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Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou has filmed his postcard for Eurovision 2023!

The filming of the postcards of the 37 participants of Eurovision 2023 are now taking place throughout Europe. The next representative to film his postacard is no other than, Andrew Lambrou, representative of Cyprus!

Andrew Lambrou shot his postcard wearing the Milwaukee Bucks jersey of Giannis Antetokounmpo with the No. 34, in a custom made basketball court right next to the wonderful coastline of Cyprus.

 

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The following acts have confirmed the filming of their postcards:

  • Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou – “Break A Broken Heart”
  • Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – “Duje”
  • Austria: Teya & Salena – “Who The Hell Is Edgar”
  • Croatia: Let 3 – “Mama ŠČ”
  • Germany: Lord of the Lost – “Blood and Glitter”
  • Lithuania: Monika Linkytė – “Stay”
  • Moldova: Pasha Parfeni –“Soarele și Luna”
  • Poland: Blanka – “Solo”
  • Slovenia: Joker Out – “Carpe Diem”

Andrew Lambrou and Cyprus is set to perform 6th in the 2nd semi-final which is going to take place on May 11 in Liverpool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrFUKqTy4zI

You can watch the reaction of the editors of Eurovisionfun, reacting and commenting on the Cypriot entry for Eurovision 2023 below:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the latest news regarding the Cypriot entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Cyprus: With “Break A Broken Heart” Andrew Lambrou in Liverpool!

Last night was the party of OGAE Cyprus, the Official Association of supporters and friends of the Eurovision Song Contest in Cyprus.

The guest this year was Cyprus representative, Andrew Lambrou, he revealed the song title that he is going to perform on the Eurovision stage in May in Liverpool.

With “Break A Broken Heart” in Eurovision 2023

During the party, Andrew took the stage and revealed that the song with which he will represent the island of Aphrodite in the upcoming Eurovision is called “Break A Broken Heart” .

Andrew Lambrou’s song  is completely  different  from what Cyprus has sent in recent years. A song intended to do well in the competition and not necessarily to be heard in Greece and Cyprus, as were all the last Cypriot entries.

We remind you that the Cypriot participation in Eurovision 2023 is signed by the following creators, all of them with extensive experience in the competition:

  • Thomas Stengaard  : Denmark 2013, Germany 2018, Germany 2019, San Marino 2021, Cyprus 2021, Azerbaijan 2022
  • Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt  : Sweden 2021, San Marino 2021, Cyprus 2021
  • Jimmy Jansson  : Denmark 2020
  • Marcus Winther-John  : Andorra 2009

On March 2 the release of the song

According to exclusive information from INFE Greece , the country’s song will be officially released on  Thursday, March 2 !

As we have informed you, the director of the video clip is George Benioudakis , who has many collaborations with almost all the popular Greek artists (A. Rammos, K. Argyros, L. Giorkas, S. Rokkos, Klaudia, El. Foureira et al.). And this year the Austrian-born  Marvin Dietmann  has taken over as the artistic director of the Cypriot participation. Andrew Lambrou’s staging at the M&S Bank Arena will be curated by both Marvin Dietmann and  Ross Nicholson from London’s directing team,  Black Skull .

Are you looking forward to the release of the Cypriot entry? Tell us in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about the participation of Cyprus in Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool!

Andrew Lambrou: With which country is the singer in discussions for Eurovision 2023?

We promised you last night, through our social media, some really interesting news! And we aspire to always deliver! So, here it is: Andrew Lambrou, an Australian singer of Cypriot origin, is in discussions with a country for Eurovision 2023.

“Until we know what’s happening with Eurovision”

Due to the summer idleness and lack of news, we decided to get in touch with artists who were candidates for this year’s national finals, to see where they are now, what they are up to or if they would be interested in participating again in ESC.

One of the artists we interviewed was Andrew Lambrou, who attempted to represent Australia at Eurovision 2022, taking part in the national final Australia Decides with the song Electrify – eventually coming seventh out of eleven candidates.

So, we contacted him and he agreed to do the interview, referring us to his manager to arrange the details of the interview. After having agreed on day and time with his manager, Timothy Youngson, we were waiting for the final “ok”.

However, on Sunday evening, we received an e-mail in which it was essentially confirmed that the artist is in discussions for Eurovision 2023, and that his team decided to wait for the final outcome of these discussions, before giving an interview!

Which country is Andrew Lambrou in discussions with?

Of course, the question that arises now is which country is Andrew Lambrou in discussions with. There are, we believe, two possible scenarios.

Australia

The first possible scenario is that the young expatriate artist is discussing a return to Australia Decides, the country’s national final for the ESC.

He might not have managed to get the ticket for the Competition this year, but Andrew Lambrou left a positive impression upon the eurofans, and not a few of them would like to see him try again.

Cyprus

The second possible scenario is of course Cyprus. CYBC very recently signed a new agreement with PANIK, according to which their cooperation in Eurovision is extended for at least two more years. In fact, it was announced that for 2023 they will once again select the artist internally, while for 2024 they will hold ,together with Nikos Kokloni’s production company, “All Together Now”, for the selection of the country’s representative.

So, it would not come as a surprise if the Cypriot delegation and PANIK are already in discussion with the artist’s team, in order for the latter to represent the country in the next competition. Andrew Lambrou may not be part of PANIK’s team (after all he lives and works in Australia), but this is not a problem since something similar happened back in 2020, with PANIK records taking over Sandro merely for the Eurovision project.

Who is Andrew Lambrou

Andrew Lambrou is 24 years old, who lives and works in Sydney. He performs and writes his own songs since the age of five.

At the age of just 17, he impressed all four X Factor judges, who easily got him through to the next stage. Having received great feedback from the four big names sitting in the judges’ seats  (Danii Minogue, James Blunt, Chris Isaak, Guy Sebastian). Andrew got through the first round with four ‘YES’, performing his rendition of Nick Jonas’ song “Chains”.

In the second phase, the 5 seat challenge, the coach of the Boys under 25 team, Chris Isaak, was asked to choose only five out of the boys to go through. Andrew sang “Ain’t nobody” by Chaka Khan and achieved a Top 5 spot.

It is worth noting that Andrew Lambrou became known well before his participation on X-Factor, due to his YouTube Channel, where he uploads various covers of popular (mostly pop) songs.

Unfortunately, Andrew was not as lucky in the next phase, the Super Home Visits phase, as he did not manage to make it to the top 3 and enter the live shows. This is attributed mostly to his musical inexperience at the time. However, experts in the field, like Simon Cowell, remarked upon Andrew’s promising career in the industry.

It now remains to be seen if Andrew Lambrou will try again for the Australian national final despite his recent disappointing results or whether CYBC, after this year’s non-qualification, will follow on the ERT’s footsteps and send an expatriate artist to the ESC.

Check out his performance at Australia Decides 2022 below:

Would you like to see Andrew Lambrou at Eurovision 2023 with Australia or with Cyprus? Stay tuned for all the updates on the matter!

Eleni Foureira reveals: Would she comeback to represent Greece or Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest?

Eleni Foureira was featured at a video on Greek YouTuber Fipster’s YouTube channel. Among others, she discussed the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018, when she came 2nd by representing Cyprus. She stated that she would love it if she won, but everything happens for a reason.

When she was asked, which country she would prefer to represent, would she come back at the contest, Eleni Foureira replied that she’d rather represent Greece.

Well, I would certainly represent Greece, because I have already represented Cyprus in the past and I am really glad that I’ve achieved all that, but in the end I’d go for Greece for the next time! 

She didn’t turn down the possibility to represent Albania at some point, where her roots are from, if she was invited to do so and she felt ready to go for it.

If she and the executives of ERT altogether had to choose the representatives of Greece for the following years of Eurovision Song Contest, she said that she would pick Evangelia, that is really unique, Konstantinos Argyros with a nice commercial greek folklore song and Josephine.

You can watch the whole YouTube show featuring Eleni Foureira, at Fipster’s YouTube channel:

Would you like Eleni Foureira to represent Greece at the contest? Let’s see what you think, post your comments below!

Cyprus: The new Eurovision season is about to begin | Vote for the artist you want to see in Rotterdam!

The well-known Eurovision Season officially starts on September 1st. Greece may have already chosen to send Stefania at Eurovision 2021, but things in Cyprus are still fluid.

On June 1, RIK confirmed with a simple announcement, that Sandro will not represent Cyprus at Eurovision 2021. Aphrodite’s Island will be represented by a well-known artist in Greece and Cyprus or by a Cypriot origin singer.

RIK’s decision not to be represented at Eurovision 2021 by Sandro, who was selected for this year ‘s canceled competition, made all the Greek and Cypriot artists who wish to participate in Eurovision, turning their eyes to Cyprus.

According to many local reports, a lot of well or less established artists, expressed their desire, the previous months, to represent Cyprus in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Let’s take a look at them:

Ivi Adamou

She represented Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest 2012, with La la love. She achieved a 16th place, but her song was a huge hit in both Greece and Cyprus. Her name was among the favourites to represent the island last year too, but the fact she had just given birth, prevented her from saying yes.

Vangelis Kakouriotis

A lot of eurofans would love to see him on Eurovision stage. His name has been rumoured for Eurovision the last three years. Last year in MAD VMA he even sang with Luca Hanni!

Ian Stratis

One more singer that was among those who were candidates to represent Cyprus last year. He was too close, but RIK finally choose Sandro.

Giorgos Papadopoulos

Giorgos Papadopoulos revealed in EurovisionFun that would represent his country in Eurovision, but most probably as a composer and not as a singer.

Charis Savva

Charris Savva represented Cyprus in Junior Eurovision 2008. She is 22 years old now, making her first music steps in the Greek music industry.

Despina Savva

She is only 15 years old but she managed to impress all the judges in The Voice of Australia that took part.

Katerina Stikoudi

With a big career in TV and music, Katerina is one of the hottest names this year for representing Cyprus in the next contest,

Elena Tsagkrinou

Elena was one of the artists that were rumoured back in 2019 for Greece. She is ready now to represent Cyprus as she said in a recent interview.

Melina Makri

Melina became famous through her participation in the group Vegas. She now has her solo career.

Leea Nanos

Leea lives in Australia but from Greek origin. In 2019 she took part in the Australian national final.

Iasonas Mandilas

One more young artist who expresses his wish to represent Cyprus in Eurovision so strongly.

Loukas Yiorkas

Loukas represented Greece in Eurovision 2011, achieving a respectful seventh place. He said that he would take part again in the contest, with a song simillar to his previous one.

Marilena Animando

One of the fresh names in the Greek pop music scene.

Malou Kiriakopoulou

Malou became famous after her participation in Greek Idol. This year it’s the first time she expressed her interesting for the contest.

Konnie Metaxa & Tasos Xiarcho

They won Just the Two of US, some months ago.

Irini Papadopoulou

Irini tried to represent Greece this year with a song composed by Doron Meladie.

Melisses

Maybe the most famous Greek band the last years. They participated in the Greek national final for Eurovision 2010.

Vote in our poll!

Below you can vote in our poll for the artist you wish to see representing Cyprus, in the next year’s Eurovision Song Contest!

Last year in the same poll YOU voted Stefania as the best choice to represent Greece in the contest!

Tell us your vote in the comments below

Cyprus: Eurovision Buddies meet Sandro

Our favorite Eurovision Buddies met Sandro during his recent visit to Athens and had a really interesting discussion with him!

The young Cyprus representative at the competition eagerly answered all of Dionysia’s questions and shed more light on his participation in Eurovision 2020.

As he revealed he is in the process of choosing the song. Among a small list of 3-4 songs he loves and believes in, along with RIK will choose the one who will sing in May at Ahoy Arena, representing the Cypriot colors.

Throughout the past, Sandro has been involved in the composition and production of songs, working with several major artists. This is a major difference with previous years where RIK had the song ready and with it approached Foureira and Tamta. This year, RIK reached out to Sandro, and then with a dynamic and productive process and with the artist’s involvement, they ended up with the song that will be Cypriot participation.

What surprised you is Sandro’s admission that he attended Eurovision for the first time in 2018! He feels very happy and grateful for the honor RIK has given him for choosing him to represent Cyprus in the contest.

His favorite songs from Eurovision are Fuego and Replay of course, but also Soldi and Arcade.

It also describes the ideal stage setting. He wants to be himself in Rotterdam, authentic and to interpret from his heart.

“With my song I want people who have problems to know that they are not alone”

So what we expect based on what Sandro told us is a dynamic ballad, with an important message, but also an internal interpretation, something that Sandro has proven to know very well!

We heartily wish every success on the Cyprus delegation and Sandro because they truly deserve it!

We would like to extend special thanks to Mr. Michalis Marateftis, former Director General of RIK, as well as to Ms. Evi Papamichael, Head of the Cyprus Delegation in the contest.

Cyprus: It’s official!Sandro Nicolas will fly to Rotterdam

An official announcement was made minutes ago by the Cyprus Radio Fondation (RIK) that the next representative of the country in the Eurovision song contest is none other than Sandro Nicolas.

The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation is pleased to present Sandro, the representative of Cyprus in the upcoming 2020…

Posted by CYBC: Eurovision Cyprus on Friday, November 29, 2019

As we first informed you,  23-year-old Greek-German Sandro Nicolas will wear the Cypriot colors at the Eurovision contest after direct assignment.  The song, which will be performed by the talented artist, will be released later.

The chronicle of the choice

Sandro Nicolas was to take part in the selection of artist and songwriter to represent Germany at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.  Following a proposal from the well-known Dream Team Project Manager Elias Kokotos, RIK chose the young artist as the most appropriate to represent Cyprus (you can read more HERE).

The songs that RIK is looking at at this point in time, as well as the artist’s team as likely to represent Cyprus at Eurovision 2020 are:

-My getaway

-Falling to pieces

-Never Let You Down

The song with which Cyprus will travel and claim the coveted prize will be announced at a later stage and it is not excluded that it will be another one, as RIK is working feverishly for the best possible representation in the competition!

On Saturday 30/11, Sandro Nicolas arrives in Cyprus for his first television appearances there.

Who is Sandro Nicolas?

Sandro Nicolas was born and raised in Germany by an American father and a Greek mother.  He is now 23 years old, and in 2018 he participated in the German version of « The Voice » reaching the semifinals.  His enchanting voice made it all the way to Sochi, Russia last August to compete in the New Wave 2019, taking the highly honored 6th place among 13 entries.

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

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.

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

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?

It’s “Replay” for Cyprus in Eurovision 2019

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