Key Points
- Sydney's Vasiliki Silia Kapsis will represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest.
- It's the second year in a row that the island nation has selected an Australian-born performer.
- Kapsis will perform the song 'Liar', written by Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos.
Cyprus has again looked beyond its borders for representation at the Eurovision Song Contest, the Mediterranean island nation's 39th showing at the competition.
After - finishing 12th in the final - Vasiliki Silia Kapsis will take the stage for the country at this year's competition, set to take place in Malmö, Sweden, from May 8-11.
At age 17, she will be this year's youngest entrant and will perform in the first semi-final on 8 May.
Her song - 'Liar' - was written by Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos.
It's an endeavour made even more impressive as she's juggling her Eurovision commitments with her HSC studies, by taking online classes via Sydney Distance Education.
"I'm still a student, I'm in year 12 and I'm currently doing my classes online but will have to come back later in the year for the exams," she told SBS Greek.
Kapsis will be vying for a place in the contest's grand final alongside , who will perform the song 'One Milkali (One Blood)' on the same night.
Born in Sydney to a Greek Cypriot father and a mother from Thessaloniki in Greece, Kapsis has been the lead singer for the Australian Youth Performing Arts Company (AYPAC).
Her creative journey began at the age of four when her family recognised her innate talent and nurtured it with singing and dancing lessons.
From those early years, she said music became more than a mere pastime.
Back then, I loved singing and dancing so much that I didn’t want the lessons to end. It was my favourite thing.
Kapsis' journey to the contest began when she followed Kontopoulos on Instagram.
After he followed her back, Kontopoulos and Kapsis' mother made contact before setting plans to meet in Greece, where they explored the possibilities of entering the contest.
There, Kapsis said she was presented with three different songs, and without hesitation, she chose ‘Liar'.
"I really like dance music, and ‘Liar’ has that pop element. It’s upbeat and powerful. I want to dance when I’m on the stage," she said.
"So far, ‘Liar’ is doing much better than I thought it would online. There are a lot of people who do dance covers and put their videos up on TikTok and Instagram."
Listen and read in Greek
Silia Kapsis- Η Ελληνοαυστραλή που εκπροσωπεί την Κύπρο στην Eurovision
In the early negotiations, she wasn’t sure whether she was going to represent Greece, Cyprus, or Australia, she explained.
Kapsis and her team were "caught by surprise" when RIK, the Cypriot public broadcaster, announced her as the country's entrant.
Since its Eurovision debut in 1981, Cyprus' best result was a second-place finish with Eleni Foureira in 2018.
The country holds the record for the most times competing at Eurovision without a single win, a record held by Portugal before it won the competition in 2017.
Since January, Kapsis has been moving between Cyprus and Greece in preparation for the contest.
Vasiliki Silia Kapsis was born in Sydney to a Greek Cypriot father and a mother from Thessaloniki, Greece.
Among Kapsis' favourite Greek artists are Giannis Ploutarhos, Sakis Rouvas, Antonis Remos, and Marinella.
She has fond memories of visiting Greece when she was young and going on stage dancing and singing with Ploutarhos at one of his concerts.
"I really like to sing in Greek. It feels comfortable, and my voice relaxes."
This year's contest will take place in Sweden, after Loreen won the contest in 2023 with her song, ‘Tattoo’.
It’s the second time the Swedish singer has won the competition, making her the only woman to do so in the history of Eurovision.
Greece, with Marina Satti’s ‘ZARI,’ will compete in the second semi-final on 9 May.
The final is scheduled for Saturday, 11 May.
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