Online high-profile concert ‘Cyprus Edition’ to raise aid for Ukraine

A webcast-concert ‘Stand with Ukraine – The Cyprus Edition’ to raise donations for the Red Cross will be broadcast on Friday May 27, and will be addressed by President Nicos Anastasiades and other high-level politicians and personalities.

The initiator of the concert is musician and composer Alex Panayi in cooperation with the citizens’ commissioner, the presidential palace and the EU representation in Cyprus, according to the Cyprus News Agency.

Panayi said he got the idea for the concert because he has close family and professional ties with Ukraine and that Russia’s actions reminded him of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus so he contacted the commissioner for the citizen Panayiotis Sentonas and the Red Cross to see about organising it.

The Permanent Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus and Digital TV have undertaken the production of the webcast.

The show will air on Friday, May 27, at 7:30 pm.

The presenters will be Panayi and Vasiliki Hadjiadamou.

The public will be able to participate by making their contributions to the accounts of the Cyprus government and the Cyprus branch of the Red Cross that will be displayed on the screen during the show. The money that will be collected will go directly to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

Cypriot artists taking part include Despina Olympiou, Stavros Constantinou and Giorgos Stamataris, but also those outside Cyprus such as Alexia, Evridiki and Greek performer Sakis Rouvas.

An interview will also be shown with a Ukrainian refugee who came to Cyprus with her four-year-old daughter.

Panayi said the event was “a kaleidoscope of war experiences and an effort by artists” to encourage people to contribute to the special fund set up by the Cyprus government and the Red Cross. The event will also be broadcast by Cypriot television stations.

Greetings will be delivered by the president, House Speaker Annita Demetriou, European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakidou and the Ukrainian singer Ruslana who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. In addition, there will be videos with other Ukrainian artists who are still in Kyiv, Panayi said.

The show will also feature an interview with American journalist Wendell Stevenson, the Economist’s correspondent in Ukraine.