CyBC, the Cypriot national broadcaster has confirmed today that it will be selecting a new artist for Eurovision 2021 and that its 2020 Eurovision hopeful Sandro will not represent Cyprus at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

Thus Cyprus becomes the first country to opt for a new act for Eurovision 2021 out of the list of  countries who had selected their Eurovision 2020 hopefuls internally. So far 18 out of the 41 Eurovision 2020 competing countries have invited their Eurovision 2020 hopefuls back to the competition next year.

Sandro was set to represent Cyprus at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with his entry ‘Running‘.

Last Saturday local Cypriot press reported that Cyprus would not be represented by Sandro at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.  Following this the Cypriot natioanal broadcaster confirmed this news today.

CyBC released the following statement regarding Eurovision 2021:

Following a mutual agreement with Sandro and his management and taking into consideration his schedule and commitments, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation wishes to inform that the said artist will not be representing Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

The Cyprus delegation would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Sandro for representing Cyprus at ‘Eurovision Europe Shine A Light’ and to wholeheartedly wish him  all the very best in the future.

More details regarding the 2021 Cypriot Eurovision plan of action will be released in due time.

Cyprus in Eurovision

Cyprus debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 and is yet to win the event. The Mediterrranean island achieved its best result in the competition in 2018 when it placed 2nd with Eleni Foureira‘s epic entry Fuego.

Aphrodite’s island has been represented by some of the biggest names in the Greek and Cypriot music industry: Anna Vissi (1982), Michalis Hatzigiannis (1998), Evridiki (1992,1994,2007), Ivi Adamou (2012), Despina Olympiou (2013), Eleni Foureira ( 2018), Tamta (2019) etc

Cyprus has partaken 36 times in the competition.

In 2019 Cyprus opted for an internal selection and selected Tamta to fly the Cypriot flag at the Eurovision Song Contest. Tamta achieved a 13th place in the Grand Final with her entry Replay.