Cyprus fails to qualify for Eurovision

Cypriots were disappointed on Thursday night that Cyprus failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest final which will take place in Athens on Saturday.

In a tele-voting procedure, the semi-final for the 51st Eurovision Song Contest saw Cyprus voted out.

Cyprus’ entry was “Why angels cry”, performed by Annete Artani, who was in fact not Cypriot at all but a US citizen born of parents from Greece.

For Cypriots, the Eurovision Song Contest has a political dimension. Cypriots tend to give Greece the top 12 points and expect the same in return (but do not always get it), while Turkey is normally expected to give nothing to either Greece or Cyprus but sometimes does.

The ten countries of the semifinal that qualified on Thursday for Saturday’s final are: Russia, FYR Macedonia, Bosnia –Herzegovina, Lithuania, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey and Armenia.