John Karayiannis will fly the Cypriot flag in Eurovision’s Semi-Final 2… Thursday 21st May… draw 15th…
John Karayiannis will fly the Cyprus flag at this May’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with his sweet melody ballad ‘One Thing I Should Have Done‘.
Mike Connaris a London Cypriot song-writer penned #Otishd and to keen fans he earns folklore status, by way of his Eurovision’s Top 5th with 2004’s Lisa Andreas ‘Stronger Every Minute’ to equal our nation’s best ever result.
The review by Tony Neophytou supports our tune with the force of a patriotic/proud fellow Cypriot in London.
John’s likeability with the useful hook in #Otishd adding to the strong vocals and clear tone, and it’s that clarity of verse makes sure we are bought into his introspective thoughts, and sold on his tune.
John reveals to LGR the live song/performance has captivating/intimate feel to a great effect on the screens, with good camera-work and lighting. “It’s a very simple ballad, and the simplicity is what we want to convey, what I want to say, is that I want to create the atmosphere that will appeal to the viewer’s attention”.
His signature look are the black thick framed spectacles and when asked exactly, how many pairs of glasses he owns, the answer was five.
He is a Cypriot born Limassol who at 20 years-old is a singer and song-writer fully realising his goal to represent his island.
JK with lovely ballad song…
“As soon as Mike played me the song, I knew this was for me. I just loved the simplicity in the track and beautiful melody… and lyrics… well that was me!”
“Winning the Cyprus Final was the highlight of my career so far. I remember the feeling of not winning the Cyprus JESC and I was really disappointed. But if I’d known then I was going to win the adult Final in a few years time… I would have soon cheered up!”
He reckons qualifying is the main goal “I want to do well in Vienna for Cyprus and get them into the Final proper. If I can achieve that… well, let’s take it from there!”
John and Mike went to Bratislava to record the final mix of #Otishd with orchestra and real guitars, adding sparkle to the track. There’s even the official Euroclub remix by Pepperoni Mohawk the dance-floor filler which speed’s up Eurovision’s buzz this month.
John was introduced to Mike by Christos Kyriakides, who runs a successful music school of the same name in Limassol. Mike was very impressed with John’s voice and invited him to London. After getting to know John, and working closely in the studio with him, Mike set about writing a song especially for John. The song is about regret, but with a twist because it’s not until the end of the song that the real truth comes out. It makes you realise that in a relationship you should look back with no regrets, and always be honest.
#Otishd was to win the Cypriot’s Eurovision Song Project airing on 1st February on CyBc after a lengthy process of live audition and semi-finals chose the outright song.
Mike clearly very elated at his chance at Eurovision explained how he’s feeling up-beat about his adventure ahead he puts it to lgr.co.uk. “Having my song chosen to represent Cyprus again was awesome. I’ve tried since 2004 with different singers but had no luck, so John winning the Final at the beginning of Feb with “One thing I should have done” was amazing. I think the hardest part is over and I now believe John can actually win ESC for Cyprus. He is such a young talent with an incredible voice – so cool and calm on stage – nothing fazes him… and if we can get the staging right, there’s no reason why Cyprus can’t be hosting ESC in 2016! Now wouldn’t that be something!”
My guess it’s a potential qualifier and if we point out the constant struggle to qualify, that’s a huge feat. The sums suggest that only 33% of all Cypriot tunes qualified in recent years, but you can sense the genuine intent of the Cypriot delegation to beat the tough task at qualifying… well, fingers crossed to beef-up our island’s fortunes and the best of luck to Cyprus and John and Mike for achieving the best type of positive outcome this month.
Cyprus competes with the top 10 qualifying from semi-final two on Thursday 21st of May, you can tune in to BBC 3 to catch the event and the UK will be tele-voting at 50%, plus 50% jurors.
Cypriot entry has potentially good draw at 15th in the full line-up of 17 songs and maybe that kind of ‘late draw’ will be an advantage, to win people’s votes.
The grand final will be airing on Saturday 23rd May at the Wiener Stadthalle in host city Vienna.
