VITEBSK, 17 March (BelTA) – Only national selection winners will participate in the international contests of the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk in a couple of years, the festival director Alexander Sidorenko told journalists on 16 March, BelTA has learned.
"The work on selecting the contestants is in the full swing now. Every year, more and more countries hold national selections for the Slavianski Bazaar. It is pleasing for the festival organizers. We will continue to give preference to the national selection winners. I believe that in two or three years, every contestant will go through national contests first, except for the newcomers from distant countries,” Alexander Sidorenko noted.
He said that Belarus has already held several selection stages, another one will take place in Minsk on 18 March. The same day, in Riga, Alexander Sidorenko will be on the jury panel of the Latvian selection for the Slavianski Bazaar. Ukraine has also just selected their representatives both for the song contest and the children's song contest in Vitebsk. “However, I would not like to announce the selection results yet. Because the applicants' number always exceeds the quota, which is no more than three or four applications for a country. The final list of the participants will be announced only after the consultations of the group of experts,” Alexander Sidorenko stressed.
He also believes that this year the contest of young pop singers will be one of the most interesting and diverse in the festival's history. “I have heard the Ukrainian national selection winner. I think, he has high chances to win. Malta will also host a national selection on 18-19 March. We know how successful this small country is in song contests. The Italian participant also stands out of the crowd. I guess he will be one of the main challengers to win. A very ambitious female singer is coming from the USA. But I have seen only about a fifth of the applicants. We can make no predictions until we have all the applications for the contest,” Alexander Sidorenko concluded.
The 26th edition of the International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk will take place on 13-17 July (with additional events on 11-12 and 18-19 July).
