Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Logo of the Eurovision Song Project

Eurovision Song Project was the national final format developed by CyBC in order to select Cyprus' entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition involved an eight-week-long process that commenced on 7 December 2014 and concluded with the final on 1 February 2015. The eight shows took place at the CyBC studios in Nicosia and were hosted by Antri Karantoni, despite previously being announced that Ivi Adamou received a proposition to be the host.[14] The shows were broadcast on RIK 1, RIK Sat as well as online via the broadcaster's website cybc.cy. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[15]

The Eurovision Song Project consisted of 54 artists competing over three phases: the auditions, the Eurochallenge and the final. The process was as follows:

• The auditions were aired between 7 December 2014 and 11 January 2015 and featured all 54 artists.[16] Each audition included: the Eurobox, where each artist talked about their life and connection to the contest along with a short cover of a Eurovision entry from the past 60 years; the Viewing Room, where relatives and friends watch the performance of the artists; and the Eurostudio, where the artists performed in front of a four-member judging panel. Each artist performed two songs: a cover version of a past Eurovision Song Contest entry and a half of their Eurovision candidate songs. 20 artists progressed to the Eurochallenge.
• The Eurochallenge consisted of two shows held on 16 and 23 January 2015. During the first show, all 20 artists that advanced from the auditions were required to make a stage performance of their candidate songs in full without backing dancers and the judging panel eliminated ten acts. During the second Eurochallenge show, the remaining ten artists each performed two songs: a piano cover version of a past Eurovision Song Contest entry from the past 60 years as well as their candidate songs. The judging panel eliminated four acts and the top six progressed to the final.
• The final took place on 1 February 2015 which selected the winner from the remaining six entries through a 50/50 combination of votes from the judging panel and public televoting. For the public vote, voting was open from 25 January 2015 to 1 February 2015.[17]

During all phases, the four-member judging panel provided feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to progress in the competition. The panel consisted of:[18][19]

• Despina Olympiou – Cypriot Eurovision representative in 2013
• Alex Panayi – Cypriot Eurovision representative in 1995 and 2000
• Elena Patroklou – Cypriot Eurovision representative in 1991
• Tasos Tryfonos – Actor and media personality

During the Eurochallenge shows and the final, the judging panel was also joined by two guest international judges of various members.[19]

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 14 July 2014 and 5 September 2014 through an online submissions form.[20][21] Artists were required to have Cypriot nationality or origin, and were able to submit a maximum of two entries. Foreign songwriters were allowed to submit entries as long as they collaborate with at least one songwriter of Cypriot nationality or origin. At the conclusion of the deadline, more than 100 entries were received by CyBC, with submissions from Valanto Trifonos and former Cypriot Eurovision representatives including Dimos Beke (1993 and 2002) and Philipos Konstantinos (2002).[22][23] 60 entries were selected and announced on 20 October 2014.[24] Six entries later withdrew from the competition.

Among the competing artists was former Cypriot Junior Eurovision representative Charis Savva (2008). Among the songwriters was former Cypriot Eurovision representative Constantinos Christoforou (1996, 2002, 2005). Mike Connaris composed the Cypriot Eurovision entry in 2004, Nasos Lambrianides co-composed the Cypriot 2010 Eurovision entry in 2010 and Zenon Zindilis co-composed the Cypriot Eurovision entry in 2013.

The auditions were aired between 7 December 2014 and 11 January 2015.[25] Twenty artists received at least three "yes" votes from the judges and progressed to the Eurochallenge.

The first Eurochallenge show aired on 16 January 2015. The twenty artists selected from the auditions competed and the judging panel selected ten to progress in the competition. The two guest international judges were Christer Björkman (Head of Delegation for Sweden at Eurovision and supervisor of Melodifestivalen) and Dimitris Kontopoulos (Greek producer).[31]

The second Eurochallenge show aired on 23 January 2015. The ten artists selected from the first Eurochallenge show competed and the judging panel selected six to progress to the final. The two guest international judges were Christer Björkman (Head of Delegation for Sweden at Eurovision and supervisor of Melodifestivalen) and Dimitris Kontopoulos (Greek producer).[32]

The final was broadcast live on 1 February 2015. The six entries selected from the second Eurochallenge show competed and the winner, "One Thing I Should Have Done" performed by Giannis Karagiannis, was selected by a 50/50 combination of votes from the judging panel and public televoting. The two guest international judges were Bruno Berberes (television director and former Head of Delegation for France at Eurovision) and Nicola Caligiore (Head of Delegation for Italy at Eurovision).[33]

John Karayiannis at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

John Karayiannis took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[39]

At the start of the song the arena was plunged into darkness and John had a single spotlight shining down from above on him. The initial shots were all shot in black and white. John was dressed very smartly in a black suit and black tie, and was wearing his trademark glasses. Gradually the light increases and the LED screens showed star-like background, with the lighting having various hues of blue, purple and orange. Around two minutes into the song this background exploded into flame-like bursts of light on key moments in the lyrics, especially on the 'I should' line.

At the end of the show, Cyprus was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[40] It was later revealed that the Cyprus sixth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 87 points.[41]

John Karayiannis at a press meet and greet.

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Cyprus was drawn to compete in the first half.[42] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Cyprus was subsequently placed to perform in position 11, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from Australia.[43]

John Karayiannis once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.[44] Cyprus performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Cyprus placed twenty-second with 11 points.

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[45]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Cyprus had placed twenty-third with the public televote and ninth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Cyprus scored 8 points finishing in tenth place, while in the jury vote, Cyprus placed ninth with 63 points. In the second semi-final, Cyprus placed eighth with the public televote receiving 80 points and eighth with the jury vote with 76 points.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Cyprus and awarded by Cyprus in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[41][46][47][48]

The Cypriot votes in the second semi-final and the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results. The following five members comprised the Cypriot jury:[51]

• Andreas Giortsios – Chairperson – Radio Producer-TV News Anchorman
• Elias Antoniades – Lyricist-General Manager in advertising company PR: partners ltd
• Gore Melian – singer
• Stella Stylianou – singer, teacher
• Argyro Christodoulidou – composer, lyricist

Split voting results (Semi-final 2)[52]

Draw	Country	A. Giortsios	E. Antoniades	G. Melian	S. Stylianou	A. Christodoulidou	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Lithuania	11	8	6	7	6	6	4	4	7
02	Ireland	7	6	7	5	4	5	13	10	1
03	San Marino	14	16	16	16	16	16	12	14
04	Montenegro	6	7	10	6	14	9	9	9	2
05	Malta	9	13	5	12	8	10	10	11
06	Norway	2	2	3	3	3	3	8	5	6
07	Portugal	16	15	14	9	13	14	16	16
08	Czech Republic	12	12	9	14	12	13	11	12
09	Israel	5	3	4	4	5	4	1	2	10
10	Latvia	1	5	2	1	2	2	5	3	8
11	Azerbaijan	4	4	12	11	10	7	6	6	5
12	Iceland	13	10	15	10	11	12	14	13
13	Sweden	3	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	12
14	Switzerland	15	14	13	13	15	15	15	15
15	Cyprus
16	Slovenia	10	9	8	8	7	8	7	8	3
17	Poland	8	11	11	15	9	11	3	7	4

Split voting results (Grand final)[53]

Draw	Country	A. Giortsios	E. Antoniades	G. Melian	S. Stylianou	A. Christodoulidou	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Slovenia	18	16	18	19	10	17	19	18
02	France	2	6	23	8	21	9	23	17
03	Israel	15	8	6	9	7	7	6	5	6
04	Estonia	4	9	22	17	13	10	9	9	2
05	United Kingdom	23	21	9	26	11	22	18	22
06	Armenia	9	24	13	20	22	21	5	12
07	Lithuania	22	20	10	14	8	15	17	16
08	Serbia	6	13	15	18	14	11	15	13
09	Norway	3	5	3	4	5	2	20	11
10	Sweden	5	7	1	3	2	1	4	2	10
11	Cyprus
12	Australia	10	14	5	15	3	8	10	7	4
13	Belgium	11	2	4	6	4	5	7	4	7
14	Austria	17	17	14	16	9	14	26	23
15	Greece	8	3	12	1	15	6	1	3	8
16	Montenegro	21	12	19	10	17	16	21	19
17	Germany	20	22	20	23	20	24	24	26
18	Poland	16	23	25	24	16	23	16	21
19	Latvia	7	11	2	2	1	4	14	8	3
20	Romania	25	4	16	11	12	12	8	10	1
21	Spain	12	19	17	12	24	19	11	14
22	Hungary	14	25	8	22	18	20	25	24
23	Georgia	26	26	24	21	25	26	13	20
24	Azerbaijan	19	10	21	13	19	18	12	15
25	Russia	13	15	11	7	23	13	3	6	5
26	Albania	24	18	26	25	26	25	22	25
27	Italy	1	1	7	5	6	3	2	1	12