Israel will broadcast the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest after IBA officials opposed the idea to leave the contest from General Director Moti Sklar.

It’s suggested that Moti Sklar believes that IBA should give up the contest as it did not fit the character of the channel and is more suited to commercial channels. Participants in the meeting including Yoav Guinea, chairman of the Broadcasting Authority, Neve Yaakov and Amir Gilat opposed the idea.

Also during the meeting the return of KDAM was suggested where an open competition would come back after several years of internal selection from IBA.

IBA reacted by saying they will not refer to their internal discussions and will give their final decision on Monday.

This afternoon, the second quarterfinal of Armenia’s Junior Eurovision selection will take place. Thirteen songs will take part, with approx. 8 entries going to the next round of the selection. All voting will be by a professional jury, in order to eliminate the chances of televoting manipulation. The show will be hosted by Anahit Sargsyan & Artak Vardanyan. Anahit is a member of the children’s group ‘Arevik’, who in their previous lineup represented Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2007. She also sang as a guest at the Armenian JESC 2009 national final. Opening and interval acts will both be provided by dance groups “Millennium” and “Style“.

Below are the thirteen songs that will take part, with translations in English. The solo song from Meri Grigoryan had to be relocated in the running order, since she is now involved with another entry and would have not had enough time to change between each song:

01. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “Mama”
02. Band “Ekeq ergenq” – “Hamakargich” (Computer)
03. Meri Grigoryan – “Bemn im teghn e” (Stage is my place)
04. Anzhelika Barseghyan – “Voghjuyn” (Hello)
05. Anahit Sahakyan – “Moloraka dzaynakcum e mez” (The planet sings with us)
06. Erna Maruqyan – “Heqiatayin qaghaq” (Fairytale Bow)
07. Nonna Avagyan – “Poqreri ton” (Junior Celebration)
08. Mane Bareghamyan – “Qez het im erg” (With You, My Song)
09. Lidushik & Meri Grigoryan – “Hay Arev” (Hi, Sun)
10. Vergine Bekchyan – “Charachchin” (Naughty)
11. Mariam Karapetyan – “Khaghaghutyan koch” (Call for peace)
12. Band “DoReMi” – “Pop Star”
13. Anush Melqonyan – “Aghjikneri molorake” (Girls Planet)

The show will take place from 18.00 – 19.40 local time, or 15.00 – 16.40 CET. You will be able to follow the show live here and all the songs can be found here. Rehearsal photos can also be found here. Good luck to all of the participants!

RTS have announced the 10 songs that will compete in the Serbian national final for Junior Eurovision 2010, “Dečja pesma Evrovizije 2010″. The show will take place on 26th September at 12.30, on RTS1. The following singers will take part, all of their songs are self-penned.

01. Boško Baloš – “Kap po kap”
02. Teodora Vujić – “Reči tišine”
03. Marija Gligorević – “Vera u sebe”
04. Anđela Išić – “Exit za ljubav”
05. Jovanović Mia & Pavle Aleksić – “Žmurke”
06. Đorđe Marković – “Rok je…”
07. Milica Savić – “Kao u snu”
08. Boris Subotić – “Do moje klupe”
09. Sofija Šašić – “Kralj provoda”
10. Sonja Škorić – “Čarobna noć”

Bosis Subotic and Sonja Skoric have both participated in the national final before. Sonja’s mother, Mira Skoric is a singer famous in Serbia and also a participant of Beovizija, the old Serbian national final for adult Eurovision. More information about the show will be avaliable soon!

The first quarterfinal for Armenia’s Junior Eurovision 2010 selection has just finished. Twelve songs were performed, and eight qualified to the next round, from voting by a professional jury. The show was hosted by Anahit Sargsyan & Artak Vardanyan, and opening/interval acts were provided by dance groups “Millennium” and “Style“. At the end of the show after the qualifiers were announced, all of the participants (from both quarterfinals) joined to sing “We are the world” by USA for Africa, penned by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

The participants listed in bold have qualified to the semi-final, which will take place on Saturday:

1. Inessa Sahakyan – “Ari indz het” (Come With Me)
2. Vahagn Grigoryan – “Wroom wroom” (Vrum-vrum)
3. Group “Zangak” – “Evratesil” (Eurovision)
4. Ninela – “Chalo shunik” (Chalo Doggie)
5. Ara Balayan – “Hrashqneri ashxarhamas” (Land of Miracles)
6. Razmik Aghajanyan “Vor lini” (Let be)
7. Minasyan Masis “Ergeq indz het” (Sing with me)
8. Zinaida Meliqyan and Karina “Erazanq” (A Dream)
9. Heghine Hayrapetyan “Im poqrik enkere” (My Little Friend)
10. Dalita “Jraharsi erge” (Mermaid song)
11. Group “Aliqner” – “Qami” (Wind)
12. Hayk Melqonyan – “Im erkir Hayastan” (My land Armenia)

Below is the ranking from the jury, as revealed by OGAE Armenia.

01. Razmik Aghajanyan “Vor lini” (Let be)
02. Masis Minasyan “Ergeq indz het” (Sing with me)
03. Dalita “Jraharsi erge” (Mermaid song)
04. Vahagn Grigoryan – “Wroom wroom” (Vrum-vrum)
05. Group “Aliqner” – “Qami” (Wind)
06. Hayk Melqonyan – “Im erkir Hayastan” (My land Armenia)
07. Heghine Hayrapetyan “Im poqrik enkere” (My Little Friend)
08. Ninela – “Chalo shunik” (Chalo Doggie)

Favourites of selection in opinion of ESCDaily editors were songs from Vahagn Grigoryan and Razmik Aghajanyan. The second semi-final will take place tomorrow at 15.00 CET. Congratulations to all of the qualifiers!

Today we continue our interview special with the finalists of Performance 2010.

Recently we spoke with the young Cypriot singer Louis Panayiotou – who you may recognise from before. We first met him when he was 13 years old as a part of the Cypriot duo, with Christina Christofi, who sang “Agoria Koritsia” at the 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Now, at 17 years old, Louis will be trying to do the Eurovision double when he competes at the Performance final on September 10th for the chance to represent Cyprus at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.

Check out what he had to say to our site below;

ESCDAILY.com: Hello Louis. Thank you for your time and congratulations on making the final of ‘Performance’. First tell us a bit about yourself and your hobbies.
Louis Panayiotou: Hello my name is Louis Panayiotou and I am 17 years old. I am a very positive, active and energetic person! I am really interested in music and sports. I have been singing since I was very young and I started to play the piano at the age of 5. I also did swimming for 10 years and I won many medals and awards. About music, as I said before, I play the piano but I also take singing lessons in classical and modern types.

ESCDAILY.com: What made you enter ‘Performance’?
Louis: I saw the announcement and when I realized that the winner will represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 I got really enthusiastic. My parents told me that it was a good chance for me and with their permission and encouragement I submitted my participation entry

ESCDAILY.com: How did you feel when you made the final of ‘Performance’?
Louis: I am very grateful and excited that I am one of the 9 participants in the final because of the chance I have with this to represent Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest.

ESCDAILY.com: How would it feel to one day represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest? You have done it at the Junior level, would representing Cyprus at the senior level be a dream for you?
Louis: When I was selected to represent Cyprus at the junior level it was an unexpected dream come true. If I get to represent Cyprus at the senior it will feel like dreaming twice. It will be such a pleasure and a big honour.

ESCDAILY.com: Going back to 2006, how was your experience in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest?
Louis: I had one of the best experiences of my life by representing Cyprus in Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with my friend Christina. Everything seemed like a dream.

We had the chance to sing in front of such a big crowd and have fun with the other contestants. Of course I made many friends especially from Spain and Greece and with some of them we are still in contact until now!

Louis and Christina perform “Agoria Koritsia” at JESC 2006;

ESCDAILY.com: So, do you still watch Junior Eurovision?
Louis: Yes I still watch fanatically Junior Eurovision because it brings back to my memory all the experience and fun I had in 2006 in Romania.

ESCDAILY.com: And what about Eurovision?
Louis: Eurovision is a tradition with a long history. It gives you the chance to promote your country and yourself in Europe and opens new horizons to some of the performers. My favorite songs are the song of Iceland in 2008 “This is my life”, Romania 2005 “let me try”, Romania 2010 “Playing with fire”, Serbia 2007 “Molitva” and Cyprus 2007 “Comme çi Comme ça”.

ESCDAILY.com: What did you musically do after Junior Eurovision 2006 until today?
Louis: I participate in many events, most of which are for charity. I compose my own songs and music and I partake in numerous musical artistic events.

ESCDAILY.com: What are your future plans?
Louis: First of all to pursue musical studies at university level and then I want to make a CD. One day I want to become a very good performer and musician and to give my own concerts in front of big crowds of fans.

ESCDAILY.com: Finally, do you have a message to the readers of Escdaily.com and Eurovision fans worldwide?
Louis: I wish to your site to acquire more and more fans and to Eurovision fans to enjoy the party because Eurovision is a party of music and culture.

ESCDAILY.com: We would like to thank Louis for his time and wish him good luck in the final on September 10th.

Louis Panayiotou sings ‘Feel’ at Performance below;

This afternoon, the first quarterfinal of Armenia’s Junior Eurovision selection will take place. Twelve songs will take part, with approx. 8-10 going to the next round of the selection. All voting will be by a professional jury, in order to eliminate the chances of televoting manipulation. The show will be hosted by Anahit Sargsyan & Artak Vardanyan. Anahit is a member of the children’s group ‘Arevik’, who in their previous lineup represented Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2007. She also sang as a guest at the Armenian JESC 2009 national final. Opening and interval acts will both be provided by dance groups “Millennium” and “Style“.

Below are the twelve songs that will take part, with translations in English:

1. Inessa Sahakyan – “Ari indz het” (Come With Me)
2. Vahagn Grigoryan – “Wroom wroom” (Vrum-vrum)
3. Group “Zangak” – “Evratesil” (Eurovision)
4. Ninela – “Chalo shunik” (Chalo Doggie)
5. Ara Balayan – “Hrashqneri ashxarhamas” (Land of Miracles)
6. Razmik Aghajanyan “Vor lini” (Let be)
7. Minasyan Masis “Ergeq indz het” (Sing with me)
8. Zinaida Meliqyan and Karina “Erazanq” (A Dream)
9. Heghine Hayrapetyan “Im poqrik enkere” (My Little Friend)
10. Dalita “Jraharsi erge” (Mermaid song)
11. Group “Aliqner” – “Qami” (Wind)
12. Hayk Melqonyan – “Im erkir Hayastan” (My land Armenia)

The show will take place from 18.00 – 19.40 local time, or 15.00 – 16.40 CET. You will be able to follow the show live here and all the songs can be found here. Rehearsal photos can also be found here. Good luck to all of the participants!

TRT’s methods for selecting their Eurovision entry of the past few years has been incredibly successful, especially in 2010 where maNga finished in second place.

This year they are going down the same route and have proposed five artists for the public to vote on. For Eurovision 2009 the poll was won by fourth placed Hadise and for the last Eurovision Song Contest second placed maNga won the public poll proving this method as being successful for TRT.

For the upcoming contest, to be held in Germany next May, the Turkish national broadcaster has proposed five names;Emre Aydın, Murat Boz, Atiye Deniz, Şebnem Ferah & Hande Yener.

Click here to vote for your favourite artist.

Switzerland have launched their search for a song for Eurovision 2011. Due to a clear upward trend in viewing numbers for the contest in Switzerland (with an average share of 30%, or ~500,000 viewers), Swiss TV have decided to revamp the process they will use for selecting Switzerland’s entry for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.

A huge internet vote will allow the Swiss people to take an active part in deciding which artist should represent Switzerland. In the first round, all performers who would like to take part can present their songs on the www.eurovision.sf.tv website. The entry period will run from from 1 October to 30 October 2010. From the beginning of November users will be able to vote for their favourite songs. These votes will count for 50% of the say in deciding a selection shortlist, while a jury will account for the other 50%.

Winners of the preliminary round will present their songs in a big national final, that will take place in Kreuzlingen on 11th December 2010 where televoting will decide the winner. More information can be found here in French, German and Italian.

Svante Stockselius, the executive supervisor of Eurovision Song Contest, as well as of Junior Eurovision Song Contest, decided to resign from his job at the end of the year.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010, to be held in Minsk later this year, will be the last contest under his supervision. During almost 8 years of his work, Eurovision Song Contest has become the world’s most popular music contest, with more than 120 million people all over the world watching the shows every year.

While Svante was responsible for the Eurovision Song Contest, many things have changed in the contest – a generic logo was established, semi finals were introduced in the contest, more then 40 countries were allowed to take part, and the professional juries were brought back, in order to make the voting fair.

The new executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest should be chosen by the end of the year.

The European Broadcasting Union’s Reference Group, responsible for the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest, met yesterday in Belgrade to summarise this year’s event, and also welcome NRD to the fold. The meeting was hosted by Sandra Šuša, who leaves the panel after three years. She was the representative of RTS, with host broadcasters serving in the group for two years after they hold the event to pass on experience and guidance.

Two main issues have come out of the meeting. Firstly, it has been decided that only 24 countries will contest the final of next year’s competition. The issue, raised after Germany won, was if Turkey would qualify automatically or not as Germany is already in the final as part of the big four. This idea was rejected.

A change to future contests is that the infamous “October 1st” rule has been taken back one month. This means that songs wishing to participate  in Eurovision must not be released before September 1st of the previous year. According to the EBU, this was changed at the request of several broadcasters, with ESCdaily.com believing that Belgium were one of those pushing most for it.

The four condidate cities to host next year’s event were also officially presented.

Next year’s deadline for handing over songs and materials is 14th March, with a meeting taking place then and on the 15th.