Cyprus is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Jalla", written by Antigoni Buxton, Charalambous Kallona, Connor Mullally-Knight, Demetris Nikolaou, Klejdi Lupa, Paris Kalpos and Trey Qua, and performed by Antigoni herself. The Cypriot participating broadcaster, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), internally selected its entry for the contest.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, CyBC organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. It had used various methods to select its entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. Since 2016, the broadcaster had opted to select the entry internally without input from the public.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 6 November 2025, CyBC announced that British-Cypriot singer Antigoni would represent Cyprus in Vienna.[4] The selection of Antigoni as the Cypriot entrant consisted of two parts: the first involved the votes of a five-member jury panel from nine potential artists proposed by Greek record labels, and the second involved an online questionnaire posted via the broadcaster's website cybc.cy between 30 October and 6 November 2025, during which the public could express their opinion on the artists and its participation in general.[5][6][7] Prior to the announcement, it was reported that among the other proposed artists were Evangelia, Giorgos Perris, Good Job Nicky[el], Josephine, Katerina Stikoudi, Mikay, Nina Mazani and Sophia Patsalides (who represented Cyprus in the 2014 junior contest).[8][9][10] The song, "Jalla", will be released on 8 February 2026 and will be subsequently performed for the first time during the second semi-final of the Greek national final on 13 February.[11][12]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) 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 will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[13] Cyprus was scheduled for the second half of the second semi-final.[14]
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Cyprus