SIRUSHO TO SING 14-th AT EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

ARMENPRESS
March 14, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian singer Sirusho, chosen to
represent Armenia at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade,
Serbia, will perform 14th in the first semifinal scheduled for May 20.

Diana Mnatsakanian, head of foreign relations department of Public TV,
told Armenpress that the first semi-final will feature singers from
19 countries. Azerbaijan, Russia and Greece were given the right to
choose their queues.

The second semi-final will take place on May 22 to feature singers
from as many countries. In this group of countries, Macedonia,
Portugal and Denmark were allowed to choose their queues.

Sirusho was selected last November and the song she will sing in
Belgrade was chosen by a jury and members of the public earlier
this month.

The songs came from an open competition involving Armenian songwriters,
which the jury narrowed down to just four.

Sirusho sang each of the songs Strong, I Can’t Control It, I
Still Breathe plus the winning song Kele Kele on TV on Saturday
evening. After the songs had been presented, TV viewers were then asked
for their verdict by text voting, as well as that of an expert jury.

The winning song is a mixture of ethnic sounds and contemporary pop
music. It starts like a ballad with a verse in Armenian language,
building up to an up-tempo pop song with lyrics which are mostly
in English.