Cyprus

🇨🇾 It’s Silia Kapsis for Cyprus

photo: EBU/CyBC Finally confirmed, after weeks of rumours: Silia Kapsis will represent Cyprus! That is what Cypriot broadcaster CyBC announced today. Silia Kapsis was, just like this year’s contestant, Andrew Lambrou, born and raised in Australia. To be more precise: in Sydney. Silia has served as the main vocalist for the Australian Youth Performing Arts Company (AYPAC) and has frequently headlined numerous prestigious global events. Beyond the spotlight, her passion for pop music grew stronger. In 2022, she unveiled her maiden track, “Who Am I?”, a song she penned and set to music when she was just 12. Her subsequent tracks, “No Boys Allowed” and “Disco Dancer”, were released in March and May of 2023, respectively, with another song anticipated before the close of 2024. Silia has collaborated with globally acclaimed choreographers. She was chosen to be part of the ImmaBeast Dance Company in Los Angeles, shared the dance floor with Stephen tWitch Boss on The Jennifer Hudson Show, and was spotlighted in a dance documentary by Taboo of the Black-Eyed Peas. But Silia’s talents don’t stop at singing and dancing. She made her on-screen debut playing Zoe in the short film Pearly Gates. Furthermore, she’s been involved in several TV ventures with Nickelodeon, and regularly presents on Nick News. A song and a title have not been announced yet, so….. to be continued! “Disco Dancer” is not Silia’s Eurovision song.

Liverpool live: bare feet, earrings and a train

Day number 6 of the rehearsals is going on. This is what happened in the first half of the rehearsalday. photo credits: EBU/Chloe Hashemi/Sarah Louise Bennett Cyprus No shoes for Andrew Lambrou this time. Furthermore, not much has changed compared to the first rehearsal; many red and blue, fire on the LED-screens and smoke on the floor. Cyprus is currently 22nd at the bookmakers, and is very likely to qualify for the final. Iceland The people of Eurovision.tv noticed that Diljá has earrings. Whether there have been changes in the performance or improvement in singing… we don’t know. On the other hand, singing does not seem to be Diljá’s problem. Still, a number 29 in the betting odds and a number 14 in the semifinal ranking does not necessary bring the final closer for Iceland. Greece The Greek performance seems to be pretty much the same as the previous one, Victor Vernicos varying from sitting on the floor to walking, dancing and jumping. And of course he still has shorts on. Greece is currently 31st at the bookmakers and 11th in the semifinal ranking. But Greece and Denmark (no. 10) seem to get closer to eachother. Will Greece make it to the final after all? Poland No bare feet, earrings or a haircut (as the eurovision.tv liveblog mentions with Greece) is noticed when they talk about Poland. We guess it is because there are no changes. We are especially anxious on how Blanka’s singing is. In the national final this was definitely not good, we wanna know if that improves. We keep you updated! Poland is currently 24th at the bookmakers and could seriously reach the final. Keep in mind that this is all based on the staging. Slovenia The cheerful Slovenian entry was performed once again too. The act is still swinging and colourful. We mentioned the words Joker Out on the LED-screens but we also saw the title of the song, “Carpe diem”. The bookmakers predict a place in the final for Slovenia, as they are 21st in the ranking right now. Georgia Again, a change in clothes. The dress Iru is wearing is still the same, but the train it has is much bigger now. The windmachine still works at this stormy performance. Georgia is likely to qualify with a 23rd place at the bookmakers and a high ranking at the semifinal odds. in collaboration with Eurovision Artists

Liverpool live: rehearsal schedule

Today the rehearsals for the 2nd semifinal will be finished. The 11 countries that didn’t rehearse for a second time yet will do so today. We will closely follow it again. 11.30 – 11.50 Cyprus11.55 – 12.15 Iceland12.20 – 12.40 Greece12.45 – 13.05 Poland13.10 – 13.30 Slovenia13.35 – 13.55 Georgia 15.00 – 15.20 San Marino15.25 – 15.45 Austria15.50 – 16.10 Albania16.15 – 16.35 Lithuania16.40 – 17.00 Australia

Liverpool Live: a favourite in green

photo credits: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett/Corinne Cummings Finland After the lunch break, it is time for a lot of energy: Finland. As expected, Käärijä wears the green bolero jacket we know so well. He is accompanied by four dancers wearing pink. The show starts with Käärijä in a huge wooden box, climbs on top of a couple of pallets and sings there before he goes to the floor to continue his performance. We can at least say Käärijä’s performance spots a lot of energy. With Käärijä’s rehearsal, we saw all the participants in the first semifinal rehearse. It is time to continue with the second semifinal. Denmark Reiley’s performance is cleverly designed with a revolving structure that showcases three different colored rooms as he passes through doorways, utilizing the LED floor and projected graphics to special effects. The visuals range from swirling clouds to hearts and emojis, creating an atmosphere that gives the performance a dreamy feel. It’s very much in line with Gen Z sensibilities according to Eurovision.tv. Reiley himself is wearing pink, a colour we saw before today. Armenia Brunette is wearing a white dress with black sewings. She starts her performance on a sloped structure that is put upright. The structure has blue and pink swirls projected on it. The graphics and lightning change halfway as the song is changing it’s tempo. Brunette leaves the sloped structure, the stage is quite white with white squares in the background. Eurovision.tv speaks of strong vocals. Romania Yellow is the colour when we talk about Romania. Yellow suits, a yellow jacket and even yellow Pikachu socks! Theodor Andrei starts off with only a guitar on an empty stage. In the second half of the song, that all changes with much more energy. There is a dancer on stage as well. The end of the presentation seems to be quite dramatic, although eurovision.tv does not give more details about it. Belgium Belgium surprises with a completely different outfit than he had in the national final. Gustaph wears a white suit and a white hat, and a pink blouse. Gustaph has his own flight of stairs, which he intensively uses. He is supported by three backing vocals who play a main role in the entire show. He has a LED backdrop of vogueing, drag queens. A dancer also has a role in the act. Cyprus Eurovision.tv mentioned being impressed by Andrew’s vocal capacities. Andrew is wearing a black sleeveless vest. There’s an exciting energy in the way this song gradually intensifies from its opening note to an even more explosive conclusion. The LED background alternates between serene waterfalls and fiery flames. The floor has smoke and four banks of flames. in collaboration with Eurovision Artists

Liverpool live: rehearsal schedule day 2

Today is already the 2nd day of the rehearsals. What to expect today? After Sweden, we have another favourite in the contest today: Finland. But there is more: 11.30-12.00 Israel12.10-12.40 Azerbaijan12.50-13.20 Czechia13.30-14.00 The Netherlands15.10-15.40 Finland15.50-16.20 Denmark16.30-17.00 Armenia17.10-17.40 Romania17.50-18.20 Belgium18.30-19.00 Cyprus

Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou presents entry

photo: instagram Today was the day that Andrew Lambrou presented his entry. Andrew will represent Cyprus with the song “Break a broken heart”. The song is written by Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thornfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Thomas Stengaard and Marcus Winther-John. Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thornfeldt and Thomas Stengaard already wrote “Adrenalina” (San Marino) and “El diablo” (Cyprus), Thornfeldt also wrote “Voices” (Sweden), all in 2021. Stengaard also wrote “Fade to black” (Azerbeidzjan) in 2022, “Sister” in 2019 and “You let me walk alone” in 2018, both for Germany. His Eurovision debut was a winning one: “Only teardrops” for Emmelie de Forrest (Denmark) in 2013. Andrew Lambrou himself is also not completely new to this world: last year he took part in the Australian national final. This is the Cypriot song:

Andrew Lambrou

© EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett About Quick Facts NameAndrew Lambrou Born01 month 1900 Nationality🇦🇺 Australian National SelectionInternal selection 2023Eurovision – Australia decides 2022 In Eurovision2023 Liverpool SongBreak a broken heart (2023) Biography Andrew Lambrou is an Australian singer. He was born in 1998 in Sydney, Australia to a Greek Cypriot family. He attended AMS Music School where he learned to play the piano. At the age of 5, he won first place in a competition held by his school, singing “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. Lambrou first gained attention in 2013 after uploading a cover of Evanescence’s “My Immortal” to YouTube. A 15-second cover of “Stay With Me”, uploaded to Instagram, was shared by a Spain-based music page and earned Lambrou over 2,000 followers overnight. In 2015, Lambrou entered The X Factor Australia, reaching the top 20. That same year, he was spotted by Sony ATV and signed by Maree Hamblion. His debut single, “Throne,” was released in 2021. In 2022, Lambrou competed in the Australian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision – Australia Decides, with the song “Electrify”. He finished 7th in the final of the competition. On 17 October 2022, it was announced that Lambrou will represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. On March 2nd 2023, the Eurovision song “Break a broken heart” was presented. In the contest itself Lambrou reached the final and became 12th there. Entries Break A Broken Heart Country🇨🇾 Cyprus Year2023 LanguageEnglish LyricsJimmy ‘Joker’ ThornfeldtJimmy JanssonThomas StengaardMarcus Winther-John MusicJimmy ‘Joker’ ThornfeldtJimmy JanssonThomas StengaardMarcus Winther-John Backings– Results Semi Points: 94Position: 7Running order: 6 Results Finals Points: 126Position: 12Running order: 7 https://youtu.be/49YiimKeyDI

Blast from the past: Cyprus 1984

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today, we have a look at 1984, when Andy Paul represented the country with the song “Anna Mari-Elena”. Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest The first Cypriot entry entered the stage in 1981. Although Cyprus never won Eurovision, there were some huge successes. Cyprus was very close to winning back in 2018, when Eleni Foureira reached the 2nd place with her “Fuego”. National selection Official lists of the 1984 Cypriot national final are never published. Whether there was a live broadcast or an internal selection is not known. However, there are live recordings of several songs going on throughout the internet. We were able to distill a list of four songs, involved in the contest: *.”Anna Mari-Elena“, sung by Andy Paul, 1st*.”Htes”, sung by Lia Vissi-Piliouri, 2nd*.”Thimame“, sung by Yiannis Dimitrou, 3rd*.”Triantafila tou mai”, sung by Jimmy Makulis, 4th Jimmy Makulis had previously represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1961. Lia Vissi-Piliouri had to wait one more year; she was the 1985 Cypriot contestant. Yiannis Dimitrou and his song “Thimame” were supposed to represent Cyprus in 1988. The song was disqualified because it already took part in the 1984 national selection. Andy Paul Andy’s real name is Andros Pavlou. In the early 1960’s, he moved to the United Kingdom. As more Greek artists in the United Kingdom do (think about George Michael), Andros took a more English name: Andy Paul. His career as a singer started with performances in a pub, where he took part in a talent contest, he won with an Elvis imitation. It got him a contract at the pub. In 1983, Andy Paul released his first record: “Heartbreak situation”. The song was produced by the famous producers trio Stock, Aitken and Waterman. A year later he was chosen to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song can be found on his 1986 album “Andy Paul”. An international disco hit followed in 1988: “Now that I’ve found you“. He also released an album, “Andy Paul”, in the same year. In 1989 a new album was made. Andy Paul is still performing. He currently sings songs from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially on weddings and other parties. Some material can be found on his website. Anna Mari-Elena The song “Anna Mari-Elena” was an uptempo disco song written by Paul himself. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg the song was not a hot favourite to win the contest. Greece, very often supportive for Cyprus (if not always), did not take part. However, there was a country that gave it’s 12 to Cyprus: Yugoslavia. Denmark awarded the song with 10 points, but only Sweden, Ireland (4 points) and France (1 point) had Cyprus in their top-10. The song ended up in a 15th place.

Andrew Lambrou for Cyprus

This afternoon it has been announced that Andrew Lambrou will follow up Andromache as the Cypriot entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 which is to be held in Liverpool. Andrew’s past Andrew was born in Australia but is a descent of a Greek-Cypriot family. He began his musical career by learning piano at a young age, which was later followed by covering songs and uploading them on YouTube. After he gained some fame on social media, Andrew later decided to take part in The X-Factor where Eurovision star Guy Sebastian was one of the judges. His Eurovision journey Even though it’s Andrew’s first time competing at Eurovision, this isn’t his first time trying to enter. In 2022 Andrew tried to represent Australia by taking part in Australia Decides with his song “Electrify”. The song for Liverpool however will be presented at a later date.

Andromache

© EBU/Nathan Reinds About Quick Facts NameAndromache Dimitropoulou Born12 oktober 1994 Nationality🇬🇷 Greek National SelectionInternal selection 2022 In Eurovision2022 Turin SongEla (2022) Biography Andromache Dimitropoulou, known professionally as Andromache, is a Greek singer. She was born in Siegen, Germany to Greek parents, but at the age of 10 she moved with her family to Lechena, Ilia, Greece. Andromache started her music career working in small shops in Athens. Then, in 2015, she participated in the second season of The Voice of Greece, where she was in the team of Michalis Stavento. Her musical journey in the show, although it stopped after the 2nd liv showe, “opened the door” of Nikos Vertis. She collaborated with him for two years (2015-2017). This was followed by other collaborations with Greek artists, such as Konstantinos Argyros (2017-2019), Nikos Economopoulos (2019-2020) and Thodoris Ferris. Her discographic debut was in 2017. She released her first single entitled “To fengari” with lyrics and music by George Papadopoulos, followed “Den boró” and “Den se diálexa”. Then “Na’soun psema” to music and lyrics by Vassilis Koumentakos, “Thalassaki” in collaboration with Duo Violins where it is an adaptation of the traditional song. “S’agapo” and “Vásano mou”. On March 9, 2022, it was announced that Andromache would represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. with the song “ela”. Entries Ela Country🇨🇾 Cyprus Year2022 LanguageEnglishGreek LyricsAlex PapaconstantinouArash LabafEyelar MirzazadehFatjon MiftarajFilloreta Raçi FifiRobert UhlmannViktor SvenssonYll LimaniGeorge Papadopoulos MusicAlex PapaconstantinouArash LabafEyelar MirzazadehFatjon MiftarajFilloreta Raçi FifiRobert UhlmannViktor SvenssonYll LimaniGeorge Papadopoulos DancersNefeli TheodotouDespina Lagoudaki Results Semi Points: 63Position: 12Running order: 9 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2IUdTl-gAI