Throughout the eighties, nineties, and early 2000s, Cyprus has traveled all over the score board, but still managed two more Top Five finishes: one in 1997 with Hara and Andreas Constantinou's Μάνα μου ("My Motherland") and the next in 2004 with sixteen year-young Lisa Andreas' soft ballad Stronger Every Minute (overall Cyprus has placed in the Top Ten a total of nine times since its debut). Cyprus' 2004 performance (clip below) in Istanbul also brought the country its first ever points from Turkey (five in the Semi Final, and one in the Final - Cyprus returned the favor with 2 points for Athena's performance of For Real on home turf). Cyprus' first ever points to Turkey (a groundbreaking eight, delivered with a message of peace) were given in the previous year, ultimately leading to Sertab Erener's victory in Riga. Those goodwill vote exchanges have been rare ever since (in fact only once), with Turkey awarding four points to the Cypriot entry, which ultimately failed to qualify for the Final in 2008. Let's take a look at the song that broke the Cyprus-Turkey points divide (and hope it leads to other divisions being resolved):
This year Cyprus heads to Malmo with Despina Olympiou's ballad Αν με θυμάσαι ("If you think of me"). Though I don't understand the words, the music and Despina's voice tell me to not underestimate this entry as an underdog in this year's Contest. Cyprus has pulled off surprising high finishes before, and this song has great potential to get the Mediterranean island nation back in the top of the scoreboard. I really hope that the live performance in the First Semi Final (and hopefully in the Final on May 18th) goes well (many a great performer has not survived the singing live onstage, though based on Despina's past live performances, this should be no obstacle for her to overcome):
If she can sound so good despite all the wind in the video, she should have no problem in the live performance. ;-)
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