Young, Fearless, and Rising: Eurovision Sensation Silia Kapsis on Music, Ambition and Identity

When Greek-Cypriot Australian Silia Kapsis was a child, she would grab the TV remote, sing along to Beyoncé and J-Lo, and mirror their dance moves.

Now, at the age of 18, Silia has taken on the world stage.

She's performed in various countries including Australia, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Poland) and Sweden at just 17 as Eurovision's youngest performer for Cyprus in 2024, collaborated with world-renowned choreographers, amassed over 13 million streams on Spotify and is commended by the likes of Graham Norton.

Every bit as bubbly and bright as her music, Silia's performing flair was present from a young age.

"I was dancing around in my mum's womb so much that my mum went to the doctors and was like, 'there's something wrong with my child!'" Silia laughs. "They assured with saying, "no, she's just going to be a very interesting individual when she's born.' Unsurprisingly, I was."

From the age of three-and-a-half, Silia has been full time performing whilst balancing school.

"I took my first dance class and did not want to leave."

Silia's debut song that she wrote at 12 and released at 14, 'Who Am I', was an introduction to her as an artist, and by extension her identity.

"It was figuring out 'who do I want to be? What do I want to portray?"

"The lyric, 'I'm walking my own line, I'll make it in my own time', is about a journey of me thinking, 'this is gonna be a tough road for me to take. But because I love it so much, I have to work hard'".

In 2023, Silia received an Instagram DM asking if she wanted to participate in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest for Cyprus, a "dream come true" for Silia, whose been watching Eurovision as long as she can remember.

"I remember in 2018 when Eleni Foureira was representing Cyprus, I watched her on the TV and I grabbed the remote and started singing and dancing along with her." she tells me.

"My grandma said to me, 'Silia, that will be you on that stage one day.' And I was like, yeah. I will I'll get there one day."

Silia describes the experience of the team of Cyprus as "immaculate and amazingly supportive".

"I had the best time with them. If it wasn't for them, I don't think it would have been the experience that it was."

Amongst the three songs presented to Silia, 'Liar' resonated with her the most.

"'Liar' could be about  an ex, it could be about your ex best friend. For me, it was like living in a fake world where there's social media. It's a lie! You're being tricked. So you just have to stay true to yourself, and be yourself."

Since, 'Liar', Silia has released singles 'Red Flag' and 'What's Your Name Again', both of which you can stream on her Spotify.

But as a multifaceted performer, Silia also carries on her family's dancing gene. Her mum, Rebecca Saivanidis, was a passionate breakdancer in her youth.

Inspired by her mum's dancing practice, Silia's favourite dance style called 'popping', which is a hiphop style characterised by sudden movements such as "locking" and "breaking" to the beat of the music.

"I love R&B, but I add my own pop-girly side to it."

"I've always thought of myself as the girl version of Chris Brown." Silia explains. "I love him, I love his style and the way he dances."

Silia's artistic influences stretch wide, from powerhouse performers like J-Lo, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, and Michael Jackson.

While Silia's music doesn’t directly reflect traditional Greek musical styles, growing up with Greek music in her household listening to artists like Giannis Ploutarhos and Pantelis Pantelidis has still influenced her music practice.

Amongst all these inspirations shaping her performing identity, what's matters most for Silia is being a source of inspiration for young people.

“I want to show that anything is possible, no matter your age,” she says. “You just have to work really hard and believe in yourself.”

"Don't let anyone bring you down because they will", Silia tells me, recalling skepticism from people in high school who questioned her performing ambitions.

“People would say, ‘Oh my God, you’re so young and already doing this - slow down,’. But I was like, no! This is what I want to do, and I’ve known it from such a young age. So I  really want to inspire young people to pursue their dreams and just to work really hard and not care what others think."

Clearly this message is working, as Silia has gotten many messages from aspiring performers, of all ages, thanking Silia for being a source of inspiration.

“If I can inspire them,” she says simply, “then I feel like I can inspire anyone.”

Looking ahead, Silia is focused on expanding her reach, with more performances planned across Europe and Australia, fresh off a recent trip to Amsterdam.

"The music industry is a step by step kind of vibe." she says. "So I'm going to finish school, write more music, release some songs and connect with more people along the way."

Ultimately, one of Silia's dreams would be to go on  on a world tour.

Follow Silia's performing journey on her Instagram @silia_kapsis and listen to her on Spotify.