The eighth artist in our Who Is series for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is Maria Pissarides from Cyprus.
Maria Pissarides is 11 years old and comes from Nicosia. She currently studies at a at a performing arts school in the United Kingdom.
Maria has been involved in music and dance since a young age. She has appeared in various musicals in Cyprus, most recently in a production of Matilda at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre. She also writes songs and achieved recognition in the European Radio 2023 competition. Apart from music, she enjoys playing with her dog, eating chocolate and berries, and spending time with her two brothers.
Maria was selected to represent Cyprus at Junior Eurovision 2024 after an evaluation of a proposal by the production company Chandal Entertainment Ltd to CyBC, the Cypriot national broadcaster. Maria is the first person to represent Cyprus at Junior Eurovision since 2017.
The song that Maria will perform in Madrid is called “Crystal Waters”. It was written and composed by Sophia Patsalidou and Armin Gilani. Maria also co-wrote the lyrics. Sophia represented Cyprus in Junior Eurovision 2014 with “I pio omorfi mera”. Armin is a Swedish producer and composer.
Image Source: Becky Lee / CyBC
Cyprus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Cyprus participated in the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, where they were represented by Theodora Rafti. She finished 14 with just 16 points. The country’s best result came in 2004 when Marios Tofi finished 8th with the song “Oniera”, scoring a total of 61 points. In 2008, Cyprus hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. On home soil they were represented by Elena Mannouri & Charis Savva. They finished 10th with 46 points. Cyprus will return to Junior Eurovision in 2024.
