Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
| Eurovision Song Contest 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Cyprus | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal Selection | |||
| Selection date(s) |
Artist: 4 November 2015 Song: 22 February 2016 | |||
| Selected entrant | Minus One | |||
| Selected song | "Alter Ego" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Cyprus will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Alter Ego" written by Minus One and Thomas G:son. The song will be 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.
Background
Prior to the 2016 contest, Cyprus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-two times since their debut in 1981.[1] The nation's highest placing in the contest was fifth, which they achieved three times: in 1982 with the song "Mono I Agapi" performed by Anna Vissi, in 1997 with "Mana Mou" performed by Hara and Andreas Constantinou, and 2004 with "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Cyprus had featured in five finals. Cyprus' least successful result in the final has been last place, which they achieved in 1986 with the song "Tora Zo" performed by Elpida. After returning to the contest in 2015 following their one-year withdrawal from the 2014 contest due to the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis and the broadcaster's budget restrictions, Cyprus managed to qualify to the final and place twenty-second with the song "One Thing I Should Have Done" performed by John Karayiannis.
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 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 11 September 2015.[2] 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. In 2015, the broadcaster organised the national final Eurovision Song Project, which featured 54 songs competing in a nine-week-long process resulting in the selection of the Cypriot entry through the combination of public televoting and the votes from an expert jury. However, CyBC opted to select the 2016 Cypriot entry via an internal selection, a method which was last used by the broadcaster in 2013.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 4 November 2015, CyBC announced that they had internally selected the band Minus One to represent Cyprus in Stockholm. Minus One previously attempted to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, placing third in the national final Eurovision Song Project with the song "Shine". In order to create their contest song, the band collaborated with Swedish composer Thomas G:son, who has written several Eurovision entries for various countries including the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest 2012 winning song "Euphoria".[3]
Minus One recorded their Eurovision entry in January 2016 at the Nordic Sound Lab studios in Skara, Sweden together with Thomas G:son and Thomas Plec Johansson.[4][5] The song, "Alter Ego", will be presented to the public on 22 February 2016 during the CyBC evening news broadcast. The official preview video for the song, directed by Emilios Avraam, will be released on the same day.[6][7]
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. 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.[8] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Cyprus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[9]
References
- ↑ "Cyprus | Country profile | Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (11 September 2015). "Cyprus: CyBC confirms for Eurovision 2016". esctoday.com. ESCToday.com. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (4 November 2015). "Minus One to represent Cyprus in 2016!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ "Laying down the trax". facebook.com. Minus One. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (12 January 2016). "Cyprus: Minus One record their entry in Sweden: premiere by mid February". esctoday.com. ESCToday.com. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ Vehar, Jan (31 January 2016). "Minus One to perform “Alter Ego” in Stockholm!". escbubble.com. ESCBubble. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (1 February 2016). "Cyprus: Minus One to present song on 22nd February". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ↑ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
- ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
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