As exclusively revealed by esctoday.com earlier this week, RIK will be holding the Cypriot national final for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 12th January. The deadline for the submission of the songs has been set as the 15th of November. RIK also announced that there will be no budget for a European promo tour in 2008.
RIKwill be accepting songs in any European language, by Cypriot only or of Cypriot origin composers and songwriters regardless of their country of residence. A seven-member jury will be appointed to select ten entries that will compete in the country's final. During the final, the same jury with two additional members together with the televoters will select the Cypriot representative to the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest at a 40-60 split.
RIK has also announced that there will be no budget this year for a promo tour and no intention for one to be organised. In the case that none of the submitted songs satisfy RIK, the Cypriot broadcaster retains the right either to forfeit participation in the Eurovision Song Contest altogether or proceed to internal selection. Finally, it is stressed that the winning song must in no way be made public until the night of the national final.
The submission form with full instructions in Greek can be found here.
