This year marks Ukraine’s 15th participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Student of 9-C from the International School “Meridian” Oleksandr Balabanov, Ukraine’s participant for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 has released the final version of his song ‘Vidkryvai’.

Online voting starts on Friday 27 November. Voters are required to watch a recap of all the performances before they can cast a vote. After this, there is an option to rewatch clips from each participant. This first round of voting closes on Sunday 29 November at 16:59 Central European Time, just before the live show.

Each voter needs to select 3 songs to cast a valid vote. If your country participates you can support your act by voting for your own country.

You can vote from here: https://junioreurovision.tv/

The second phase of online voting takes place during the live show and starts after the last song has been performed. Then the voting window opens up for approximately 15 minutes. Again, the international audience can vote online for 3 countries. Viewers can also vote for their own country’s song. The votes will be converted into points.

The amount of points the audience awards is based on the total amount of points from the National Juries. As we have 12 participating countries, the juries will award a total of 696 points. Each National Jury will award 58 points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12). The audience points are determined by the percentage of votes received per country. For example, if a song gets 20% of the votes, it receives 20% of the available points (20% from 696 points = 139 points).

VIDEO | Ukraine’s Oleksandr Balabanov releases music video of Vidkryvai

Junior Eurovision 2020 is to be held on November 29 in the Polish capital of Warsaw. The slogan for the show is ‘Move The World’. Following Viki Gabor’s victory on home soil in 2019, this will mark TVP’s second consecutive time hosting.

Balabanov, Ukraine’s participant for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 has released the final version of his song ‘Vidkryvai’. With the launch of his official lyric video you can now practise your Ukrainian and sing along!

Oleksandr explained more about his song: “The song “Vidkryvai” (Open Up) encourages to open up this world and be open to new possibilities, to never stop or be afraid to do your thing, despite difficulties, to be open to changes and grateful to this world!”

Since he won the national selection in Ukraine, Oleksandr has been busy preparing for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Next to the release of the final version of his song, he did a photo shoot.

On 13 October, Oleksandr released the music video of Vidkryvai. He said: “This is my first professional music video. We filmed all my previous videos on our own. I have so many impressions! The team was amazing, everything was professional and positive! It is unusual to look at myself from the side. I am grateful to Augustyna who became the heroine of the music video for my song. I am thankful to everyone who joined creating the video. It turned out very sincere!”

The school scenes of the clip was done at Meridian International School.

Oleksandr Balabanov, Ukraine’s participant for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020, the promotional filming was at Meridian International School. In the video, his classmates and his teacher took place

Earlier in October, the revamped version of Vidkryvai was played for the first time on UA: Radio Promin, a radio station of UA:PBC.

The song “Vidkrivay” (Open), which he will perform at the competition, was written by Oleksandr together with the sound producer, founder of the Adam group, Mikhail Klimenko. Song lyrics are written in English and Ukrainian languages.

– My song is about opening yourself to the world. Get up and do something for yourself and for others. Then everything will be better. This is my personal position, but the school also contributes to this so much, – says Alexander.

– Music is the most important thing for me, but I don’t forget about my studies. Although I skip a lot of school process, I try to catch up. My classmates support me. When I won, the whole class sang my song.

Balabanov participated in the national selection already three times. He was twice a finalist, but he won on the third attempt.
“Hardworking, talented and persistent children study at our international school,” says Christina Dubina, a representative of the Meridian school administration.

– This year, another student of our school, besides Alexander, also took part in the national competition for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. And she took 4th place.

School “Meridian” has experience of participating not only in international music contests, but also in educational ones. She also underlined, that students from their school also took awards.

Alexander: I took part in many contests and festivals before Eurovision. One of them was the International Language and Culture Festival (IFLC). It takes place annually. I have traveled to Brazil, Australia, America and Canada. Children from different countries can communicate and sing together on the same stage. The main goal is to bring the cultures of the world together, says Alexander.

Alexander is fluent in English and studies Turkish.

Christina Dubina: “Meridian” School is proud of Oleksandr. We were very happy when we learned that he had won the right to represent Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The school is big fan-club for Alexander. We wish him victory.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest this year will take place online in Warsaw, November 29.

Alexander is the 15th Ukrainian participant at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and the first male singer to represent the country in over 10 years. His country has won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest once, in 2012 with Anastasiya Petryk and her song Nebo. Ukraine reached second place twice, in 2008 and 2013.

The following countries (and entries) have been confirmed to be taking part in the contest:

Belarus: Arina Pehtereva – “Aliens”

France: Valentina – “J’imagine”

Georgia: Sandra Gadelia – You Are Not Alone

Germany: Susan – “Stronger With You”

Kazakhstan: Karakat Bashanova – “Forever”

Malta:  Chanel Monseigneur – “Chasing Sunsets”

Netherlands: Unity – “Best Friends”

Poland: Ala Tracz – “I’ll Be Standing”

Russia: Sofia Feskova – “My New Day”

Serbia: Petar Aničić – “Heartbeat”

Spain: Soleá – “Palante”

Ukraine: Oleksandr Balabanov – “Vidkryvay”

By Hafsa Erdoğdu