Azerbaijan to stage first-ever Youthvision
By Rashid Shirinov
Young singers from all over the world will have an opportunity to compete in the first-ever Youthvision, an international contest of young singers, in Baku on June 22-24.
“Always young” was chosen the motto of the contest, said Samaya Mammadova, a spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Youth and Sports Ministry.
The contest that is similar to Eurovision was organized upon the initiative of the Azerbaijan Student Youth Organizations Union.
The goal of the contest is to establish the conditions for revealing and realization of creative potential and for efficient organization of leisure of youth, support and development of international relations in the sphere of youth policy.
In 2013, the Union, together with the Youth and Sports Ministry held Univision -- the first international song contest among students of universities. The organizers decided to change the format into Youthvision, which will bring together young people aged 14-35.
Participation in the Contest is open to performers (solo, duet, ensemble, group, bands). Participation in the contest will be defined upon internal procedure of each country. Countries may be represented by winners of various national music competitions. Participants of the competition could demonstrate solo or group performances.
“72 representatives from 24 countries will come to Baku to participate in Youthvision,” Mammadova said.
Youthvision is designed to be held annually. For its first time, the contest will take place in Azerbaijan. Singers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, Brazil, Turkey, Iran, Greece and a number of other countries will take part in Youthvision.
The contest will see newly written songs, however, worldwide popular compositions will also be sung. Each country will have its own judge.
The open voting of the Jury members is carried out at the final stage of the Contest. The jury members vote on a scale from 1 to 12 points. The contestant with a simple majority of the scores will be declared the winner, Mammadova said, adding that in case if the participants gain equal points, the jury draws lots between those participants.
Mammadova also revealed the award of the competition: “The total prize fund of the competition is $6,000. 150,000 manats ($100,000) are planned to be spent on the organization process. They will include food, accommodation, tour costs, organization of the opening ceremony, pre-competition training of the participants and judges. Several public and private companies could become the partners of Youthvision.”
The contestants taken the first, second and third places in the Contest win a prize in the amount of respectively $ 3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 and be awarded by diplomas and valuable presents of the Ministry and the Azerbaijan Student Youth Organizations' Union.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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