| Year: | 1996 |
| Broadcaster: | Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) |
| Country: | Cyprus |
| Flag Variant: | 1960 |
| Preselection: | National final |
| Preselection Date: | 5 March 1996 |
| Entrant: | Constantinos |
| Song: | Greek, Modern (1453-);: Mono gia mas|i=no |
| Final Result: | 9th, 72 points |
Cyprus was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Greek, Modern (1453-);: Mono gia mas|i=no", composed by Andreas Giorgallis, with lyrics by Rodoula Papalambrianou, and performed by Constantinos. The Cypriot participating broadcaster, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), selected its entry through a national final.
The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) opened a submission period for Cypriot artists and composers to submit songs until 12 January 1996.[1] The deadline was later postponed to 21 January 1996.[2] By the end of the submission period, 43 entries had been submitted.[3] On 4 February 1996, in radio room one of the CyBC studios, an 8-member jury listened to the received submissions and chose eight songs to compete in the national final.[4]
The final was broadcast live at 21:10 EET on RIK 1 on 5 March 1996 in a show titled Greek, Modern (1453-);: Epilogí Kypriakís Symmetochís Sti Giourovízion .[5] The contest was held at the Monte Caputo Nightclub in Limassol, and was hosted by Marina Maleni. The winner was decided by a 20-member jury who each gave out 10 points to their favourite song, 8 to their second favourite, and 6 through to 1 points for their third to eighth placing songs.[6]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katerina Chartosia | "Kai se roto" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Και σε ρωτώ) | Katerina Logothetis-Chartosia | 78 | 5 | |
| 2 | Michalis Hatzigiannis | "Trello paidi" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Τρελλό παιδί) | Andros Papapavlou, Leonidas Malenis | 139 | 2 | |
| 3 | Sofi Christofidou | "Antecho" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Αντέχω) | Koralia Schiza, Ilias Antoniadis | 109 | 4 | |
| 4 | Anastasios | "Epi gis eirini" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Επί γης ειρήνη) | Charis Anastasios | 72 | 6 | |
| 5 | Katerina Chartosia | "Erota mou" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ερωτά μου) | Theos Kallias, Giorgos Karavokyris | 111 | 3 | |
| 6 | Kyros Lontos | "Chilies seirines" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Χίλιες σειρήνες) | Kyros Lontos | 54 | 8 | |
| 7 | Constantinos | "Mono gia mas" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Μόνο για μας) | Andreas Giorgallis, Rodoula Papalambrianou | 162 | 1 | |
| 8 | Giorgos Kalopedis | "Kravgi" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Κραυγή) | Loukas Christou, Antis Oskis | 55 | 7 |
| + Detailed Jury Votes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draw | Song | Jury | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||||
| 1 | "Kai se roto" | 10 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 78 | |
| 2 | "Trello paidi" | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 139 | |
| 3 | "Antecho" | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 109 | |
| 4 | "Epi gis eirini" | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 72 | |
| 5 | "Erota mou" | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 111 | |
| 6 | "Chilies seirines" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 54 | |
| 7 | "Mono gia mas" | 6 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 162 | |
| 8 | "Kravgi" | 3 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 55 | |
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round of the 29 songs entered (excluding hosts who were exempt) was held in March in order for the seven lowest-scoring songs to be eliminated before the final. Cyprus received 42 points, placing joint 15th and thus qualifying for the final in Oslo.[7]
On the night of the final, Constantinos Christoforou (performing mononymously as Constantinos) performed fifth in the running order, following and preceding . At the closing of the voting, "Greek, Modern (1453-);: Mono gia mas|i=no" had received 72 points, placing Cyprus 9th out of 23 competing countries. The Cypriot jury awarded its 12 points to Portugal.[8]