Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017

Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 was the first Eurovision Choir competition for choral singers, which was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Interkultur. It was held on 22 July 2017, at the Arena Riga, in the Latvian capital, Riga. The event was produced by Latvian host broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) and the Riga Tourism Development Bureau.[1]

Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017
Dates
Final22 July 2017 (2017-07-22)
Host
VenueArena Riga, Riga, Latvia
Presenter(s)
Directed byPeter Maniura
Executive supervisorJon Ola Sand
Executive producerIeva Rozentāle
Host broadcasterLatvijas Televīzija (LTV)
Websiteeurovisionchoir.tv
Participants
Number of entries9
Debuting countries
  •  Austria
  •  Belgium
  •  Denmark
  •  Estonia
  •  Germany
  •  Hungary
  •  Latvia
  •  Slovenia
  •  Wales
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries
Vote
Voting systemJury voting by a panel of three judges to decide the winning choir
Winning choir Slovenia
Carmen Manet

Nine countries participated, including Wales, which marked the second time that the United Kingdom has not participated as a unified state in any of the Eurovision Network events, after 1994, when Wales participated lastly in Jeux Sans Frontières. Carmen Manet of Slovenia won the contest, with Wales and hosts Latvia placing second and third respectively.

Location
Arena Riga, venue of the inaugural Eurovision Choir.

On 14 February 2017, it was confirmed that the inaugural Eurovision Choir of the Year would take place at the Arena Riga, located in the Latvian capital.[2] The arena is primarily used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts and holds a maximum of 14,500. This marked Latvia's first hosting of a Eurovision network event since the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place at Skonto Hall in Riga.

Format

Competing countries who are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are eligible to participate in Eurovision Choir. Nine countries participated at the inaugural event. Each competing country was represented by a professional choir, and each performed a choral piece lasting no more than six minutes in length. Each piece may include singular or several musical works or of a free genre; but must contain national or regional influence from the participating country.[3]

Tickets for the event went on sale on 15 March 2017.[4] The winning choir (Slovenia) received the title of Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 and prize money from Riga City Council.[5] The event was opened with a performance of "Fly to Paradise" by host Whitacre, with over 500 singers on stage and Jolanta Strikaite in the arena and closed with Ēriks Ešenvalds’ "My Song", performed by all the choirs, with the Festival Stage Choir, Dāvis Jurka and the live audience.[6]

Presenters

Announced on 27 February 2017, Grammy-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre and LTV culture presenter Eva Johansone, were the hosts for the inaugural contest that took place on 22 July 2017, in Riga, Latvia.[1][3]

Participating countries
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Choir of the Year

On 27 February 2017, the EBU confirmed that seven countries would be participating in the inaugural contest.[3] Following the announcements of Hungary and Wales joining the event, this increased to nine competing choirs.[7][8]

Draw[9] Country[9] Choir[9] Song(s)[9] Language Place[10]
1  Estonia Estonian TV Girls’ Choir "Absolute Tormis" Estonian —
2  Denmark Academic Choir of Aarhus "I Seraillets Have" / "Wiigen-Lied" Danish/ German —
3  Belgium Les Pastoureaux "Dans la troupe" / "Ensemble" French —
4  Germany Jazzchor Freiburg "African Call" / "Palettes" Imaginary / German —
5  Slovenia Carmen Manet "Ta na Solbici" / "Adrca" / "Aj, zelena je vsa gora" Slovene 1
6  Hungary Bartók Béla Férfikar (Béla Bartók Male Choir)[11] "Karádi nóták" Hungarian —
7  Wales Côr Merched Sir Gâr[12] "O, Mountain, O" / "Mil harddach" / "Wade in the Water" Czech / Welsh / English 2
8  Austria Hardchor Linz "Ave Maria" / "I tua wos i wü" / "Rah" Latin / German / English —
9  Latvia Spīgo "Grezna saule debesīs" / "Es čigāna meita biju" Latvian 3

Conductors

The conductors for each country are as follows:[13]

  •  Austria – Alexander Koller
  •  Belgium – Philippe Favette
  •  Denmark – Ole Faurschou
  •  Estonia – Aarne Saluveer
  •  Germany – Bertrand Gröger
  •  Hungary – Lakner Tamás
  •  Latvia – Līga Celma-Kursiete
  •  Slovenia – Primož Kerštanj
  •  Wales – Islwyn Evans

International broadcasts and voting

Commentators

Most countries sent commentators to Riga or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants.[14]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref.
 Austria ORF 2 (delayed) Alexander Žigo and Teresa Vogl [15]
 Belgium Musiq'3, La Trois Camille De Rijck [16][17]
 Denmark DR K Ole Tøpholm and Phillip Faber [18][19]
 Estonia ETV2 Eero Raun [20]
 Germany Arte Concert (live); SR, SWR, WDR (delayed) Un­known [21][22]
 Hungary M5 Bolla Milán [23]
 Latvia LTV1 Edgars Raginskis [23]
 Slovenia RTV SLO1 Igor Velše [24]
 Wales S4C Morgan Jones and Elin Manahan Thomas [25]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref.
 Albania RTSH 1 (delayed) Andri Xhahu [23]
 Australia SBS (broadcast on 16 September 2017) No commentary [26]
 France Arte Concert Un­known [27]
 Norway NRK2 (broadcast on 1 April 2018) Arild Erikstad [28]
 Serbia RTS2 Silvana Grujić [23]
 Ukraine Radio Ukraine (delayed) Un­known [29]

Professional jury

The winner of the contest is decided upon the votes from a professional jury, which is made up of the following:[3][4]

Other countries

For a country to be eligible for potential participation in Eurovision Choir, it needs to be an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).[32] It is currently unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Eurovision Song Contest.

  •  Norway – On 5 September 2016, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK announced that they would not be making their debut at the 2017 contest due to their existing involvement in Let the Peoples Sing, another EBU competition.[33]
  •  Sweden – On 29 May 2017, Swedish national broadcaster SVT announced that they would not be making their debut at the 2017 contest.[34]

References
  1. ""Choral Eurovision" is coming to Latvia". LSM. eng.lsm.lv. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. Granger, Anthony (14 February 2017). "Choir of the Year 2017 details to be released later this month". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  3. Granger, Anthony (27 February 2017). "Seven countries to compete in Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  4. Eurovision Team (26 February 2017). "Questions and answers". eurovisionchoir.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  5. "Tuvojas pirmais Eirovīzijas gada kora konkurss" [The first Eurovision Choir of the Year is coming]. lsm.lv (in Latvian). LSM. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  6. Union (EBU), European Broadcasting (July 19, 2017). "Europe's best choirs bid to become first Eurovision Choir of The Year". www.ebu.ch. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  7. Granger, Anthony (20 March 2017). "Hungary confirms participation in Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  8. Granger, Anthony (3 April 2017). "Wales confirms participation in Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  9. Granger, Anthony (21 July 2017). "Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 Running Order Revealed". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  10. "Carmen Manet from Slovenia win Eurovision Choir of the Year! | Eurovision Choir of the Year". Eurovision Choir of the Year. 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  11. "Hungarian Group Competing in Eurovision Choir of the Year Contest!". Hungary Today. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  12. "42 Carmarthenhire school pupils – Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". Welsh Country. July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. Granger, Anthony (4 July 2017). "Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 conductors announced". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  14. Granger, Anthony (28 February 2017). "Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 officially launched". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  15. Granger, Anthony (27 April 2017). "Austria: ORF confirms delayed broadcast of Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  16. Granger, Anthony (10 April 2017). "Belgium: Pre-selection possible for future Eurovision Choir of the Year's". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  17. Granger, Anthony (4 July 2017). "Belgium: Camille De Rijck Announced As Eurovision Choir of the Year Commentator". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  18. Dohrmann, Jan (19 May 2017). "Nu kommer der også et Eurovision for kor" [Now there is also a Eurovision for choir]. dr.dk (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  19. Granger, Anthony (5 July 2017). "Denmark: Academic Choir of Aarhus to perform two songs at Eurovision Choir of the Year". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  20. "Koori-Eurovisioon - uus lauluvõistlus kooridele" [Peel-Eurovision - New Song Choirs]. etv2.err.ee (in Estonian). ETV. 3 July 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  21. Granger, Anthony (21 July 2017). "Germany: ARTE Concert To Broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 Live". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  22. Granger, Anthony (8 July 2017). "Germany: No live broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  23. Jordan, Paul (19 July 2017). "How to watch Eurovision Choir of the Year". eurovisionchoir.tv. EBU. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  24. "Evrovizijski zbor leta 2017, prenos iz Rige". 4d.rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). RTVSLO. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  25. Granger, Anthony (16 July 2017). "Morgan Jones & Elin Manahan Thomas announced as commentators". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  26. Granger, Anthony (24 September 2017). "Australia: SBS airs Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  27. Granger, Anthony (20 July 2017). "France: Arte Concert to broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  28. Granger, Anthony (30 March 2018). "Norway: NRK To Broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017". Eurovoix. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  29. Granger, Anthony (20 July 2017). "Ukraine: Radio Ukraine to broadcast Eurovision Choir of the Year". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  30. "Choir for televised euro event chosen". LSM. eng.lsm.lv. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  31. Granger, Anthony (20 May 2017). "Nicolas Fink named as third Eurovision Choir of the Year 2017 juror". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  32. "Membership conditions". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  33. Granger, Anthony (5 September 2016). "Norway: Will not participate in Choir of the Year 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  34. Granger, Anthony (29 May 2017). "Sweden: SVT explains Eurovision Choir of the Year non-participation". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
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