The first tour of the national contest for the forthcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC) is complete. The Jury has already revealed 12 finalists out of 140 contesters. The names of the best 12 talents were made public during today’s press conference held at the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel.

The finalists of the national contest are: Otiko Andriadze from Kutaisi, Mariam Romelashvili – Tamarasheni, Beka Chokharadze – Batumi, Aneti Mikeladze – Batumi, Linda Turkoshvili – Tbilisi, Shotiko Tatishvili – Tbilisi, Ani Ghibradze – Tbilisi, Mari Jomardidze – Tbilisi, Ana Siradze – Tbilisi, Ilia Karmazanashvili – Tbilisi, Trio – Mariam Chachkhiani, Keti Chachkhiani and Nino Gvelesiani – Tbilisi, and Ia Orjonikidze – Tbilisi.
The Jury included musicians: Nutsa Janelidze, Maka Aroshidze, Jemal Sepiashvili, Tamar Chokhonelidze, Dato Archvadze and Tamar Kintsurashvili, GPB General Director.

The Jury, specially created for the national contest, started children’s casting from the Georgian- South Ossetian conflict zone. The next selection tour was held in Georgia’s eastern region of Kakheti. Rest of 5 regions included Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Abkhazeti, Adjara, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Kvemo Kartli.

After touring about Georgia’s regions, the final selection tour of the national contest was held in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on July 25-26. The selection tours were held under the auspices of Georgia’s First Lady Sandra Roelofs.

The best 12 children will perform before the wide audience at the Tbilisi Philharmonics Big Hall on October 5. The concert will then reveal the winner, who will be the Georgian participant at the JESC contest. Before that a vocal teacher will work with the finalists. Also, audio and video recordings will be prepared in August.

It is the first time ever when Georgia participates in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is targeted at discovering and highlighting talent among the youth. The JESC 2007 will be held in Netherlands city of Rotterdam on December 8. GPB will present the Georgian participant, who will be selected through a national contest. The song, which will be performed at Junior Eurovision – 2007, will be revealed through a competition as well.

THE 12 JUNIOR FINALISTS ARE
01. Otiko Andriadze
02. Mariam Romelashvili
03. Beka Chokharadze
04. Aneti Mikeladze
05. Linda Turkoshvili
06. Shotiko Tatishvili
07. Ani Ghibradze
08. Mari Jomardidze
09. Ana Siradze
10. Ilia Karmazanashvili
11. Mariam Chachkhiani, Keti Chachkhiani & Nino Gvelesiani
12. Ia Orjonikidze