RIK, the Cypriot broadcaster, has begun the search for a Cyprus-based contestant to represent the country at Eurovision 2025.
While several artists have expressed interest in entering the 2025 competition, the broadcaster is reportedly requiring next year’s representative to be based in the country. This presents a reversal of Cyprus’ recent trend of selecting members of the Cypriot or Greek diaspora: its last two representatives, Silia Kapsis (2024) and Andrew Lambrou (2023) were Australian. Andromache (2022) was born in Germany and raised in Greece. The most recent Cyprus-based artist to represent the country at Eurovision was Hovig in 2017 with the song “Gravity.”
The contestant will be chosen internally through a focus group comprised of industry professionals.
Potential candidates include Feidias Irodotou, who placed fourth in the most recent season of the hit Greek television competition “Fame Story.” Irodotou has repeatedly voiced his interest in representing Cyprus at Eurovision. In interviews with Ok! Magazine Greece in January and March 2024, he stated that competing in Eurovision was a primary goal of his. However, in an interview with Znews earlier this month, Irodotou claimed: “If I was offered Eurovision, I would say no at first. It needs a lot of work!”
Another possibility is former Junior Eurovision contestant Sophia Patsalides. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter represented Cyprus at JESC in 2014, placing ninth with the song “I pio omorfi mera.” Pastalides recently posted video on Instagram of her performing a Greek language cover of the 2024 French entry, “Mon Amour” by Slimane.
Cyprus has competed at Eurovision since 1981, missing only 1988, 2001 and 2014. The country earned its highest result in 2018 with Eleni Foureira’s “Fuego,” placing second.
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Sources: Eurovoix; Eurovisionfun (Greek & English versions available)
