Seven Countries To Compete in Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017

It has been revealed today that seven countries will be competing in the first edition of Eurovision Choir of the Year this July in Riga, Latvia.

Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 will be held on July 22 in the Latvian Capital, Riga. A total of seven countries will be competing in the contest which marks the end of European Choir Games 2017. This the first time that the Eurovision Choir of the Year is being held, making it the first new Eurovision Contest format to be launched since the Eurovision Dance Contest in 2008.

Competing in the contest are:

• Austria – Hardchor Linz
• Belgium – Les Pastoreaux
• Denmark – Academic Choir of Aarhus
• Estonia – Estonian TV Girls’ Choir
• Germany – Jazzchor Freiburg
• Latvia – National selection be held
• Slovenia – Carmen Manet

Each of the competing countries is represented by one professional choir. Each choir performs for a total of six minutes this can include one or several works, free genre,and should in part reflect national or regional character in some way. The winner of the contest will be decided by a jury, with the winner receiving a record deal.

The jury of the contest is made up of:

• Elīna Garanča – mezzo-soprano
• John Rutter – Composer
• TBA – Juror still to be announced

The hosts of the show will be Eric Whitacre and Eva Ikstena. Eric is a Grammy award-winning composer and conductor, while Eva Ikstena is a Latvian television host.

The show will be broadcast live from 20:00 CET by the seven participating broadcasters, while viewers will also be able to watch the contest online. An official website for the contest; EurovisionChoir.tv is currently under construction and will be launched in due course.

Eurovision Choir of the Year joins the Eurovision family of events which also features:

• Eurovision Song Contest – Annual Song Contest held between the members of the European Broadcasting Union. The contest to be held for the 62nd time in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• Eurovision Super Games – Planned Eurovision format seeing eight countries represented by four sports-persons in a series of challenges.
• Eurovision Young Dancers – Biennial dance competition for non-professional dancers age between 16 and 21 years old. To date 37 countries have participated in the contest.
• Eurovision Young Musicians – Biennial music competition for non-professional musicians who are 19 years old or younger. To date 41 countries have participated in the contest.
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Annual Song Contest held between the members of the European Broadcasting Union for children aged between 9 and 14 years old.

Source: EBU