Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Gravity" written by. The song will be performed by Hovig, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation in October 2016 to represent Cyprus at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine. The Cypriot song, "Gravity", was presented to the public on 1 March 2017. Cyprus was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 15, "Gravity" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May.
Background
Prior to the 2017 contest, Cyprus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-three times since their debut in. The nation's highest placing in the contest was fifth, which they achieved three times: in with the song "Mono I Agapi" performed by Anna Vissi, in with "Mana Mou" performed by Hara and Andreas Constantinou, and with "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Cyprus had featured in six finals. Cyprus' least successful result in the final has been last place, which they achieved in with the song "Tora Zo" performed by Elpida. The country managed to qualify in represented by the bandMinus One with their song "Alter Ego" and ended 21st in the final out of 26 entries.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
The Cypriot broadcaster CyBC confirmed on 8 August 2016 their intention to participate in the 2017 edition. It was later announced that, like the year before, an internal selection would be used. On 21 October 2016, it was announced that Hovig would be the Cypriot entrant with a song written by, while Haris Savva would be in charge of the staging. The Cypriot song for the contest, "Gravity", was presented to the public on 1 March 2017.
Promotion
Hovig made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Gravity" as the Cypriot Eurovision entry. On 8 April, he performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir. On 15 April, Hovig performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Cyprus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Cyprus was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from the Czech Republic and before the entry from Armenia.
Semi-final
Hovig took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. At the end of the show, Cyprus was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Cyprus placed fifth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 164 points: 103 points from the televoting and 61 points from the juries.
Points awarded to Cyprus
Points awarded by Cyprus
Final
Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Cyprus was drawn to compete in the second half. Voting on the Cypriot jury were: - Stavros Stavrou - Tassos Evaggelou - Eleni Sidera - Stella Georgiadou - Yiannis Toumazis
