March 27, 2024

🇷🇸 Road to Malmö: Serbia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Serbia. Teya Dora Teodora Pavlovska, known professionally as Teya Dora, was born on May 1, 1992, in Bor, Serbia. Balancing her academic endeavors in Belgrade with a musical education specializing in piano at the “Dr. Vojislav Vučković” Music School, she furthered her studies at Berklee College of Music. There, she focused on vocal studies alongside Charlie Puth and contributed backing vocals for American Grammy winners like Patti Austin and Valerie Simpson. After Berklee, she moved to New York, engaging in English songwriting for ARKTKT Publishing. Her Serbian music industry debut came with “Nema limita” for Nikolija in 2018, leading to numerous songwriting contributions for artists like Nataša Bekvalac. As a solo artist, her release “Da na meni je” in July 2019 marked the start of her vocal career, followed by her notable work “Džanum” for the “South Wind” series sequel, which achieved viral success on TikTok and significant streaming numbers on Spotify. By 2024, Teya Dora’s innovative musical contributions and unique blend of genres propelled her to represent Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Ramonda”, highlighting her as a significant figure in the Serbian music scene. Pesma Za Evroviziju The Serbian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest is called Pesma Za Evroviziju. The name exists since 2022. Before that, the national final was named Beovizija. This year the contest contained two semifinals with 14 songs each. The final consisted of 16 songs. A familiar name in the contest was the one of Konstrakta, who had a song and act being a close follow up of the 2022 song “In corpore sana”. Konstrakta reached a 4th place. Teya Dora was the no. 1 in both televote and jury vote. Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest Serbian artists have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest in the past when Serbia was a part of Yugoslavia, and later Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia’s debut as an independent country was in 2007, when Maria Šerifović sang “Molitva” and won the contest. It was the only time Serbia won so far, but Željko Joksimović reached a 3rd place in 2012. Konstrakta was 5th in 2022. Last year, Luke Black reached the final but ended up in 24th place. photo: Indrek Galetin, Wikimedia Commons The bookmakers Currently, Serbia is in 18th place in the odds to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Although the odds for semifinal 1 are not ready, we can safely say that Serbia might reach the final. What they will do there depends on a lot of things. The song And this is the song:

🇨🇾 Road to Malmö: Cyprus

photo: EBU/CyBC We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Cyprus. Silia Kapsis Silia Kapsis is a dynamic and talented Cypriot-Australian singer, dancer, and actress, chosen to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with her song “Liar”. Born on December 5, 2006, in Sydney, Australia, Kapsis has been making waves in the entertainment industry from a young age. Before her Eurovision selection, she was known for being the lead singer for the Australian Youth Performing Arts Company (AYPAC) and for performing at numerous high-profile events around the world. Her journey into music saw her releasing singles like “Who Am I?”, which she wrote and composed at the age of 12, followed by “No Boys Allowed” and “Disco Dancer” in 2023, showcasing her evolving musical style. Kapsis’s artistic talents extend beyond singing. She was selected for the ImmaBeast Dance Company in Los Angeles, has appeared on “The Jennifer Hudson Show”, and was featured in a dance documentary produced by Taboo from the Black-Eyed Peas. Her acting skills were highlighted in her role as Zoe in the short film “Pearly Gates”, and she has worked on various projects for Nickelodeon, including being a regular host on “Nick News”. Australians for Cyprus? Silia Kapsis is internally selected for the Eurovision Song Contest. Although born in Australia, she has Cypriot roots. That brings us to last year’s Cypriot participant: Andrew Lambrou. Andrew was also born and raced in Australia, but has Cypriot roots. For Cyprus, he reached a 12th place in the 2023 contest with the song “Break a broken heart”. Does that mean we have to look at Australia to know the 2025 Cypriot participant? photo: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest The first Cypriot song in the Eurovision Song Contest was “Monica”, from the group Island in 1981. Anna Vissi (1982), Chara & Andreas Constantinou (1997) and Lisa Andreas (2004) reached a 5th place. The best score ever came, however, from Eleni Foureira, whose “Fuego” reached a 2nd place in the 2018 contest and was even one of the hot favourites to win the competition. Eleni is still one of the more popular Eurovision participants. photo: EBU/Andres Putting The bookmakers Currently, Cyprus has a 24th place in the betting odds. Although the odds for the semifinals are not published yet, we can say from the winners’ list that Cyprus would get through as a 10th finalist. But who knows what will happen on the night of the 1st semifinal itself. The song And this is the song: