Thirty-nine countries are competing with the aim to lift the trophy in Malmö. The thirty-ninth and last country to be introduced is Cyprus. The country never won the contest and this year Despina Olympiou will carry the Cypriot hopes in Sweden.

Basic information

Performer: Despina Olympiou
Song: An me thimasai
Language: English
Music: Andreas Giorgallis
Lyrics: Zenon Zintillis

The song

An me thimasai is a ballad song about a person who asks her lover if he remember her. The singer says that she will be there for him.

Aν με θυμάσαι

Για ό, τι έζησα ποτέ δεν μετανιώνω
Για ό, τι αγάπησα συγνώμη δεν ζητώ
Για όσα θέλω τη ψυχή μου απογειώνω
Και για όσα μου ‘δωσες εγώ σε ευχαριστώ

Αν με θυμάσαι
Πες μου αν θα σε ξαναδώ
Σε περιμένω
Πάντα για σένα, θα ‘μαι εδώ

The performer

Despina Olympiou was born and raised in Limassol in Cyprus. However she studied in London where she obtained her degree in piano and music theory. Olympiou started singing professionally in 1992. Her debut album was released in 2000 entitled Ton mation sou i kalimera. Her single Vale mousiki was released in 2003 and it was certified platinum. Despina went on tours in collaboration with top singers in the United States, Australia and Europe, singing in famous theatres and concert halls. Her latest album entitled Mia stigma was released at the end of 2009 with eleven songs, the music which was composed by Michalis Hadjiyiannis.

The songwriters

The Cypriot entry is written by Andreas Giorgallis and Zenon Zintillis. Giorgallis studied music and sound engineering in London. He is the composer of the song Mono gia mas performed by Constantinos Christoforou, with which Cyprus participated in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest. Zintillis studied and worked in the United Kingdom. He is the lyricist of the 1998 Cypriot entry called Genesis performed by Michalis Hadjiyiannis.

The national selection

Despina Olympiou was internally selected by the Cypriot broadcaster CYBC and in February she presented the entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest

Cyprus debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 and had a very good start finishing sixth and fifth in its first two participations. Some lower results followed, but the country managed to equal the fifth place in 1997 and 2004, which also marked the last top ten placing to date. The only three appearances in the final since the introduction of the semi-final stage was introduced occurred in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2012.

Statistics

This will be Cyprus’ 31st participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Despina Olympiou is the 15th female solo singer to represent the island in Europe’s favourite show. The entry will be performed in native language after last year’s song was in English.

Cypriot vote in Eurovision

Cyprus and Greece exchange their maximum points. Infact Cyprus gave its most points to the Greek songs while Greece reciprocated by awarding the most points to Cyprus.

The betting odds

According to oddschecker.com, Cyprus is currently standing at number 28 in the odds to win the Eurovision Song Contest and at number 15 to qualify to the final from semi-final one.

Ας ευχηθούμε στην Κύπρος και η Δέσποινα Ολυμπίου καλή επιτυχία και καλά αποτελέσματα στο Μάλμε!

Videos

Preview clip

Pano stin agape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQcPQDGBE8

Mazi chorista
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECgh-sVdek

Cyprus concludes the series of introducing articles, no more hints but the excitement for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest is hitting high!

Have your say

You can rate the Cypriot entry by voting in our poll

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You can view previous parts of this series by clicking here