THE grandfather of a Newport musician representing Cyprus in the semi-finals of the Eurovision song contest today is calling on Gwent to vote for his grandson and send him through to the grand final on Saturday.

Twenty-two year old Jon Lilygreen, from Bettws, was selected in February to front Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders - the band chosen to represent Cyprus - after meeting Norwegian music producer Sylvia Stand and Jon Gregory at Coleg Gwent's Cross Keys campus.

The pair won an online competition to produce and perform the Cypriot Eurovision entry "Life Looks Better in Spring", with Mr Lilygreen on lead vocals.

The band are now in Oslo for the competition's second semi final tonight, where they will go up against 16 other countries to fight for one of the 10 remaining slots in Saturday night's grand final.

Mr Lilygreen's grandfather John, who lives in Bettws, said: "I honestly think he's got a chance of making it to the finals. I think the band are great together, and it would be wonderful if he got through."

The UK has automatic entry into the final, so Mr Lilygreen called on TV viewers to use their vote to get behind his grandson's band.

"Vote for him!" he said. "Let's see him get into the finals."

Viewers of tonight's show can vote up to 20 times by telephone or text. Televotes will count for 50 per cent of a country's final score, while points awarded by a professional jury will make up the other half.

The semi-finals will be screen on BBC3 from 8pm.

Jon Lilygreen performing after being chosen to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest