#Fail: Armenia Junior Eurovision selection show promotes Dolphinarium

Tonight I decided to watch the Armenia selection show for Junior Eurovision, but I turned it off instantly as soon as they started promoting Dolphinarium.

I boycott today's #Armenia Junior #Eurovision selection show as they promote Delphinarium #fail

This is what Public TV in Armenia promotes among younger audiences. A major #fail.

To Shut Down the Dolphinarium: Armenian Environmentalists Ready to Go to International Courts

[...] The government ministry is being accused of inaction with reference to the newly constructed Nemo Dolphinarium in Yerevan’s Komitas Park, which environmentalists have been demanding be shut down.

[...]...Armenia does not have the necessary conditions or suitable climate for dolphins to live.

“We also presented arguments by different experts and environmentalists in Armenia testifying the fact that Armenia does not have the means to keep dolphins” [...]

“We wanted [them] to conduct monitoring, to check the conditions, the dolphins’ health — but they refuse.[...] Only on the telephone, a woman answered our questions and said that the pool is not [full] of ocean water, they only make additions, the dolphins’ health is rarely checked because experts [have to] come in from other countries” [...]

*source of picture and selected extracts above - Epress.am

We are the champions. Vladimir Arzumanyan makes Armenia winner of Junior Eurovision 2010

Amid all the depressive news coming these days from Armenia, I SO WANTED some positive news. So I decided to try my luck with the Eurovision, the Junior one. Children are our hope, with their sense of freedom, creativity and individuality, well, unless Armenian police is of different opinion, that is. Not that it matters.

Below is how the events unfolded, as per chronology of my Twitter notes.

I started morning with the reminder, most of all to myself. I did not follow the national selection process nor the build-up to the Junior Eurovision. But when I watched the video of Armenia entry’s song and performance this morning, things became clear to me: a star was born.

Today is Junior #Eurovision. 12 yrs old Vladimir Arzumanyan to represent #Armenia. He has all qualities for pop star !! http://goo.gl/0YRuA

Then I decided to ditch my initial plans for a night out and have a more quiet evening at home watching the Junior Eurovision. Boy, I so did not regret it:

Junior #Eurovision live http://www.junioreurovision.tv/esctv

Could not hide my excitement as I genuinely believed that this year’s Armenian entry is a spot on:

#Armenia is No. 10 at Junior #Eurovision. GO Vladimir Arzumanyan!

And one more general observation:

Sooo difficult to criticise children at Junior #Eurovision... You can't go with the adult Eurovision bitchiness :)

Then it was No. 10. And my first impression immediately after the Vladimir’s performance:

Impressive #Armenia performance at Junior #Eurovision. He is so cute, voice was not very strong but he feels the stage perfectly, he is a star

And before the voting results being announced:

Have to say, regardless of voting results, this was #Armenia strongest entry to Junior #Eurovision since Arevik.

Conclusion to the night was a fireworks. This is how I reacted when it became clear that Armenia won the Junior Eurovision:

OMG!!!! Yes! Yes! Yes! #Armenia - winner of Junior #Eurovison!!! Well deserved. Well done, Vladimir!!!

And the last bit, albeit too optimistic :

If only we have someone to match Vladimir for the main #Eurovision contest, #Armenia would be a double winner. How wonderful it would be !!!

Below is an extract from Vladimir’s first press conference after winning the contest:

[...] But what does he want as a present for his victory? Well, putting into his words - "I want a brother, my mother promised me that if I'd win!"

Now, after winning the biggest music contest for young singers, he still doesn't think of himself as a star. "Stars are only in the sky, I'm only human," Vladimir told the press. [...]

Cute! Cute! Cute!

*picture - Reuters

Junior Eurovision 2009: The Netherlands won, Armenia did pretty good - No. 2-3

Was watching Junior Eurovision live on their official website. That was such a mistake. Well, I did not have much of the choice, really, as I am in London now, and they do not show it here. Commentators at Junior Eurovision website were so annoying. They were speaking, making their comments during children’s performance (!). For example, when Armenia entry was performing, they started interviewing Serbian children; then camera failed to show Luara’s actual performance on stage, but rather other parts of the auditorium under the accompaniment of her voice. How ridiculous. And this happened not only during Armenia entry but most of the other entries too. Anyway.

There were 2 Armenians in this year's Junior Eurovision: Luara Hayrapetyan from Armenia and Andranik Alexanyan from Ukraine.

Just watched some of the performances on YouTube (as I said above, the online broadcast I was following was horrible).

Luara is such a cool girl. I am not a big fan of that particular song (song-wise I preferred Ukraine one) but Luara did really a great job performance-wise. I quite liked the Netherlands (the winner), Belgium and Russia too.

Oh, and I loved "Bari ereko, Hayastan" greeting at the very start of Junior Eurovision. Sounded cute :)

Luara Hayrapetyan to represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2009

Luara Hayrapetyan will represent Armenia at this year's Junior Eurovision song contest to be held in Kiev on 21 November. Her song "Barcelona" is effectively a tribute to Barcelona's most famous football team Barca, which according to Luara, her family is fan of. I wonder if people's football preferences won't affect the votes. Good luck to Luara!!

There is another singer of Armenian origin at this year's contest. It's Andranik Aleksanyan who will represent host country Ukraine.



Oikotimes provides details about Luara:

11 years old Luara Hayrapetyan, performing usually under stage name Lara, will represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Barcelona".

Luara is studying in gymnasium N3 in city of Astrakhan, Russia. Since the age of 4, Luara has been studying vocal and attending ballroom dancing classes, at the age of seven entered a musical school, studies in children pop music studio "Vesnushki" of Astrakhangazprom center of culture "Victoria", where she is lead soloist. Since she was five, she has been a participant of various contests and festivals representing Russia and Armenia: In 2004 - I Prize Winner of the International Contest 'Small Asterisks' (Tuapse, All-Russia Children Centre 'Orlenok'); In 2005 - I Prize Winner of the International Festival 'Childhood Without Borders' (Moscow, Russia); In 2006 - Grand Prix Winner of the International Contest 'Small Asterisks' (Tuapse, Russia);

I Prize Winner of the International Contest 'Small Asterisks' (Volgograd, Russia); In 2007, Grand Prix Winner of the All-Russia Contest ' Constellations of Volga ' (Samara, Russia); the I Prize Winner of the VI All-Russia Contest ' XXI Century Voices' (Anapa, Russia);In 2008, Grand Prix Winner of Junior section of prestigeous Slavyanski Bazar in Vitebsk and winner of special prize "Lira" (Belarus); In 2009 qualified for the international final of "New Wave Junior" contest (Moscow, Russia).

Since 2005, she has been the grant holder of the Astrakhan Region Government for the achievements in the field of art and creative activity.

Andranik Aleksanyan will represent Ukraine at Junior Eurovision 2009

The official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website reports that "Andranik Aleksanyan will represent host country Ukraine at the 2009 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The 11-year old won the national competition with the song Try Topoli, Try Surmy." Good luck, Andranik!

The contest will take place on 21 November 2009 in Kiev. The results of Armenian selection will be known by mid-July. Currently, Public TV of Armenia is accepting the applications from potential participants. Closing date of applications - 22 June 2009. For rules - see here.

Junior Eurovision 2008: Dead boring Armenian entry. Brilliant Georgia wins – congrats!

Sorry for being harsh, but it has to be said. Everything was wrong with Armenian entry - singer’s voice which is more mature than you would enjoy for Junior Eurovision (and sounded worse than usual); song which is dead boring; dresses which were not necessarily ‘junior’; overall performance... It’s a kind of song which you would never be able to recall after you listened to it, as there is absolutely nothing remarkable or particularly likable about it. Just boring…

On the other hand, Georgian entry was fun and very enjoyable. They were my favourites to win. They were simply brilliant. Congrats to them for well deserved win!! Everything was right with their entry, like it was with Armenian one a year ago when for the first time we participated in Junior Eurovision. I also liked Macedonian entry. Ukraine was not bad too. Btw, I loved that Armenia gave the highest 12 points to Georgia. Again, it was well deserved. Nice to see Russia’s 12 points to Georgia too.

Last year’s Armenian entry - Arevik band with Erazanq song, was a perfect Junior Eurovision entry. Only luck made Belarus win that year ahead of Armenia with only 1 point! Arevik’s song became big hit afterwards, and deservedly so.

With Monika Manucharova, it was a mistake, to put it mildly. Sorry, Monika, you are lovely girl, and I wholeheartedly wish you have successful career in whatever you choose to do, but this was not (and should not have been) your day. It’s not really her fault. I blame organisers and whoever was responsible for Armenian entry this year (Nadezhda Sargsyan & co?).

*photo - via Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Monika Manucharova, 12, will represent Armenia in Junior Eurovision 2008, Cyprus

In 2007, for the first time, Armenia participated in Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Arevik band performing "Erazanq" ("Dream"). They were pretty successful and delivered an excellent and memorable performance, finishing 2nd after Belarus.

Monika Manucharova, 12, will represent Armenia in this year Junior Eurovision which will take place on 22 November, in Limassol, Cyprus, with her song "Im ergi hnchuny" ("Sounds of my song").

I got immensely touched by her fairy tale-like story as effectively homeless girl from a socially disadvantaged family in Gyumri (her family is homeless and they live with her uncle in his house) coming to the capital Yerevan and winning over the hearts of Armenian TV viewers who selected her out of 10 finalists.

“She came with her mother [from] Gyumri and spent the first couple of nights in the train station because of not having relatives in the capital Yerevan and not being able to afford a hotel room in Yerevan. Few days later, as Manucharova's talent made her to stand out from the other contestants she was noticed and one of the workers of the Armenian TV Radio took Monica and her mother to her house until she could complete the contest. Otherwise they were going to spend the rest of the nights in the train station, reports the Armenian Radio.”

It’s always difficult to be critical to children without hurting their feelings. But if someone decided to represent Armenia, she must be ready for some friendly criticism. She looks lovely, her voice has potential (in fact, quite mature for her age), but... The song itself is a bit boring. I could hardly force myself into listening to it till the end. This song needs to be worked on before the Junior Eurovision. They should come up with some kind of remixed version of it or so, to make it more appealing to the audience they are aiming at.

Good luck, Monika!



*source of photo - esckaz

Armenia among top favourites to win Junior Eurovision 2007

UPDATE: Belarus won with 137 points, just one point ahead of Armenia! Armenia was in the lead most of the time. Well done, Arevik! It's 2nd place, but you were the favourite of internet forums and many Eurovision fans.

Below are live reactions from two popular Eurovision internet sites on Arevik performance:

Armenia: Arevik - Erazanq (Oikotimes):

The first favourite of the evening now on stage. The song receives great applause. The navy style works very good for Armenia. The cameras though move a bit slowly not helping the song performance. More than five seconds were spend to the Greek delegation in the green room. The performance is very good and well organized. The choreography can be simply described as amazing while the stadium is full of Armenian flags.

Armenia: Arevik - Erazanq (Esctoday):

Well, it's hard to understand why the girls of Arevik are wearing these military-like marine outfits. The vocals are very good and the performance is energetic. One of the favourites tonight according to the web polls.



Thriller for Armenia; Shock for Greece! (via Oikotimes):

ARMENIA SHOCKED
Armenian entrants and national broadcaster must be in shock for loosing with 1 point from Belarus. But if you think that Armenia got twice 8th place in senior and a 2nd place in its debut to JESC then you can see that Armenia is working hard and in the right way. Armenia will soon host either of the two shows.

GREECE IN DEEP SHOCK
Greek viewers are still in shock. 12 points Greece got from the organizers like all other countries in the beginning of the voting. Greece got only 2 points later on. From where? From Cyprus. This will be a headline in the news as of tomorrow morning. Cyprus didn't give 12 points to Greece but just 2 points. How did this happened? One explanation might be the low viewing rates. Who cares in Cyprus about JESC? (The answer is no one). The second answer is that the immigrants in Cyprus are more dedicated to their homelands and they got the opportunity to get in touch with them through JESC. Third answer is the obvious: Made In Greece were really bad.[...]

***
Good luck, Arevik!!!

For the first time, Armenia will be represented at Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Arevik band performing "Erazanq" ("Dream").



In fact, Armenia's Arevik is among top favourites to win Junior Eurovision 2007. They will perform third after Georgia and Belgium.

via Oikotimes.com:

THE FAVOURITES
Netherlands, Armenia and Serbia are the big favourites with Romania and Malta to be the outsiders. Oikotimes.com poll in collaboration with partners gathered more than 12.200 votes and predict Serbian victory for JESC tonight. If Serbia wins tonight it will be the first time a country wins both senior and junior edition within the same year. If Netherlands win it will be the first time JESC host country wins in homeland. Cyprus, Belarus and Ukraine are also possible to do extremely well according to the reports from Belgian and Dutch sites. The betting odds predict victory for Armenia or Russia tonight.

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Here is the link where you can watch the show live: http://www.junioreurovision.tv/addons/mediaplayer/live/juniortv/live.html