spain and the United Kingdom finishing after 15th place, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.

Voting history

As of 2016, Cyprus' voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only
Rank Country Points
1  Greece 300
2  Spain 112
3  Russia 100
4  Ireland 92
5  Sweden 89
Most points received in the grand finals only
Rank Country Points
1  Greece 235
2  United Kingdom 80
3  Malta 66
4  Iceland 56
 Finland 56

Most points given in the semis and finals
Rank Country Points
1  Greece 351
2  Russia 149
3  Sweden 120
4  Spain 112
5  Ukraine 105
Most points received in the semis and finals
Rank Country Points
1  Greece 215
2  United Kingdom 132
3  Malta 91
4  Iceland 87
5  Israel 80

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Composer Award

Year Song Composer(s)
Lyrics (l) / Music (m)
Performer Final
Result
Points Host city
2004 "Stronger Every Minute" Mike Konnaris (m & l) Lisa Andreas 5th 170 Istanbul

Commentators and spokespersons

Year(s) Commentator Spokesperson
1981 Fryni Papadopoulou Anna Partelidou
1982
1983
1984 Pavlos Pavlou
1985 Themis Themistokleous
1986 Neophytos Taliotis
1987 Fryni Papadopoulou
1988 No broadcast Cyprus did not participate
1989 Neophytos Taliotis Anna Partelidou
1990
1991 Evi Papamichail
1992
1993
1994
1995 Neophytos Taliotis Andreas Iakovidis
1996 Evi Papamichail Marios Skordis
1997
1998 Marina Maleni
1999
2000 Loukas Hamatsos
2001 Cyprus did not participate
2002 Melani Steliou
2003 Loukas Hamatsos
2004
2005 Melani Steliou
2006 Constantinos Christoforou
2007 Vaso Komninou Giannis Haralambous
2008 Melina Karageorgiou Hristina Marouhou
2009 Sophia Paraskeva
2010 Christina Metaxa
2011 Loukas Hamatsos
2012
2013
2014 Cyprus did not participate
2015 Loukas Hamatsos
2016
2017 TBA TBA

Photogallery

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Jiandani, Sanjay (3 October 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Cyprus will not participate in Copenhagen". ESCtoday. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  2. Neophytou, Tony (31 May 2014). "Cyprus plan Eurovision return". lgr.co.uk. London Greek Radio. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  3. Xifaras, Billy (1 June 2014). "Cyprus: Nicosia will return in 2015". wiwibloggs.com. CyBC. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  4. Granger, Anthony (2 July 2014). "Cyprus decision on participation in the next week.". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  5. "Cyprus to make Eurovision come back in 2015". eurovision.tv. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. Jiandani, Sanjay (14 July 2014). "Cyprus: CyBC confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  7. http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/07/14/cyprus-confirms-participation/55346/
  8. http://www.cybc.com.cy/pdf/eurovision/eurovision-participation.pdf

External links

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