Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
Cyprus | |
---|---|
| |
Member station | CyBC |
National selection events |
Internal Selection
National Final
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 35 (29 finals) |
First appearance | 1981 |
Best result | 2nd: 2018 |
Worst result | Last: 1986 |
External links | |
CyBC page | |
Cyprus's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 |
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 35 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.
Since 2004, 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, CyBC officially confirmed Cyprus' return to the contest, with the country reaching the final four times in a row in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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 difficulties for not taking part.[1] As of 2018, Cyprus now holds the record for the most times competing in the Eurovision Song Contest without a single win with 35 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.
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 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 contest, which often results in young and somewhat unknown artists representing the country.
2015 return
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.
Contestants
- Table key
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 Yearb | |
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 | English | "Gravity" | 21 | 68 | 5 | 164 |
2018 | Eleni Foureira | English c | "Fuego" | 2 | 436 | 2 | 262 |
2019 |
- 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.
- c. ^ Although the lyrics are in English, the Spanish title 'Fuego' (fire) is repeated throughout the song.
Voting history
As of 2018, Cyprus' voting history is as follows:
|
|
Marcel Bezençon Awards
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 |
Year | Song | Performer | Final Result |
Points | Host city |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | "Fuego" | Eleni Foureira | 2nd | 436 | Lisbon |
Commentators and spokespersons
Year(s) | Commentator | Spokesperson | Radio commentator |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Fryni Papadopoulou | Anna Partelidou | Neophytos Taliotis |
1982 | |||
1983 | |||
1984 | Pavlos Pavlou | ||
1985 | Themis Themistokleous | ||
1986 | Neophytos Taliotis | Pavlos Pavlou | |
1987 | Fryni Papadopoulou | ||
1988 | Daphne Bokota (for ERT and RIK) | Cyprus did not participate | No radio broadcast |
1989 | Neophytos Taliotis | Anna Partelidou | Pavlos Pavlou |
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 | No radio broadcast | |
2002 | Melani Steliou | Pavlos Pavlou | |
2003 | Loukas Hamatsos | ||
2004 | No radio broadcast | ||
2005 | Melani Steliou | ||
2006 | Constantinos Christoforou | ||
2007 | Vaso Komninou | Giannis Haralambous | |
2008 | Melina Karageorgiou | Hristina Marouhou | |
2009 | Sophia Paraskeva | Nathan Morley | |
2010 | Christina Metaxa | ||
2011 | Loukas Hamatsos | No radio broadcast | |
2012 | |||
2013 | Melina Karageorgiou | ||
2014 | Cyprus did not participate | No radio broadcast | |
2015 | Loukas Hamatsos | Melina Karageorgiou | |
2016 | |||
2017 | Tasos Tryfonos and Christiana Artemiou | John Karayiannis | Tasos Tryfonos and Christiana Artemiou |
2018 | Costas Constantinou and Vaso Komninou | Hovig | TBA |
- In addition, since 2009, British writer and TV presenter Nathan Morley has provided the CyBC Radio commentary.
Conductors
All conductors are Cypriot except those with a flag.
Michael Rozakis (1981, 1983) Martyn Ford (1982, 1986) Pierre Cao (1984) Charis Andreadis (1985, 1989) Jo Carlier (1987) Stanko Selak (1990) Alexander Kirov Zografov (1991) - George Theophanous (1992–95)
- Stavros Lantsias (1996–97)
- Costas Cacogiannis (1998)[6]
Photogallery
See also
References
- 1 2 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.
- ↑ http://wiwibloggs.com/2014/07/14/cyprus-confirms-participation/55346/. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ http://www.cybc.com.cy/pdf/eurovision/eurovision-participation.pdf
- ↑ http://andtheconductoris.eu/
External links
- National Final Cyprus
- Points to and from Cyprus eurovisioncovers.co.uk
- Music.net.cy - Cyprus National Finals 2010 (in Greek)