Oleksandr Balabanov will represent Ukraine at Junior Eurovision 2020
Taia Nosykhina
Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC has revealed that Oleksandr Balabanov will represent the country with the song Vidkryvai (Open) at the 18th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on 29 November.
Oleksander was born in Donetsk and has been keen on singing since he was a child. He was a member of a children's folk singing group as early at the age of 4. When he was 8, Oleksandr and his family moved to Kyiv where he started taking singing classes and entered the music department of an arts school. He is fluent in English and studies German and Turkish.
His victory was decided by both jury and online voting. Oleksandr was one of the 11 shortlisted participants.
The jury
Eight members of the jury gave their votes by posts on Instagram:
Alina Pash - Singer and rapper
Dmytro Shurov - Solist in the band 'Pianoboy'
Jamala - Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Larysa Kliuievska - Music editor for UA: Radio Promin
Liubov Morozova - Music critic and hostess of UA:KULTURA TV channel
Ruslana Khazipova - Actress and singer
Taras Topolia - Lead singer of the band 'Antytila'
Timur Miroshnychenko - Commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be broadcast live on 29 November and starts at 17:00 CET. More details about the 18th Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be revealed in the coming weeks. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest updates.
