Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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Eurovision Song Contest 2008
CountryFlag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus
National selection
Selection processA Song for Europe
Selection date(s)12 January 2008
Selected entrantEvdokia Kadi
Selected song"Femme Fatale"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Nikos Evagelou
  • Vangelis Evangelou
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (15th)
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 •2008• 2009►

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Femme Fatale" written by Nikos Evagelou and Vangelis Evangelou. The song was performed by Evdokia Kadi. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the national final A Song for Europe in order to select the Cypriot entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. The national final featured ten entries, resulting in the selection of Kadi with "Femme Fatale" at the final on 12 January 2008.

Contents

Cyprus was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 17, "Femme Fatale" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Cyprus placed fifteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 36 points.

Background

Prior to the 2008 contest, Cyprus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-five times since their debut in the 1981 contest. [1] Its best placing was fifth, which it achieved three times: in the 1982 competition with the song "Mono i agapi" performed by Anna Vissi, in the 1997 edition with "Mana mou" performed by Hara and Andreas Constantinou, and the 2004 contest with "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. Cyprus' least successful result was in the 1986 contest when it placed last with the song "Tora zo" by Elpida, receiving only four points in total. However, its worst finish in terms of points received was when it placed second to last in the 1999 contest with "Tha'nai erotas" by Marlain Angelidou, receiving only two points. [2] The nation failed to qualify for the final in 2007 with "Comme ci, comme ça" performed by Evridiki.

The Cypriot national broadcaster, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), broadcasts the event within Cyprus and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. CyBC confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 28 September 2007. [3] Cyprus has used various methods to select the Cypriot entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. The broadcaster selected the 2007 Cypriot entry via an internal selection. However, CyBC opted to organised a national final to select the Cypriot entry for the 2008 contest.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe

A Song for Europe was the national final format developed by CyBC in order to select Cyprus' entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. [4] The competition took place on 12 January 2008 at the CyBC Studio 3 in Nicosia, hosted by Andreas Ektoras and broadcast on RIK 1, RIK Sat, Trito Programma, London Greek Radio as well as online via the broadcaster's website cybc.cy and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv. [5]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 29 September 2007 and 15 November 2007. All artists and songwriters were required to have Cypriot nationality, origin or residency as of 2007. [6] At the conclusion of the deadline, 67 entries were received by CyBC. [7] A seven-member selection committee selected 10 entries from the received submissions, which were announced on 8 December 2007. Among the competing artists was 1999 Cypriot Eurovision entrant Marlain Angelidou. Mike Connaris composed the Cypriot Eurovision entry in 2004. [8]

ArtistSongSongwriter(s)
Constantinos Andronikou"Calling You"Constantinos Andronikou
Eleni Skarpari"Moments of Madness"Mike Connaris
Elizabeth Anastasiou"Sugar Mountain"Michael Neophytou, Sotira Hadjipanagi
Evdokia Kadi"Femme Fatale"Nikos Evagelou, Vangelis Evangelou
Marlain Angelidou "Rejection (Set Me Free)"Marlain Angelidou
Mirto Meletiou"Rescue Me"Christodoulos Haralampides, Andreas Ikonomidi
Myria Pampori and Alexis Manison"Turning to You"Minas Pamporis
Nikolas Metaxas "Butterfly"Nikolas Metaxas
"I Can't Be"Nikolas Metaxas
Sofia Strati"This Can't Be Love"Giorgos Pellapashiotis

Final

The final took place on 12 January 2008. Ten entries competed and the winner, "Femme Fatale" performed by Evdokia Kadi, was selected by a combination of votes from a nine-member jury panel (40%) and a public televote (60%). The jury panel consisted of the seven members of the selection committee that selected the competing entries as well as two guest jurors. [9] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured a guest performance by 1992, 1994 and 2007 Cypriot Eurovision entrant Evridiki and Dimitris Korgialas. [10]

Final – 12 January 2008
DrawArtistSongJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
VotesPoints
1Eleni Skarpari"Moments of Madness"161,64418347
2Myria Pampori and Alexis Manison"Turning to You"82,85048564
3Mirto Meletiou"Rescue Me"201,37412329
4Sofia Strati"This Can't Be Love"122,28542545
5Evdokia Kadi"Femme Fatale"326,279721041
6 Nikolas Metaxas "I Can't Be"403,994601002
7 Marlain Angelidou "Rejection (Set Me Free)"482,11936843
8Nikolas Metaxas"Butterfly"242,07630546
9Elizabeth Anastasiou"Sugar Mountain"42,048242810
10Constantinos Andronikou"Calling You"281,3426348

Promotion

Evdokia Kadi specifically promoted "Femme Fatale" as the Cypriot Eurovision entry on 27 February 2008 by performing the song during the Greek Eurovision national final Ellinikós Telikós 2008 . [11]

At Eurovision

Evdokia Kadi during a press meet and greet Evdokia Kadi 2008 Eurovision 4.jpg
Evdokia Kadi during a press meet and greet

It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008. [12] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2008, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Cyprus was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 22 May 2008. [13] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Cyprus was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from Malta and before the entry from Macedonia. [14]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Cyprus on RIK 1 and RIK SAT with commentary by Melina Karageorgiou. [15] The Cypriot spokesperson, who announced the Cypriot votes during the final, was Hristina Marouhou.

Semi-final

Evdokia Kadi during a rehearsal before the second semi-final Evdokia Kadi, Cyprus - ESC 2008, 2nd semifinal.jpg
Evdokia Kadi during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Evdokia Kadi took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. The Cypriot performance featured Kadi wearing a high-collared silver dress that was removed to reveal a short orange and black dress, joined by four backing vocalists dressed in black suits. [16] The performance featured Kadi performing on and around a black dining table, which was popped up to reveal a red tablecloth towards the end of the song, on which Kadi sat on while the backing vocalists lifted the table and carried it around. [17] The backing vocalists that joined Kadi on stage were Andreas Vanezis, Christos Shakallis, Polys Kourousides and Tefkros Neokleous. [18] An additional backing vocalist, Pavlos Gregoras, was featured for the performance. [19]

At the end of the show, Cyprus was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Cyprus placed fifteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 36 points. [20]

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Cyprus and awarded by Cyprus in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Georgia in the semi-final and to Greece in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Cyprus

Points awarded to Cyprus (Semi-final 2) [21]
ScoreCountry
12 pointsFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
10 points
8 pointsFlag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria
7 points
6 points
5 pointsFlag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
4 pointsFlag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
3 points
2 points
1 pointFlag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia

Points awarded by Cyprus

Related Research Articles

Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

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.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Why Angels Cry" written by Peter Yiannakis. The song was performed by Annet Artani. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the national final A Song for Europe in order to select the Cypriot entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. The national final featured 20 entries and consisted of two semi-finals and a final, resulting in the selection of Annet Artani with "Why Angels Cry" at the final on 22 February 2008.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Ela Ela " written and performed by Constantinos Christoforou, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in November 2004 to represent Cyprus at the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. CyBC organised a national final on 1 February 2005 in order to select the Cypriot song. The national final featured four songs and resulted in the selection of "Ela Ela" as the winning song.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Comme ci, comme ça" written by Dimitris Korgialas and Poseidonas Giannopoulos. The song was performed by Evridiki, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in January 2007 to represent Cyprus at the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. Evridiki had previously represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 and 1994 where she both placed eleventh. The Cypriot song, "Comme ci, comme ça", was presented to the public on 23 February 2007 during the special show Cyprus 12 Points, Chypre 12 Points. This was the first time that Cyprus was represented with a song performed entirely in the French language at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. The song was written by Mike Connaris, who had twice written a runner up in Eurovision selection process for the United Kingdom.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Vodka" written by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg. The song was performed by Morena. The Maltese entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2008, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 24 and 26 January 2008, respectively, where "Vodka" performed by Morena eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a seven-member jury and a public televote.

Greece entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Secret Combination", written by Konstantinos Pantzis with lyrics by Poseidonas Giannopoulos. The song was performed by Kalomira, an American singer of Greek descent who had previously won a Greek talent show. In February 2008, as part of Ellinikós Telikós 2008, the selection process organized by the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), three competing artists—Chrispa, Kostas Martakis, and Kalomira—performed their prospective entries live during a televised broadcast watched by nearly two million viewers. "Secret Combination" was selected to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest by a combination of a public televote and panel of judges.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Firefly" written by Nikolas Metaxas. The song was performed by Christina Metaxa. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised a national final in order to select the Cypriot entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. The national final featured 10 entries, resulting in the selection of Christina Metaxa with "Firefly" at the final on 7 February 2010.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Life Looks Better in Spring" written by Nasos Lambrianides and Melis Konstantinou. The song was performed by Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the national final Eurovision 2010: Epilogi tis kypriakis symmetochis in order to select the Cypriot entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. The national final featured nine entries, resulting in the selection of Lilygreen and the Islanders with "Life Looks Better in Spring" at the final in February 2010.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "San aggelos s'agapisa" written by Andreas Anastasiou and Michalis Antoniou. The song was performed by Christos Mylordos. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the talent show Performance in order to select the Cypriot artist for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. The talent show featured 39 contestants and resulted in the selection of Christos Mylordos as the winning artist at the final on 10 September 2010, where nine contestants remained. The Cypriot song, "San aggelos s'agapisa", was presented to the public on 20 January 2011.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "La La Love" written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Björn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka and Viktor Svensson. The song was performed by Ivi Adamou, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in August 2011 to represent Cyprus at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. CyBC organised the national final A Song for Ivi on 25 January 2012 to select the Cypriot song. The national final featured three songs and resulted in the selection of "La La Love" as the winning song.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "An me thimasai" written by Andreas Giorgallis and Zenon Zindilis. The song was performed by Despina Olympiou, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in February 2013 to represent Cyprus at the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. The Cypriot song, "An me thimasai", was presented to the public on 14 February 2013.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "One Thing I Should Have Done" written by Mike Connaris and Giannis Karagiannis and performed by Karagiannis. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their withdrawal in 2014 due to financial and budget restrictions, and organised the national final Eurovision Song Project in order to select the Cypriot entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The national final featured 54 entries competing in a nine-week-long process, resulting in the selection of Karagiannis with "One Thing I Should Have Done" at the final on 1 February 2015, where six entries remained.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Alter Ego" written by Minus One and Thomas G:son. The song was performed by the band Minus One, which was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in November 2015 to represent Cyprus at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The Cypriot song, "Alter Ego", was presented to the public on 22 February 2016.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Gravity" written by Thomas G:son. The song was performed by Hovig, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in October 2016 to represent Cyprus at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Cypriot song, "Gravity", was presented to the public on 1 March 2017.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Feeling Alive" performed by Stelios Constantas. The song was written by Constantas, who had previously attempted to represent the nation at the contest after taking part in the in 1997 and 1999 selection processes.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Fuego" written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Gerlado Sandell, Viktor Svensson, Anderz Wrethov and Didrick. The song was performed by the Albanian-Greek singer Eleni Foureira, who had previously attempted to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Replay" written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Teddy Sky, Viktor Svensson, Albin Nedler, and Kristoffer Fogelmark. The song was performed by Georgian-Greek singer Tamta.

Cyprus planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Greek-American-German singer Sandro was selected by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) to represent the country with the song "Running", written Sandro, Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Rickards, Octavian Rasinariu, and Teo DK. To promote the entry, a music video was released and Sandro appeared at Sweden's selection pre-party to perform it live. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled in mid-March.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) internally selected Elena Tsagrinou as its representative with the song "El Diablo". "El Diablo" was written and composed by Thomas Stengaard, Laurell Barker, Oxa, and Jimmy Thörnfeldt. Cyprus performed 8th in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, held on 18 May 2021, and placed 6th, receiving 170 points. The entry qualified for the final held four days later, where the nation placed 16th with 94 points.

References

  1. ↑ Gallagher, Robyn (3 August 2017). "Cyprus: Broadcaster reportedly will internally select songwriter for 2018". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "Cyprus Country Profile: Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "Cyprus to hold national final in 2008!". Esctoday (in English)
  4. ↑ Floras, Stella (10 January 2008). "Cyprus: A song for Europe stage revealed". Esctoday. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Cyprus 2008". Archived from the original on 2008-02-01.
  6. ↑ "Cyprus: Eurovision 2008 call for songs". Esctoday (in English)
  7. ↑ "Cyprus: 67 entries received". Esctoday (in English)
  8. ↑ Floras, Stella (8 December 2007). "Cyprus: Full list of participants". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19.
  9. ↑ "Cyprus: Evdokia Kadi to Belgrade with Femme fatale".ESCToday, January 12, 2008. Retrieved on April 18, 2008
  10. ↑ "Live: Cyprus decides for Belgrade".ESCToday. Retrieved on April 8, 2008.
  11. ↑ "The press conference at the Athens Hilton hotel". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2008-01-19. Oikotimes (in English)
  12. ↑ Viniker, Barry (2007-09-28). "Eurovision: 2 semi finals confirmed!". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  13. ↑ Viniker, Barry (2008-01-28). "The Eurovision Song Contest semi final draw". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  14. ↑ Klier, Marcus (2008-03-17). "Eurovision 2008 — Draw of the running order". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  15. ↑ "Πρώτος ημιτελικός, ώρα μηδέν!". eurovisionclub.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  16. ↑ "Next in line: Cyprus, FYR Macedonia and Portugal". eurovision.tv. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "Cyprus: Table dancing". eurovision.tv. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "Femme fatale - info". Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  19. ↑ "Cyprus". Six on Stage. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "Second Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  21. 1 2 "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Results of the Grand Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
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