Denis Vershenko will represent Belarus at the international performers' competition "Vitebsk-2010"

April 28, Minsk /Zhanna Kotlyarova - BELTA/. Denis Vershchenko, a soloist of the Gomel Regional Philharmonic, will represent Belarus at the IX International Pop Song Performers Contest "Vitebsk-2010". This decision was made by the jury based on the results of listening to the applicants for participation in the contest, Mikhail Kozlovich, Head of the Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, told a BELTA correspondent. At the qualifying round, the artist performed two compositions: Dmitry Dolgolev's song "Ptushka" in Belarusian and a song from Eros Ramazzotti's repertoire in Italian. The 23-year-old performer has experience performing on concert and competition stages and has won awards at international creative competitions. Denis is the Grand Prix winner of the international contest "Slavic Star-2006" and a laureate of the contests "Velizh-2008" in the Russian Federation and "On a High Wave" in 2009, which is also held in Russia. At the VIII International Children's Music Contest "Vitebsk-2010", two young singers will compete for the first prize: Zlata Larchenko (11 years old), a soloist of the V. Mulyavin National Center for Musical Arts, and Anya Zaitseva (9 years old), a student of Minsk Secondary School No. 201. The "stars" impressed the jury with their brightness, convincing performance, and repertoire selection. Zlata Larchenko presented the song "Baba Yaga," which the audience first heard at the national selection for the children's contest "Eurovision-2009," as well as Svetlana Statsenko's new, unconventional, and extraordinary song "Zhuravinka." Anya Zaitseva performed Sergey Sukhomlin's Belarusian-language composition "Lyatsitsye Kryly" and the song "A Mozhet Byt Vorona" from a cartoon. The decision on which compositions the artists will perform on the competition stage is planned to be made during the preparation process. Many external factors will be taken into account, as this year the contests are planned to be made more vibrant and watchable. "We want the contests to be spectacular, so this year we will try to focus on the show, which we will prepare in close cooperation with television professionals," said Mikhail Kozlovich. In addition to Belarus, 16 countries have decided who to entrust with participation in the competition on the Vitebsk festival stage. In Russia and Ukraine, the names of the contestants will be announced very soon. The XIX International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" will be held from July 9 to 15. During the festival, the IX International Pop Song Performers Contest "Vitebsk-2010" and the VIII International Children's Music Contest "Vitebsk-2010" will take place. -0-