Exclusive: Belarus to host Junior 2010
08 June 2009 at 14:01 CESTThe Minsk Arena, to be completed by the end of this year, can host up to 15,000 spectators.
Svante Stockselius, the Executive Supervisor of the event on behalf of the EBU, said: "Belarus is a committed participant of the Eurovision Song Contest and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and won the latter twice. Moreover, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest is one of Belarus' most popular television shows. Finally, BTRC's bid to host the competition gave the Steering Group the confidence that they are capable of hosting the competition."
The Belarusian bid to host the competition was supported by no one less than Alexander Rybak, who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest for Norway with thesong Fairytale. The 23-year old singer was born in the Belarusian capital Minsk and moved to Norway at the age of 4.
The preliminary date for next year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest is Saturday, 20th of November, 2010.
Before heading for Belarus, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest goes to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The 7th running of the contest will take place on Saturday, 21st of November, 2009. Young talents from 13 countries will be represented.