Кипр на Евровидении 2006: Отбор и выступление с песней "Why Angels Cry"

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Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Why Angels Cry" written by Peter Yiannakis and performed by Annet Artani. The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) organised the national final A Song for Europe to select the Cypriot entry for the 2006 contest, which took place in Athens, Greece. The selection event saw 20 candidate entries compete over two semi finals, leading to a 10 participant final round on 22 February 2006. Despite the event experiencing controversy due to a perceived lack of transparency, the results were upheld. Prior to the contest, Artani toured several European countries to promote the entry. The song competed in the semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest on 18 May 2006 in position 9; however, "Why Angels Cry" was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that the entry placed 15th out of the 23 participating countries in the semi final, with 57 points.

Prior to the 2006 contest, Cyprus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in the 1981 contest. Its best placing was fifth, which it achieved three times: in the 1982 competition with the song "Mono i agapi" performed by Anna Vissi, in the 1997 edition with "Mana mou" performed by Hara and Andreas Constantinou, and in the 2004 contest with "Stronger Every Minute" performed by Lisa Andreas. Cyprus' least successful result was in the 1986 contest, when it placed last with the song "Tora zo" by Elpida, receiving only four points in total. Its worst finish in terms of points received, however, was in the 1999 contest when it placed second to last with "Tha'nai erotas" performed by Marlain Angelidou, receiving only two points. At the previous contest in , the nation placed 18th in the final with "Ela Ela (Come Baby)" performed by Constantinos Christoforou. The broadcaster had previously used various methods to select the Cypriot entry, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both; for example, in 2005, the broadcaster internally selected the artist and organised a national final to select the song. For this year, CyBC opted to organise a national final to select both the artist and song for the contest. The event took place at the CyBC Studio 3 in Nicosia and was hosted by Alex Michael and Christina Marouchou. It was broadcast in Cyprus on RIK 1 and RIK Sat, in Greece on ERT Sat, and online via CyBC's website cybc. cy. A Song for Europe consisted of 20 entries competing over three shows: two semi finals on 11 and 12 February 2006, and the final on 22 February 2006. Each semi final included ten entries, of which the top five progressed to the final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining ten entries. The results of each of the three shows were determined exclusively by televoting. In the final, the voting results of each of the five regions in Cyprus were converted to points from 1–8, 10, and 12 and assigned to the ten entries, while a sixth set of votes was based on the overall voting result.

The final took place on 22 February 2006. The ten remaining entries competed and the winner, "Why Angels Cry" performed by Annet Artani, was selected by a regional televote. Artani was born in New York, had taken part in the Greek reality singing show Fame Story, and had performed as a backing vocalist for Britney Spears in the past. She also wrote Spears' song "Everytime" (2004). "Why Angels Cry" is a ballad; in an interview, Artani said it was about "finding peace around the world, ending war, ending sadness, ending pain". The song was written by Peter Yiannakis, who co wrote Cyprus's entry "Tora zo". Claims that the victory was rigged for Artani due to her popularity were also made by some of the finalists. She also took part in promotional activities across several European countries, including in Malta, where she was interviewed by the local press and was the main guest of the show Eurovision Fever on 29 March, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 28 April, where she appeared at the Eurovision Special Feminnem Show. Prior to the contest, "Why Angels Cry" was included on Artani's album Mia foni, which was released in early April 2006. CyBC hosted a farewell party to send off Artani on 6 May. The event, which took place in Nicosia, included entrants from several other participating countries and was hosted by prior Cypriot entrant Christoforou. Once in Athens for the contest, a Cypriot welcome party was held on 14 May and was attended by entrants from Albania, Belgium, and Turkey.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 took place at the O. A. C. A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece and consisted of a semi final on 18 May, and the final on 20 May 2006. Both the semi final and the final were broadcast on television in Cyprus on RIK 1 and RIK SAT, with commentary by Evi Papamichael. All participating nations, with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest were required to qualify from the 18 May semi final to compete for the 20 May final; the top ten countries from the semi final then progressed to the final. Artani took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May. She was joined on stage by five backing vocalists as gospel singers: Konstantinos Andronikou, Keanna Johnson, Anna Iliadou, Riana Athanasiou, and Giorgos Georgiou. For her performance, she stood with one backing vocalist immediately behind her while the other four stood on a platform up higher behind her. Following the semi final performance, Cyprus was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Cyprus placed 15th in the semi final, receiving a total of 57 points.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Cyprus and awarded by Cyprus in the semi final and final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Armenia in the semi final and to Greece in the final of the contest. The Cypriot spokesperson, who announced the Cypriot votes during the final, was Constantinos Christoforou who represented Cyprus in 1996, 2002 and 2005.