Raluca from Romania won the Grand Prix of the children's competition at the jubilee "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk".

July 15, Vitebsk /BelTA correspondent/. Raluca from Romania became the Grand Prix winner of the IX International Children's Competition "Vitebsk-2011" at the anniversary arts festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk", BelTA has learned.

The winner of the minor intrigue of the XX forum was awarded $5,000, a special prize, and a diploma of the "Grand Prix" winner of the IX International Children's Competition "Vitebsk-2011".

The first prize of $3,000, a special prize, and a laureate diploma (winner of the I prize) were awarded to Kuralai Meirambek from Kazakhstan.

The second prize of $2,000 was divided by the jury, chaired by Honored Artist of Russia Sergey Shustitsky, between Valeria Chuvizova from Latvia and Gentleman from Azerbaijan. The young contestants were awarded special prizes and laureate diplomas of the IX International Children's Competition "Vitebsk-2011" (winners of the II prize).

Three participants also shared the third prize of $1,000 this year. Special prizes and laureate diplomas of the competition (winners of the III prize) will be taken from Vitebsk by Belarusian participant Alexandra Nekhay, Martin Yordanov from Bulgaria, and Maryana Shcherbak from Ukraine.

The solemn awarding of the competition winners took place today in the "Vitebsk" concert hall at the "Wonderland" gala concert. During the ceremony, special prizes from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia were also presented to contestants representing the Union State countries. Anna Atroshchenko (Belarus) and Olga Kozotzoeva from Russia were awarded gifts from the union parliamentarians.

As emphasized by the chairman of the International Children's Jury Sergey Shustitsky, all participants were worthy of victory, and each of them can already be called an artist. The decision was made unanimously, he noted, commenting on the competition results.

The vocal skills of the contestants this year were evaluated by the Grand Prix winner of "Vitebsk-2004" Pyotr Elfimov (Belarus), popular Bulgarian singer Vlado Dimov, laureate of "Vitebsk-2006" Evelina (Lithuania), laureate of "Vitebsk-2007" Seb Sebastian (Poland), Grand Prix winner of "Vitebsk-2002" Ziki (Serbia), singer, Honored Artist of Ukraine Petya Cherny. At the same time, to create a calmer and more comfortable atmosphere for children, their scores at the end of the competition days, unlike the adult competition, were not announced, and the performances were not commented on by the jury members.

The IX International Children's Music Competition "Vitebsk-2011" was held as part of the XX International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" on July 12 and 13. Its participants were 23 young performers from 20 countries. Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine were traditionally represented by two contestants each.-0-