With less than 100 days to go until Junior Eurovision 2024, the countries participating continue be announced, and this time we have a country returning to the competition, in the form of Cyprus, who last participated in the competition in 2017.
Returning after six years of absence
The announcement of Cyprus’ return to the competition was announced via CyBC’s official social media accounts, where it was also revealed that 11 year old Maria Pissarides will represent Cyprus in Madrid.
CyBC revealed that Maria (who is studying at a performing art school in the UK) was chosen after an evaluation from Chandal Entertainment Ltd. Right now, preparations for Cyprus’ participation is in full swing, with Chandal Entertainment set to hold auditions for dancers for the performance, with Layla Ellison as the Creative Director.
As for Chantal’s entry for Junior Eurovision 2024, CyBC is yet to announce a release date. However, it is known that Maria co-wrote the entry alongside Armin Gilani.
Cyprus’ Junior Eurovision Journey
Cyprus first took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in its inaugural year of 2003. Theodora Rafti represented Cyprus at the first edition of the Contest, singing “Mia Efhi”, finishing in 14th place. The country’s best position came in both 2004 and 2006, when they finished in 8th place. Cyprus would go on to host the 2008 edition of the Contest in Limmasol.
The island nation’s most recent participation came in 2017 when Nicole Nicolaou sang “I Wanna Be A Star”. Performing first in the final, Cyprus eventually finished 16th in a field of 16. At the close of voting, Cyprus received 45 points, 40 of which came from the online vote. The remaining 5 points were awarded by professional juries across Europe.
Are you excited for Cyprus’ participation at Junior Eurovision 2024? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we start to look ahead to Junior Eurovision 2024!
News Source: CyBC
Photo Credit: CyBC
That Eurovision Site