The fifth bunch of live auditions of the cypriot "Eurovision Song Project" was held tonight in Cyprus. A total of nine artists performed in front of the jury with three of them being selected to make it through to the next phase of the contest, the Eurochallenge, leaving only two spots for the last round of auditions next Sunday.

The show’s judges Alex Panayi (Cyprus 1995,2000), Helena Patroklou (Cyprus 1991), Despina Olimpiou (Cyprus 2013) and radio producer Tasos Tryfonos knowing that we are almost in the end of the auditions were today stricter with the contestants than in the previous auditions. As you may remember each contestant needs at least three "yes" from the judges.

Before they sang their candidate song they introduced themselves with an old eurovision entry of their choice. The results were as follows:

• Christina Gavriilidou with Lonely night (music/lyrics: Lefki Stylianou)

Cristina is the youngest contestant of the show as she is only 16 years old. The young singer gave a rendition of Lisa Andrea‘s song, Stronger every minute (Cyprus 2004. 5th place). Her entry is a sweet ballad. She got encouraging comments from the jury, especially for her voice but unfortunatelly her song got only one "yes" from Alex Panayis, so she didn’t quallify.

• Neofitos Stratis with Rebound (music/lyrics: Neofitos Stratis)

Neofitos is both a singer and an actor. He works in New York and came to Cyprus for the auditions of Eurovision Song Project. Neofitos sang Non ho l’eta (Italy 1964, 1st place) as his eurovision cover. Neofitos has a very special and unique voice, but the judges claimed that his song although it is good, can’t bring Cyprus to the final, something that all the judges have in mind this year. His song got two "yes" from Helena Patroklou and Despina Olimpiou so failed to quallify to the next round.

• Apollonia with Don’t give on me-just yet (music/lyrics: Apollonia Lisandrou)

Apollonia is also 16 years old. She came from Florida, USA, where she has already released a cd single. Apollonia gave a very nice rendition of Only teardrops (Demark 2013, 1st place). She reminds of Soluna Samay from Denmark 2012, with her guitar and her country like song. She got mixed comments for her voice, but good ones for the song. Apollonia got three "yes" from Despina Olimpiou, Tasos Trifonos and Helena Patroklou and went through to the next phase. QUALLIFIED.

• Yuri Melikov with Victorious (music/lyrics: Clyde Ward, Yuri Melikov)

Yuri was a last year participant in the Voice of Greece and a lot of people were waiting his song this year in Cyprus. Yuri chose Johnny Logan‘s Hold me now as his rendition (Ireland 1987, 1st place). Yuri sang his song very confident. The judges likes him, but they all said that his song is a typical eurovision entry, something that might be a trap. However he got four "yes", swiftly making it to the next round. QUALLIFIED

• Flirt with Let your mind free (music/lyrics: Andreas le Pourek)

Flirt is a rock band with two female voices. Their eurovision cover was Euphoria (Sweden 2012, 1st place). The jury told them that despite the fact that they gave a good performance of their entry, they had bad vocals and a flat song. The judges did not gave any "yes" here.

• Helena Panayi with No money no honey (music/lyrics: Efrem Macheras, Jani Holi, Mikaela Xatziefrem)

Helena is a well known singer in Cyprus and a lot of fans following her on social media were waiting to hear her song. Helena also chose Euphoria for her rendition (Sweden 2012, 1st place). Her song is a dance pop song talking about younger girls having sex with older men! She got nice comments for her voice and her performance, but very bad comments about her song, escpecially about the lyrics of it. Four no for her.

• Konstantina Georgiou with When we used to be together (music/lyrics: Valeria Partali )

Konstantina is a nurse and sang Johanna‘s Is it true (Iceland 2009, 2nd place) as her eurovision classic rendition. Her song is a classic ballad. The judges said that she has an excellend voice, but her song did not persuade them to quallify her to the next round. The artist got 2 "yes" from Helena Patroklou and Despina Olimpiou, failing for one vote to quallify.

• Hovig Demirjian with Stone in a river (music/lyrics: Argiro Christodoulidou)

Hovig was second in the cypriot national final in 2010 and a previous X Factor participant in Greece. Hovig sang a greek eurovision classic for his rendition, Anixi of Sofia Vossou (Greece 1991,13th place). Hovig’s song, stone in a river is a dynamic ballad, very well built. He sang it very confident and really got very nice comment for his song. Judges gave an all clear four "yes" here. QUALLIFIED.

• Maria Evangelou with Play me like a pop song (music/lyrics: Maria Louisa Evangelou, Sanna Gunnarsson, Viktor Bruno, Calle Kindbom.

This is the second appearance for Maria in the show as she has already quallified to the next phase. Maria comes from London and chose Cliche Love Song, a last year’s eurovision entry (Denmark 2014, 9th place) for her cover. Maria gave a very professional performance, with very good vocals to her jazz song. However the judges did not like her song and gave her only one "yes" from Despina Olimpiou.

With three more quallifiers, eighteen of the twenty places of the next Eurochallenge phase have now been filled. The Eurovision Song Project continues next Sunday 11/1 at 20.05 CET with the last heat of auditions and will be streamed live here.

Links

Cyprus 2015:fourth heat of Eurovision Song Project
Scandal in cypriot national selection involving Despina Olimpiou and Konstantinos Christoforou
Cyprus 2015:third heat of Eurovision Song Project

In my view

Eurovision Song Project started with very bad songs and as we get closer to the end it is greatly impoved. At last today we had a song that can bring a good result for Cyprus. Hovig gave a very good performance and his song Stone in a river is an interesting proposal for Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest. However we have to wait the last episode to make a total view of the songs. I think that the jury today stole the impressions once again.

The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.