This week Kyriakos sadly leaves Aussievision after almost five years with us.
I wanted to mark this occasion by looking back at his time with us and the huge impact he had on what Aussievision has become.
Back in 2019, we had just completed our third season as a two-man Aussievision team.
We’d just had our first ‘Eurovision - Australia Decides’ and we were growing at a rate we couldn’t cover ourselves.
We took the decision to expand and to do that we’d need other passionate Australian Eurovision fans to make it happen.
Our first group of contributors joined that year and among them was Kyriakos Tsinivits.
Kyriakos (or Kyri as we know him in the team) showed his talent, skill and passion immediately.
From delving into our best-of-the-decade articles of rankings, lists, and statistics, it was clear he knew what made unique and interesting content for readers.
Almost five years after his first article, he has written over 700 for Aussievision (and helped on hundreds more).. This is one-third of all of Aussievision’s articles ever!
That is an incredible achievement.
His work ethic and dedication are unmatched and it’s all done as an unpaid volunteer (like all the team is).
Aussievision’s website traffic has increased 8-fold and the team has grown to over 20 contributors since Kyri joined and he has been pivotal in making that happen.
Not only has his writing skills been pivotal, but he has also been a design wizz for Aussievision.
He improved our graphic design dramatically, helped evolve our brand, and also successfully moved us into new channels.
What many of the team will also remember about Kyri’s time with us is his willingness to help anyone who needed it at almost any time of the day.
That warmth translated into his interviews with the many Aussie and international artists we’ve featured.
He had a way of disarming artists with his incredibly well-researched questions and kindness. He’s interviewed Voyager, Sheldon Riley, Andrew Lambrou, Blanka, Go_A, James Newman, nearly all the Australian Decides artists, and more.
He also found opportunities to find new and interesting people behind the scenes like Voyager’s family at the Contest and the Aussie stage designer for Liverpool 2023.
But the highlight of Kyri’s time at Aussievision was interviewing two-time Eurovision winner Loreen before her win in Liverpool. Something we were all jealous of but he was, without doubt, the right man for the job.
He has covered multiple Australia Decides on the ground, anchored the team in Australia during the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, and did amazing work over in Liverpool in 2023.
On Sunday, Kyri wrote his last article with us about the results of the Lithuanian national final. A selection show he took ownership of back in 2020 and has continued to have a special relationship with.
It was an appropriate last thing for him to do.
Kyriakos will leave a hole in the Aussievision team that won’t ever be replaced.
Running a site like Aussievision means living and breathing Eurovision almost every day of the year. I’ve worked alongside Kyriakos nearly every one of those days and I’m so proud of what we achieved together and what Aussievision has become.
Like all good working relationships, we’ve had our disagreements (mainly on 'Love is On My Side' from 2021) but always remained great friends looking to achieve success for something we both loved.
I’m sure it won’t be the last we see of him in the Eurovision world but for now, he (and his partner Beau) deserves a well-earned break and to enjoy the Contest as a “normal” fan.
So thank you Kyriakos for everything you’ve given to Aussievision and to Eurovision in Australia. You will be missed!