Sophia: “My JESC participation will be an experience I will keep forever in my heart” (Exclusive Interview)

Our next Junior Eurovision interview is with Sophia Patsalides from Cyprus! Check out what she has told us:

Hello Sophia! First of all, congratulations on having been selected to represent Cyprus at Junior Eurovision 2014!

E+: You were internally chosen by CYBC, do you know how the decision was taken? What was the first idea which crossed your mind when they told you such an important proposal?

Silver Spotlight, a very succesful Production Company, based in Cyprus, proposed to CyBC our country’ s participation in JESC 2014 with direct representation by me. CYBC accepted their proposal and they got in touch with me and told me the big news. We then attended a meeting with CYBC where this was officially announced to me and we discussed all the details. I can’t even describe how I felt! I was so happy and honored!

E+: What did your family told you when you announced them you were going to represent Cyprus at Junior Eurovision?

They were so excited! They congratulated me, and the told me they would be by my side all the way.

E+: Had you watched Junior Eurovision before? What are you favourite entries of this contest’s history?

Yes I’ve been watching Junior Eurovision every year since the age of seven..on the night of each competition we usually marked all the countries with my big sister giving them all points like in the actual competition! My favorite entry is Gaia’s “The Star”.

E+: Did you attend Junior Eurovision 2008 in Cyprus? Which memories do you have from the year when the contest took place in your home country?

Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance, because I was on a trip with my family. But I followed all the publicity and watched many videos, it was an exciting evening for Cyprus and my mother’s home city Limassol! Also the composer of the opening song “Hand in Hand” Costas Cacoyannis and the Lyricist Pambos koyzalis are both very good friends of me and my family.

E+: What do you think about your country’s “come-back” to Junior Eurovision and Eurovision? Have you ever met any past Cipriot participant?

Cyprus “come-back” to both Junior Eurovision and Eurovision is very exciting and I am very honored to mark the return of my country to JESC, after a five-year absence. Alex Panayi, the composer of our song represented Cyprus in 1995 with the song “In the Fire”. I am also very close friends with Christina Metaxa who represented our country in 2009 with the song “Firefly”.

E+: Who helped you with the composition of “I Pio Omorfi Mera”? Could you explain our readers how the composition procedure was?

We worked very closely with composer Alex Panayi and Lyricist Stavros Savrou. We started the process together as a team, first we came up with the concept. We wanted our song to be a positive, full of energy song! So the title came first “ I pio morfi Mera “ The most beautiful Day”, Alex sat at the piano he started creating music as we started putting together the lyrics…The process lasted for many days. Each one of us worked on our part, and we got together almost every day putting everything together…

E+: What’s your song about? What do you want people feel while listening to your song?

Our song “I pio omorfi Mera” in english “The most beautiful day” is a really positive song with positive energy, conveying the bright side of life!! I tells us to be strong and face all obstacles…and it goes like this..
“Don’t let anyone bring you down
Standin’ tall you’re a fighter
Spread you wings and let the wind take you higher…
You can be who you want to be
Don’t let fear take you over
Cause tomorrow’s always one day away
The most beautiful day…”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV2ABFZ2_pU

E+: How do you feel about the positive feedback it has come to you after the song’s release?

I m very excited that people are so warmly embracing our song. I get many positive messages everyday, and people are expressing their enthusiasm about our song and this decidedly feels awesome! I can see and feel people’s excitement! Everyone is really supportive and their support is my motivation. I want to say a huge thank you to each and every of them for their overwhelming support!

E+: You shot an official clip so as to premiere your song including a flash-mob, could you tell us about the shooting of the videoclip? Was there any funny you could tell us?

The video clip was produced by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation under the direction of Klitos Klitou and the supervision of Silver Spotlight. It was a great experience..we were filming in different locations for many long hours…We all had fun when my little five-year old sister came to the last part of the shooting dressed as a princess..and she wanted to show everybody how to dance during the chorus!! So the filming stoped..and she came in doing all the dancing…in her own cute way!!!

E+: What do you do just before going on stage? Do you carry any lucky charm during your performances?

I always do my cross and then get on stage! All the anxiety disappears, and I enjoy every moment of performing!

E+: It is too soon maybe but, have you already decided about how your stage performance will look like? And the costume you will be wearing?

We are working on the stage performance daily, we are still in the process of finalizing everything, including my costume. The result will be revealed on the JESC stage!

E+: Do you follow the senior Eurovision? What are your favourite Eurovision songs? Would you like to take part in the future?

Yes I am a big fan of the senior Eurovision! My favorite song is Loreen’s Euphoria.

E+: What do you expect from your Junior Eurovision experience? What do you think it will mean for your musical career?

First of all It is really amazing to work with such talented and experienced people. I am very honored to have Alex Panayi, Stavros Stavrou Katerina Christophidou, Charis Savva and Klitos Klitou as my Junior Eurovision team!. We manage while getting work done… to have lots of fun! They are an amazing team of people and I love them all!! My participation in JESC will definitely be an experience i will keep in my heart forever. The process is amazing, the experience is invaluable. It will for sure mark my life and my musical career greatly!

E+: Tell us more about yourself, your favourite music style, favourite school subjects, hobbies, musical career….

I am almost 14 years old, a third grade student at the English School, Nicosia. I started singing from a very young age, and started studying piano at the age of 5. Shortly afterwards I started taking voice, theory and Musical Theatre lessons at the “Potenzia Del ‘Arte” academy of talents in Nicosia, and I began performing in various important concerts and events mainly for charities. From my first musical steps, I worked closely with the Cypriot composer Stelios Pissis, who is my uncle, singing his songs alongside renowned Greek and Cypriot artists. In 2005 (at the age of 5) I participated in the recording of the CD “Castalias & Sirens” of the same composer, and at the age of 9, I participated in the Musical “Rembetiki Rhapsodia” staged by the Limassol Literary Society at the ancient amphitheatre at Curium. I recently started composing my own material, and in 2011 I wrote the lyrics to, and composed and performed the theme song of the “Giving Color to Life” project of the “Cyprus Young Volunteers” for the renovation of the “Makarios Children Hospital” in Cyprus. More recently, I have been a guest on various TV shows, while in the summer of 2014 I was selected to play the lead role of “Teenager” in the Cyprus National Theatre production of “Birds” by Aristophanes, touring all over Cyprus, making this my first professional theatrical debut. In July of 2014 I was selected by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, after a proposal by Silver Spotlight Productions, to represent Cyprus at the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, marking the return of my home country to the event, after a five-year absence.

E+: Can you send a message for our readers and Junior Eurovision fans?

Thank you very much for your support!! I wish all the best to all the contestants! see you all in Malta!

Thank you very much for your time and see you in Malta!

Sophia Patsalides will represent Cyprus at Junior Eurovision 2014 with the song “I Pio Omorfi Mera” composed by herself, Alex Panayi and Stavros Stavrou.