Tefkros Neocleous walked the Eurovision Song Contest stage last year when he accompanied Evdokia Kadi as a backing singer and dancer. This year, he tries to represent Cyprus on his own with Mary, a rock power ballad he will perform himself in the Cypriot national final. In an exclusive interview with Esctoday.com he talks about his song, his experience in Belgrade and his views on the new voting system in the Eurovision Song Contest final.

"Mary is a song which was composed especially for the contest, it is a rock power ballad with English lyrics." Tefkros tells us. "To be honest, usually I don't just sit down and decide to write a song, but I was lucky this time, because my inspiration for the song came at the same period of time with the Eurovision Song Contest applications. So, it started as an inspiration and ended up as a Eurovision project!"

Who is going to perform the song? Will you be the one performing?

Yes, I am going to perform the song, but I'm not going to be the only one on stage!

Does Tefkros think the return of the jury vote in the Eurovision Song Contest final will have an impact on the outcome and did this fact influence him when writing Mary? " The only thing I kept thinking about when writing the song was…Mary! Anyway, I wonder how the change in the voting system can actually "help" a small and lonely country like Cyprus, when it is not introduced from the semi final! Maybe it will make a difference in the final, but what about the semi final guys? We (small countries) need the jury vote in the semi final."

You accompanied Evdokia Kadi on stage in Belgrade representing Cyprus in 2008. What has the experience taught you? What do you feel it takes to do well or even win it?

It was a fantastic experience! I probably had the best time of my life! There is no recipe for winning. You just need to have a good song with a catchy tune, a memorable stage appearance and promote the song as much as possible. In order to win of course, you must have many good neighbours as well! (unfortunately!)

Which are your favourite Cypriot and international entries so far? (apart from Femme fatale of course)

From the Cypriot entries, I like Sti fotia and Stronger every minute and from the international entries, Waterloo, Hold me now, Nocturne, Mathema solfege and My number one. But, there are also so many other great songs..

Do you have a message for the readers of esctoday.com?

Yes of course! Please vote for your preferable song and not for countries and your neighbours. Happy New Year!!