Cyprus: CyBC unveils its alternative Eurovision program for May
The Cypriot national broadcaster,CyBC, has unveiled its plans for Eurovision week in May and the alternative program it will be broadcasting for the audience replacing the cancelled Eurovision 2020 shows.
Following the unprecedent cancellation of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the national broadcaster across Europe and Australia have made alternative plans for Eurovision week in the place of the cancelled ESC 2020 show. Among them the Cypriot broadcaster will be unwinding its own special program for this May.
Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light
CyBC will be joining the list of broadcasters that will air the special show ‘Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light’, that will replace this year’s cancelled Eurovision final show, on May 16. The show is co-produced by EBU and the three Dutch Eurovision 2020 host broadcasters (AVROTROS, NOS, NPO) and is aiming to honor the 41 ESC 2020 representatives that were deprived the chance to perform in Rotterdam due to the coronavirus outbreak. Several past ESC winners have been confirmed to take part in the show among which , Katrina and the Waves (UK 1997) , Helena Paparizou (Greece 2005) and Marija Serifovic ( Serbia 2007) .The show will be hosted by Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit . Andreas Iakovidis will be the Cypriot commentator of the special show.
Ahead of the special show on May 16 the Cypriot broadcaster will air a special tribute to this year’s contestants and the past Cypriot representatives over the years in Eurovision.
Additionally, CyBC will cover over two show the 41 entries of this year’s contest. On Saturday, May 9 at 21:00 CET the first show will hit our screens presenting the first 20 entries, including the Cypriot one, while on the next day May 10, the second show will be aired with the rest of the entries. The two shows will be rebroadcasted on Tuesday , May 12 and Wednesday May 13 accordingly. The tribute and both shows during the weekend will be hosted by Louka Hamatsou.
This year Sandro Nicolas was internally selected to represent the country with his song “Running” composed by the world wide established singer and composer Alfie Arcuri. Unfortunately Sandro didn’t have the chance to perform on Rotterdam Ahoy’s stage due to the contest’s cancellation while the Cypriot broadcaster hasn’t revealed its intentions for Eurovision 2021.
