Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Date: November 20 2010
Venue: Minsk Arena, Minsk, Belarus
Presenters: Denis Kourian, Leila Ismailava
Host broadcaster: BTRC
Opening act: Ksenia Sitnik and Alexey Zhigalkovich singing Hello, Eurovision
Interval act: Alexander Rybak singing Europe's Skies, all participants and Dmitry Koldun singing A Day Without War, Winners of Junior Eurovision 2003-2009
Number of entries: 14
Debuting countries: Moldova
Returning coubtries: Latvia, Lithuania
Withdrawing countries: Cyprus, Romania
Voting system: Citizens of each participating country vote by telephone and SMS message, which counts for 50%. Each country's 10 favourites are awarded 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points based on the number of votes. Results 1-5 are automatically displayed on-screen, then each country announces 6-8, 10 and 12 points. A jury in each country also has a 50% say in the outcome.
Winner: Mama - Vladimir Arzumanyan, Armenia

Vladimir Arzumanyan

Entries

01. Lithuania: Bartas - Oki doki (6th place, 67 points)
02. Moldova: Ștefan Roșcovan - Ali Baba (8th place, 54 points)
03. The Netherlands: Anna & Senna - My family (9th place, 52 points)
04. Serbia: Sonja Škorić - Čarobna  (3rd place, 113 points)
05. Ukraine: Yulia Gurska - Miy litak (14th place, 28 points)
06. Sweden: Josefine Ridell - Allt jag vill ha (11th place, 48 points)
07. Russia: Sasha Lazin & Liza Drozd - Boy and girl (2nd place, 119 points)
08. Latvia: Šarlote Lēnmane & Sea Stones - Viva la dance (10th place, 51 points)
09. Belgium: Jill & Lauren - Get up! (7th place, 61 points)
10. Armenia: Vladimir Arzumanyan - Mama (1st place, 120 points)
11. Malta: Nicole Azzopardi - Knock knock!..Boom! Boom! (13th place, 35 points)
12. Belarus: Daniil Kozlov - Muzyki svet (5th place, 85 points)
13. Georgia: Mariam Kakhelishvili - Mari dari (4th place, 109 points)
14. F.Y.R. Macedonia: Anja Vetrova - Eooo, Eooo (12th place, 38 points)

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the eighth edition of Junior Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Minsk, Belarus. It was held on 20 November 2010. The contest was won by Vladimir Arzumanyan of Armenia with the song Mama. This gave Armenia its first Junior Eurovision victory.

Anna & Senna

Location

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited broadcasters to bid for the rights to host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Belarus broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BRTC) won the rights to organise the contest over bids from Russia and Malta. Under construction through 2009, the 15,000-spectator Minsk Arena hosted the event. Belarus has twice previously won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is, according to EBU Executive Supervisor Svante Stockselius, one of Belarus' most popular television shows.

Visual design

The theme art for the contest was revealed on April 8 2010, consisting of multi-coloured circles, symbolising different people, cultures and countries, that form the shape of wings, that symbolise freedom, ease of flying, creative inspiration and rising above. On  September 8, the mascots of the show were presented, being a bear and a wisent.

Jill & Lauren

The stage, by Swedish stage designer Ulf Mårtensson, was unveiled on July 15 2010, featuring five constructions in the shapes of wings. The hosts were also involved with each performance on their own dedicated section of the stage.

Theme art was also incorporated in the promotional billboards and posters featuring 11 faces of Junior Eurovision selected through casting procedure. Results of castings were revealed on 20 July 2010 and the 11 chosen ones were Belarus TV personalities Denis Kourian, Olga Barabanschikova, Irina Kazantseva, Andrey Bibikov, former JESC entrants Alexey Zhigalkovich, Ksenia Sitnik, Yuriy Demidovich, Alina Molosh, Daria Nadina as well as non-professionals Yulia Brazhinskaya and Ilya Ilmursky.

Sonja Škorić

Participants

On 28 July 28 2010, the EBU announced the competing countries for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010. A total of 14 countries competed, with Moldova making its début and Latvia and Lithuania returning. Cyprus and Romania withdrew from the contest. Sweden returned to the contest through Sveriges Television (SVT) after TV4 withdrew. The EBU's coordinator of the contest, Svante Stockselius, labelled SVT's return to the contest as a big achievement in terms of negotiations with possible participants and expressed hope that other Scandinavian broadcasters may also return to the show.

The show also featured all winners of Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003-2009 Dino Jelusić, María Isabel, Ksenia Sitnik, The Tolmachevy Twins, Alexey Zhigalkovich, Bzikebi and Ralf Mackenbach, who performed remix-medley of their winning entries and presented the trophy to the winner of 2010 edition. Also, a special documentary Kids of Eurovision was filmed by BTRC about them.