A non-childish approach

On Dec. 2, 2006, Bucharest (Romania) will host the 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Competition entries were open for one month until Aug. 6, after which a professional jury spent one week drawing up a shortlist of the 20 best performers who made it to the second round. More than 60 bids were submitted to the organizing committee of the Ukrainian National Television Company during this period, but owing to some irregularities, only 57 competitors were allowed to participate.

The judges chose the top 10 on Aug. 20 at an audition in Kyiv by listening to the demos and viewing video footage submitted by participants. Under the watchful eye of well-known Ukrainian singers, the contestants stayed behind in Kyiv to prepare for the third and final stage. Special emphasis is being placed on the selection rounds because there will be no semi-finals at the Junior Eurovision Contest. The singers who passed the Ukrainian qualifying competition are Alina Popova, Olha Bohatyrenko, Yulia Havrylenko, Ilona Halytska, Viktoria Petryk, Nazar Sliusarchuk, Kateryna Pashchenko, Maria Yaremenko, Yulia Shpakevych, and Maria Stepanenko.

According to Yevhen Kalensky, vice-president of the Ukrainian National Television Company, this is the first time that this kind of contest is being held in Ukraine. “Our state has proclaimed 2006 the Year of the Child, so it is symbolic that the Junior Eurovision Song Contest is being held this year, too.”

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest hardly differs from its “senior” version. The main difference is that participants in the international final stage must be between 8 and 15 years old. The performers must be nationals of a competing country or children who have lived in that country for at least two and a half years. Every child contestant can only represent one country a year. The contest accepts children who have never performed a solo, leading, or secondary part on a professionally recorded CD or have never been represented in a professional way. Competitors must perform only songs that have not been commercially released, published, or sung in public (this applies to both music and lyrics). The text of each song must be in Ukrainian.

There are also other stringent requirements for contest songs and their performers: the author of a song should be a child aged 8 to 15, and his appearance on stage is compulsory. There cannot be more than eight people on stage (the “adult” Eurovision contest allows no more than six). Every submitted song should consist of verses and music and cannot have been commercially released before September 2006. In other words, as a copyright object, it may not be issued via the Internet or any other means (audio cassettes, CDs, DVDs, etc.), commercial sale, or any other method of ownership rights transfer; nor may it be publicly announced on TV and radio or performed in public.

A song should be between 2:30 and 2:45 long. Contestants will sing their songs live on stage, accompanied by a recorded instrumental soundtrack free of any kind of backup vocals or instrumental simulation of the human voice. The text of a song should be sent to Eurovision organizers in two printed versions — Ukrainian and English.

The finalists are now staying at a star camp for 10 days, the correct amount of time, contest organizers say, that a child needs to prepare for the final. The contestants are being given lessons in singing, choreography, and the performing arts. They are also meeting stylists, make-up artists, and psychologists.

“The children are dealing with the same specialists who worked with the participants of the ‘adult’ Eurovision contest. But more attention is being paid to security and meals — children will be children,” The Day learned from Olena Mozgova, who is in charge of music and entertainment programs at the National Television Company. “As for occupational matters, children are practically no different from adults. Interestingly, they are taking quite an adult approach to this. This is their life. Many of the contestants have been professional vocalists and dancers since the age of three.”

Mozgova says there are no special problems with the kids. “The only thing is they are living at a health center located in a forest, so they are constantly annoyed by mosquitoes. Unfortunately, we can’t possibly kill all the mosquitoes,” she says with a smile. All the judges have noted that, in contrast to their adult counterparts, the children are not capricious.

“The child contestants are well-disciplined and well-bred, without too many whims, whereas adults put ambitions before artistic matters. The children are more sincere. At first we were worried about their personal relationships, but then we saw that our worries were unfounded. They are all friendly, and, in our view, the children do not compete with each other in ‘domestic conditions’ because they have taken part in many competitions. They know how to deal with each other not on the schoolroom level but on the professional level. They have already grown out of petty jealousies. In fact, each of the 10 participants is ready to go to Romania. We want them all to achieve their goal,” Mozgova says.

“We were very surprised by the skills of the children who came to us. I don’t mean the quality of technical and audio recordings. The children showed very good vocal proficiency, which is the result of the efforts of teachers and parents,” Kalensky adds. All the contest judges agree that it is very difficult to assess contestants, especially children, and to choose the best ones.

When the competitors were asked what they expected from the contest, many said: honesty and impartiality. All of them, without exception, are striving to become genuine stars of Ukrainian pop music. Nazar Sliusarchuk, the only boy, said something striking: like a true macho, he cannot imagine a day without tasty food and pretty girls.

The Day asked a couple of contestants to talk about their plans and how they found out about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Maria STEPANENKO, 14, Donetsk:

“Last year I saw the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on a Russian TV channel. Ukraine had not yet heard about this contest. I was so intrigued by the fact that children participate in such a serious competition. Then I found more details on the Internet. Later, I found the competition rules on the Web site of the Ukrainian National Television Company. We have worked very hard to win. I am the author of my songs. I was very happy to learn that I made it to the final. I was just overflowing with emotion. I’d like to learn something new and meet other children at the Bucharest contest, perhaps become a bit wiser, and upgrade my vocal skills. As for the ‘cult of celebrity,’ that’s not me at all.”

Olha BOHATYRENKO, 14, Odesa:

“I found about the contest on First National TV. I took up the challenge and my bid was successful. I want to go to the Eurovision contest because I like traveling, I want to feel the spirit of competition, and I am eager to win. As for rivalry, I am not afraid of it! On the contrary, it is so interesting, and rivalry only boosts adrenaline and the desire to excel. I don’t know what I will do if I win the Eurovision contest because I have never won a victory of this magnitude. What will I do? That depends not so much on me as on the people around me, who will notice me.”

The final selection will be shown live on Sept. 23 on First National TV. During the concert viewers can vote for their favorite singer by sending an SMS, which will be used to determine the sole winner.

From The Day’s reference desk:

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest, launched by the European Broadcasting Union, has been in existence since 2003. The 2006 contest will be held on Dec. 2 in Bucharest (Romania). This year’s contestants are from Ukraine, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Greece, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Spain, and Sweden.