Azerbaijan confirms participation at Junior Eurovision Song Contest
By Sabina Idayatova
Public Broadcasting Company has confirmed Azerbaijan's participation at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
The European Broadcasting Union officially released information about Azerbaijan's participation at the song contest on October 18.
The public television channel, ITV, held a hearing to determine the country's representative at the contest this month.
More than 100 performers aged 10 to 15 took part in the casting.
Details regarding the country's representative at the competition and the selected composition are due to be announced later.
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 will take place on November 30 in Ukraine's capital Kyiv under the motto "Be Creative!"
This year's contest will be the 11th annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Palace Ukraine was announced as the venue for the contest on April 10, 2013. It will also be the second time in the history of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest that the event will be held in last year's winning country, as well as the first time that the event is held in the same city twice. So far, 11 countries have confirmed their participation.
The executive supervisor of the Junior Eurovision steering group, Vladislav Yakovlev, announced on July 17, 2013 that there would be some changes being introduced to the contest from 2013 onwards. The contest would no longer focus on just the winning entry, but will also reward prizes to the top three entries in acknowledgement of the talents of the young performers.
Azerbaijan participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2012 and took the 11th place. 10-year-old Omar Sultanov and 11-year-old Suada Alakbarova performed "Boys And Girls" composition, most of which was presented in the Azerbaijani language. The author of the song was Jessica Appla, the lyrics was by Zahra Badalbayli, and choreography was by famous Russian dancer Maksim Nedolechko.