Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Christina Metaxa represented the country with the song "Firefly".

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country Cyprus
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)February 7, 2009
Selected entrantChristina Metaxa
Selected song"Firefly"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (14th,32 points)
Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Background
Main article: Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-six times since its first entry in 1981.[1] Its best placing was fifth, which it 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. Cyprus's least successful result was in 1986 when it placed last in 1986 with the song "Tora Zo" by Elpida, receiving only three points in total. However, its worst finish in terms of points received was when it placed second to last in 1999 with "Tha'nai Erotas" by Marlain Angelidou, receiving only two.[2]

The Cypriot national broadcaster, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) broadcasts the event in Cyprus each year and organizes the selection process for its entry. Selection processes have varied over the years from full national finals such as in 2004, 2006, and 2008, where the public chooses both the song and performer, to internal selections such as in 2005 and 2007 where the artist and sometimes song also is chosen by CyBC. For 2009, CyBC chose to hold a national final as it had the previous year.[3]

Before Eurovision

National final

The original date for the national final was set for 31 January 2009, but it was later rumored to be changed to accommodate a possible guest appearance by Sakis Rouvas.[4][5] The winner was selected exclusively by public televoting. In the case that the televoting system went down, the jury would have been used as an alternative to choose the entrant.[6]

Competing entries

Composers were allowed to submit their songs until 28 November 2008. Songwriters were required to be Cypriot (regardless of their country of residence), or to be residents of Cyprus for at least two years. Songs could be sung in any language, but could not be submitted to multiple broadcasters in the contest.[6] At the conclusion of the deadline, a seven-member selection jury first shortlisted 20 potential songs. This was then cut down to 10 songs competing in the national final. The jury was also drawn from a pot of fourteen suggested candidates and their identities will not be revealed throughout the duration of the final. The selected entries and the singer for each song were announced respectively on 16 December 2008 and 20 January 2009.[7][8][9] Among the competing artists were Marlen Angelidou who represented Cyprus in the 1999 contest, and Alex Panayi who represented Cyprus in the 1995 and 2000 contest.

Final

The final took place at RIK's Studio 3 on 7 February 2009, hosted by Charis Kkolos and Maria Michail.[3] The winner was selected by televoting, being "Firefly" performed by Christina Metaxa, who received 5,719 votes more than the runner-up.[10]

Final – 7 February 2009
DrawArtistSongSongwriter(s)TelevotePlace
1 Tefkros Neokleous "Mary" Tefkros Neokleous 2,161 8
2 Christina Metaxa "Firefly" Nikolas Metaxas 12,309 1
3 Marlen Angelidou & The Diesel Sisters "Mr Do Right One Night Stand" Marlen Angelidou 2,526 7
4 Marian Georgiou "Heartbeat" Dionisis Stamatopoulos, Antroulla Michael 1,535 10
5 Alex Panayi "There is Love" Alex Panayi 3,305 6
6 Zel "I'm Gonna Breakup With You" Nikos Evagelou, Tefkros Neokleous 3,338 5
7 Pieros Kezou "Bleed 4 U" Pieros Kezou 6,590 2
8 Christiana Theokli, Kostantina Georgiou & Andreas Christofrou "Moving On" Giorgos Sinos, Christina Georgiou 3,737 4
9 Katerina Neokleous "I Believe" Katerina Neokleous 1,992 9
10 Gore Melian "I Wanna Thank You" Gore Melian 3,877 3

At Eurovision

As Cyprus is not one of the "Big Four", nor the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, after Evdokia Kadi placed 15th in the second semi-final in 2008, Cyprus had to compete in the second semi-final to proceed onto the final in Moscow. Christina performed seventh in the semi-final on 14 May, following Norway and preceding Slovakia, however she failed to qualify Cyprus to the final for the fourth consecutive year.

Points Awarded by Cyprus[11]
Split voting results from Cyprus (final)
Draw Country Jury points Televoting points Scoreboard (Points)
01  Lithuania
02  Israel
03  France
04  Sweden
05  Croatia
06  Portugal
07  Iceland 8 5
08  Greece 12 12 12
09  Armenia 7 4
10  Russia 4 1
11  Azerbaijan 4 8 8
12  Bosnia and Herzegovina
13  Moldova 3
14  Malta 3
15  Estonia 6 1 3
16  Denmark 10 6
17  Germany
18  Turkey 1 2
19  Albania
20  Norway 7 10 10
21  Ukraine
22  Romania 5 2
23  United Kingdom 5 6 7
24  Finland
25  Spain 2
Points Awarded to Cyprus (Semi-Final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

See also

References
  1. "Eurovision Song Contest 1981". EBU. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  2. "History by Country: Greece". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  3. Konstantopoulos, Fotis. "CyBC announced date and place for the national final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  4. Konstantopoulos, Fotis (2008-10-29). "Cyprus national final on January 31". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  5. Floras, Stella (2008-12-27). "New dates for Cypriot and Polish finals". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  6. Floras, Stella (2008-10-10). "Cyprus: CyBC 2009 call for songs". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  7. Konstantopoulos, Fotis (2008-12-16). "CyBC announce the ten songs for the final". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  8. Floras, Stella (2008-12-16). "Cyprus: National final participants announced". ESCToday. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  9. Konstantopoulos, Fotis (2009-01-20). "Quick updates on Poland, Cyprus and Greece". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  10. Fantis, Giorgos (2009-02-07). "Metaxas family win the national final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  11. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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