THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
Cypriot broadcaster RIK received seventy five  potential Eurovision entries for their national final, which was a high number, considering that they limited the selection to songwriters with a link to the Cyprus. Following the disqualification of one entry, nine songs competed in the Cypriot national final which was held on February 7th at the RIK TV Studios in Nicosia and hosted by Andreas Georgiou. The winner was chosen by televoting and a jury and the winner of bother elements of the voting was the song "Life Looks Better In Spring" performed by Welshman Jon Lilygreen and the multi-national Islanders.

 BIOGRAPHY
Cyprus will be represented in this year's Eurovision Song Contest by Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders who will perform Life Looks Better In Spring.

Can’t find someone to sing your song for the Eurovision Song Contest – Google will!

It is amazing what you can do over the internet these days and no one knows this better than Cypriot song writers Nasos Lambrianides and Melis Konstantinou.

After penning a song called Life Looks Better in Spring they decided to enter it in the Cyprus selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. But they had a problem – they didn’t have anyone to produce it OR sing it.

So, like most people these days who are looking for something – they went online and hit the world-wide-web jackpot! Their surfing led them to Wales in the UK and to music producer Jon Gregory. Jon suggested that the song writers take a look at an online demo of musician Jon Lilygreen. They did, and they were blown away with his natural talent and invited him to sing for Cyprus. It was from there that Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders were born.

Jon Lilygreen is 22 years' old and comes from Wales in the United Kingdom. He is a professional working musician who has been involved with many styles of old and contemporary music. As well as singing, Jon composes his own songs and is a very talented guitar player. He is well known in his home town of Newport where he performs acoustic sets at local clubs.

The Islanders - the group Jon will be on stage with - has an international line-up with performers from all over Europe – Wales, Scotland, England, Oslo and of course Cyprus.

 REACTION
When it was chosen in early February, it looked like Cyprus was a good bet to qualify for the second semi-final, but as the other songs became known, the chances of a Cypriot place in the final seemed to get slimmer. The song is now not among the bookers favourites to qualify and can be backed at 100/1 to win in Oslo. However, perhaps thanks to some international promotion, the Cypriot entry is among the favourites in the second semi-final in most internet polls.

 INTERVIEW

BROADCASTER

RATINGS