CYPRUS

The Cypriot Final was held on February 1st at the PIK TV Studios in Nicosia, hosted by Antri Karontini. Before the final there were 8 shows to whittle down the initial 50+ entries to a final of just 6. The winner was chosen by an "expert" jury (50%) and televoting (50%) which ran for the week before the final The winning song was "One thing I should have done" by Giannis Karagiannis.

The selection process this year are very different to those seen in previous years to choose Cyprus's entry. The core judging panel consisted of Elena Patroklou, Alex Panayi, Despina Olympiou and Tasos Trifonos and you needed at least three yeses to pas through. The next stage called "Eurochallenge" saw the 4 judges joined by Christer Björkman and Dimitris Kontopoulos. and in the final they were joined by Nicola Caligiore and Bruno Berberes. The elongated process meant you heard the finalists several times before the final - therefore getting to know the songs AND the artists

The song is a soft ballad in the ilk of "Me and my guitar" or "Stronger every minute" - the latter was written my Mike Connaris who also had a hand in this year's entry. The song is a very thoughtful and heartfelt song which has a very gentle and endearing quality. The chorus has a memorable tune and is repeated just enough to make a mark without becoming repetitive. The acappella part in the middle is a real stand out point and can imagine the arena either cheering support or even singing along at this point.

Giannis has a very interesting look and will appeal with his slightly shy-geek look. He also has a look that doesn't necessarily say 'singer' and so seeing him sing has a slight charm and surprise as you would not expect him to sound like that.. His voice is quite small and gentle, which suits the song and he has been very consistent throughout all the rounds, performing at a good level each time.

The song works as it is and needs very little doing apart from some production tweaks. It requires simple staging, simple production and simple backdrop and from that point of view they will need to think very carefully about the story they want to tell with the visual images. I also think Giannis's geeky look needs to stay, but may also require a little bit of tweaking depending on other visuals. The black and white used at the start during the final was an excellent touch. Although the song needs no dancers I'm not sure about backing singers. During the auditions process it was just Giannis and a backing track and it felt more sincere and clear.

I think this song will stand out and will appeal to the archetypal BBC Radio 2 listener although it also has that singer/songwriter youth appeal to it too. As long as it is not surrounded by songs that over power it I think this could do well. Although possibly not a winner (but I said that about the Common Linnets) I think this will qualify and will score a good enough placing to make sure Cyprus comes back again next year.

ARTIST - Giannis Karagiannis

SONG - One thing I should have done

MUSIC - Mike Connaris, Giannis Karagiannis

LYRICS - Mike Connaris, Giannis Karagiannis