EUROVISION 2016 MINUS ONE FOR CYPRUS

The Cypriot national broadcaster has confirmed that Minus One will represent Cyprus at the forthcoming 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

The 2016 Cypriot entry will be produced by Minus One in collaboration with Eurovision and Melodifestivalen legend Thomas G:son. Thomas is particularly experienced in Eurovision having composed and produced many Eurovision entries including the 2012 Swedish winning song Euphoria. His other recent Eurovision tracks include “Warrior,” “Amanecer”, “Waterfall” and “Quédate conmigo”.

Cyprus is the 4th country to reveal its representatives for Stockholm 2016, including the Netherlands, Armenia and Montenegro.

Last year the group tried to represent Cyprus with their song ‘Shine’ but they finished third in the Cypriot national final. The group consists of Francois Micheletto (vocals), Harrys Pari (guitar), Constantinos Amerikanos (guitar and vocals), Antonis Loizides (bass) and Chris J (drums).

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 32 times since making its debut in 1981. Cyprus’ first entry was the group Island, who finished sixth. The country’s best result in the contest is three fifth-place finishes, in 1982 with Anna Vissi, 1997 with Hara & Andreas Constantinou and 2004 with Lisa Andreas.

Since 2006, Cyprus failed to qualify from the semi-final round for six out of eight years (2006–2013), before withdrawing from the 2014 contest. On 14 July 2014, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) officially confirmed their return to the contest in 2015.