Cyprus: Changes to Candidate Songs for Sandro Nicolas! EXCLUSIVE

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Cyprus is still consulting on the song that Sandro Nicolas will be asked to perform at Eurovision 2020 in May.

Change to the three candidate songs by Sandro Nicolas

RIK is in constant contact with the artist and his team to come up with the song that will represent Cyprus in Rotterdam. The aim is, of course, to continue the good presence of Cyprus in the contest, with a good artistic appearance. RIK’s  people are working feverishly for this.

So the three songs that were considered as likely were:

-Mucho Calor (dance track)
-Can’t Look Away (mid tempo)
-Never Let You Down (pop modern track)

Some artistic disagreements between the two songwriters and the artist’s team led to their withdrawal.

Two new songs to the nomination list

Of course, this didn’t bother RIK, as two new songs have already been added to the nomination list, without adding another one.

Thus, the songs that are now candidates to represent Cyprus at Eurovision 2020 are:

-My getaway
-Falling to pieces
-Never Let You Down

CyBC has not officially announced Sandro yet, though it is not expected to be delayed, after the latest details of the deal have been settled. So far the overall response from fans is more than positive!

Cyprus: This is Sandro Nicolas! (VIDEO)

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Since Wednesday night when we revealed, through EurovisionFun that Sandro Nicolas will represent Cyprus at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, the news toured Europe, as all the websites involved in the competition hosted extensive articles.

As mentioned in the Omega TV show “Ela na deis”  (“Come to see”) and Alexander Taramount, there are three songs that the artist and Rick have ended up with. We already know the titles:

–Mucho Calor (dance track)
–Can’t Look Away (mid tempo)
–Never Let You Down (pop modern track)

Whatever the final choice of RIK will be, we are sure that talented Sandro Nicolas will take the island of Aphrodite to the contest in 2020, continuing the good tradition that Cypriot public broadcaster has built in recent years.

Below you can see a promo video of Sandro Nicolas in various live performances:

 

Cyprus: Candidate Songs Titles| The proposal to Ivi and Ian’s nomination

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Following the announcement of essentially Cypriot representative at Eurovision 2020, Sandro Nicolas, via the exclusive EurovisionFun reportage last night, more information came to light shortly before through  the Omega TV show “Come To See”, which hosted extensive report, reffering,of course, to our website.

Three songs for Sandro Nicolas

According to what Alexander Taramountas revealed on the first inviting rates  Cypriot television show “Come To See”, RIK has ended up with three of the more than 100 songs it received for Eurovision 2020. In the following days, it will choose what Sandro Nicolas will perform on stage at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam in May. The show reported that the CyBC Board has already approved the representation of Sandro Nicolas at Eurovision 2020.

The titles of the three songs are as follows:

–Mucho Calor (dance track)
-Can’t Look Away (mid tempo)
-Never Let You Down (pop modern track)

All the songs based on what was said in the show are high standarts and can properly represent Cyprus in the contest. The two have been written by foreign artists, with one signed by a Greek composer. What is even more interesting is that Alexander Taramountas revealed that his favorite is Mucho Calor!

How was the proposal made to RIK?

The reportage of the show said that the proposal of RIK to Sandro Nicolas came from Elias Kokottos’s  Dream Team,the well-known project manager!

The broadcast panel was very positive about Sandro Nicolas’ selection, saying it was a very clever move by RIK for the next contest. Panik and Minos EMI are already in the process of taking over Sandro, and what has even been said is that, despite the fact that Michalis Marathyoutis has resigned, he will be the one to handle the Cypriot participation in Eurovision 2020.

Ivi’s “no” and Ian’s nomination

The sensation was triggered by the revelation that RIK had been thinking of Ivy Adamou representing Cyprus for the second time at Eurovision (she has already participated with “La La love” in 2012), but she politely declined for family and personal reasons. She gave a birth recently and did not have the time needed for such a project.

Our report was also confirmed when we wrote a few months ago that two men and one woman were targeted by RIK on Eurovision 2020. Except for Ivy and of course Sandro Nicolas, Ian Stratis was the third name. But RIK, based on the songs it had in mind, came to Sandro believing that he would better support whichever of the third songs eventually be chosen.

Cyprus: RIK “steals” Germany’s favorite to represent it at Eurovision 2020!EXCLUSIVE

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It’s November, a month that RIK traditionally completes the selection of the artist for the Eurovision contest, at least in recent years. EurovisionFun reports that RIK is very close to a great success. To literally “steal” at the last minute the favorite artist to represent Germany, homogenous singer Sandro Nicolas.

Who is Sandro Nicolas?

You have also read about Sandro Nicolas (Alessandro Ruetten) in our previous articles. He is 23 years old and quite popular in Germany, having participated in “The Voice of Germany “in 2018, even reaching the semifinals. In the summer he competed at the New Wave Festival, the largest music festival of the Eastern countries!

He grew up with Greek education, since his mother is Greek. He speaks fluent Greek, and often visits Greece, either for vacations or for business reasons, such as recently, recording in the studio of Dimitris Kontopoulos.

RIK’s “colpo grosso”!

Germany does not host a national final this year, but preferred a concept very close to what Switzerland did this year. Digame, a production company responsible for selecting the leading candidates, is in charge of the entire event. The selected artists participated in various songwriting camps in order to write new songs for the national final. After completing this process, Digame selected the finalists and matched them with the songs to be competed. Sandro would be in the final selection stage with more than two songs, indicative of how much Digame people believe in him. This closed national final is scheduled to take place in December and the final decision will be made by a panel of about 100 people (musicians and fans).

At this critical juncture, RIK intervened, proposing Nicolas to lift the responsibility of representing Cyprus at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam! Although some agreement has not yet been set, the discussions appear to be moving in a very positive direction. If RIK finally succeeds in booking this talented performer for the next Eurovision Song Contest, then we will be talking about a very big success for the people of Cypriot public broadcaster, proving once again that they are planning a very attentive and methodical entry for Cyprus, always aiming at the best possible representation.

Cyprus: Two men and one woman candidates for Eurovision 2020 | Exclusive

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We are already in October, we know the first artist participating in Eurovision 2020, and the Cypriot Broadcaster (CYBC), which is used to us in early announcements, is working feverishly for Cyprus’s next entry in the contest. Two men and one woman, unlike what has been writen in media of CYBC’s exclusive interest in male artists, are under the microscope of Cypriot public broadcaster in order to take on the heavy burden of representing the country in Rotterdam. Read more

Editorial: “Eurovision Executive Supervisor”; a role for the Northern Europeans only | Is it time for the south?

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Jon Ola Sand’s earlier announcement that he is stepping down the role of the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2020 after the contest in the Netherlands ends, has prematurely started the debate about who is going to replace him.

A quick glance at his predecessors, it is more than enough for someone to realize that, out of the 65 years of existence of the contest, 63 of them were under the leadership of northern Europeans only.

Is it time for the south to take control? And if so, is there any public broadcaster from the countries of the south that can claim this position?

A privilege for the few

Observing the list of the Executive Supervisors of the competition since 1956, as published on the official website, we can see that the only time, in which one of the countries of the South was in this position, was back in 1964-1965 with Miroslav Vilček, from Tito’s powerful then-united Yugoslavia. Let’s see the list in detail:

1956-1957: Rolf Liebermann (2 contests) – Swiss
1958-1963: Unknown (6 contests)
1964-1965: Miroslav Vilček (2 contests) – Yugoslavia (Croatian)
1966-1977: Clifford Brown (12 contests) – British
1978-1992: Frank Naef (15 contests) – Swiss
1993-1995: Christian Clausen (3 contests) – Danish
1996 and 1998-2002: Christine Marchal-Ortiz (6 contests) – French
1997: Marie-Claire Vionnet (1 competition) – French
2003: Sarah Yuen (1 contest) – British
2004-2010: Svante Stockselius (7 contests) – Swedish
2011-2020: Jon Ola Sand (10 competitions) – Norwegian
2021: ?

In the 65 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, ten different EBU executives have been assigned as Executive Supervisors of the contest. Their countries of origin were seven (Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway) and out of these – as we have mentioned above – only one country was part of the south, with a term of office of only two years.

Is the role of the Executive Supervisor an exclusive right of the countries of the North? Shouldn’t there be a provision for a proportional and rotational system in senior positions of the EBU  which will cover all of Europe’s geographical corners? This need is now more urgent than ever, since we can clearly say that the EBU is run exclusively by Northern Europeans! Current EBU’s president is Irish, president of the Reference Group is German and Executive Supervisor is Norwegian.

Besides, EBU members and subscriptions cover the whole spectrum of the European continent.

Is the South capable?

Here comes the question, of course, whether the public broadcasters of the countries of the South have an executive who could take on this neuralgic position? Is there anyone with the knowledge, experience, but also the disposition to do so?

Personally I think yes there are! Besides, in the south there are some colossi in the field of television such as RAI and TVE, in Italy and Spain respectively. Two very big TV stations, with great productions, executives with know-how, and history in the competition.

Now we go to our own neighborhood. ERT may not have been willing to claim this role as shown in recent years, but CyBC does!

Cyprus public television competes equally local private television stations, often ending first on the daily television chart. It has a very commercial program and can boast of having a strong presence in social media, successfully making the transition to the new era.

Share of all the above, except of course its worthy staff, is credited to Michalis Maratheftis, who is the general manager of CyBC since 2017.

One of his achievements is the impressive track record of Cyprus in recent years in the Eurovision Song Contest, with entries that stand out and are still being discussed today. His greater goal is to win, which will not be long if he and his team continue with the same stubbornness and enthusiasm.

The time until May 2020 is long enough and the candidates to appear are many, but the case of Michalis Marathethis seems to be worth a look at the EBU headquarters in Geneva!

We Greeks have proven that we can handle whatever role we are assigned to, so why not to this as well?

Tamta to represent Cyprus in Tel Aviv

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The popular Greek singer, Tamta, will represent Cyprus at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The Georgian born artist with a big career in Greece, Cyprus and Georgia will wave the Cypriot flag in Tel Aviv. Read more

It’s “Replay” for Cyprus in Eurovision 2019

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We already know the first representative for Eurovision 2019, Srbuk from Armenia, and now we know the first entry’s title. CYBC revealed some moments ago, that the title of the Cypriot entry in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest is Replay. Read more

Cyprus: CYBC reveals all the composing team for Eurovision 2019

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CYBC with a post on its official Facebook account for the Eurovision Contest, has just confirmed what we have easily or hardly guessed over the past few days. That is, the team of composers of Cyprus’ entry in Eurovision 2019: Alex Papaconstantinou, Teddy Sky, Albin Nedler, Kristofer Fogelmark and Viktor Svensson.

Already yesterday it had become clear that Alex Papaconstantinou for the second consecutive year will participate as a composer in the contest with the Cypriot colors. In a photo that has also been uploaded to the CYBC’s Eurovision account, we see in a Greek restaurant, CYBC’s ceo Michalis Maratefti, the head of delegation of Cyprus in the contest, Evi Papamichael, and Alex Papacostantinou, along with a friend , telling us that they will work together for Eurovision 2019.

Today’s post becomes clearer, as CYBC reveals the names of all the composing team of the Cypriot song in Eurovision 2019.

This will be the fifth participation of Alex Papaconstantinou in the contest (Greece 2007, Azerbaijan 2009, Cyprus 2012 and 2018). Teddy Sky was in Fuego’s composing team. The rest are Swedish artists with whom Alex Papaconstantinou has collaborated in the past, for example, at La la love by Ivy Adamou, Unloved by Tamta, Cool me down by Margaret etc

CYBC invites us to stay tuned, for the rest of quizzes that will follow, and through will be revealed to us various elements of the next Cypriot entry in the contest!

Cyprus: The second quiz for the 2019 Eurovision entry

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CYBC through it’s official account for the Eurovision Song Contest in Facebook, revealed the second quiz, inviting us to discover various elements of Cyprus’ entry in the upcoming contest. Read more