WDR, SWR and SR will not be showing the first edition of Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 live for viewers.
WDR and SWR will both broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017, however, both broadcasters will show the contest on delay. WDR who is in charge of German participation in the competition will not broadcast the competition until 30 July at 07:40 CET. SWR and SR will not broadcast the competition until 6 August from 00:05 CET.
WDR traditionally does not broadcast their participation in Eurovision Young Musicians or Eurovision Young Dancers live. When host Eurovision Young Musicians 2016 the broadcaster opted to show the contest on a 15 minute delay on their main channel, the same occurred in 2014 when WDR also hosted the competition.
This is the first time that either SWR (Südwestrundfunk) or SR (Saarländischer Rundfunk) have broadcast a Eurovision event.
Eurovision Choir of the Year will be held for the first time on July 22 in Riga, Latvia as part of the European Choir Games. The European Broadcasting Union has partnered with Interkultur to create this latest Eurovision family event, and both hope to see the format develop into a yearly event.
Competing in the contest are:
- Austria (ORF) – Hardchor Linz
- Belgium (RTBF) – Les Pastoureaux
- Denmark (DR) – Academic Choir of Aarhus
- Estonia (ERR) – Estonian TV Girls’ Choir
- Germany (WDR) – Jazzchor Freiburg
- Latvia (LTV) – Spīgo
- Slovenia (RTVSLO) – Carmen Manet
- Hungary (MTVA) – Bela Bartok Male Choir
- Wales (S4C) – Côr Merched Sir Gâr
The Choirs competing in the contest will perform once for up to 6 minutes. The performance can include one or several works, of any genre, and “should in part reflect national or regional character in some way”. The winner will be decided by a three member jury, on the jury are; Elīna Garanča (Latvia – Mezzo-Soprano), John Rutter (United Kingdom – Composer) and Nicolas Fink (Switzerland – Conductor).
