Sofia Tarasova wins in Ukraine

After months of preparations, it was tonight when Ukraine faced the ultimate choice - who would follow their last year's winner and the champion of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Anastasiya Petryk?

These twenty lucky ones were in the game tonight (winner in bold):

• Sofia Kutsenko (Kyiv) - Lastivka
• Erik Saharian - Ti Kohay
• Valeriia Symulyk - Tviy Noviy Den
• Adelina Logvynenko - U Gorah
• Radiosimya Duet - Sontse, More Y Ostrovi
• Ivanna Orlyuk - Chekayu
• Kiril Sokolov - Divchinka-Schastya
• Yana Guruliova - Vitre
• Trio Bon Appetit - Tehas
• Hrystyna Tkachuk - Mama
• Kapriz Band- Pisnya Poyednaye Nas
• Andriy Boyko - Lyubov U Kozhnomu
• Dmitry Ludanniy - Zasinay
• Co.Mix Band - Chicago
• Inessa Gritsaenko - Znayu
• Polina Andreeva - Tvoya Zemlya
• Sofia Kutsenko (Kharkiv) - Rozpovid
• Alim Khakimov - Prosti Slova
• Sofia Tarasova - We Are One
• Anna Vagabova - Happy Life

Of course there could only be one winner and that difficult choice was in the hands of the professional jury and the TV viewers. After a tie for the first place, it was decided that Sofia Tarasova with the song We Are One will represent Ukraine.

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Meet Sofia

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Sofia Tarasova (12) is a young student from Kyiv. When she was only two-and-a-half years old she was admitted to a group of gifted children in the Academy of Music. At age four she entered the Children's Art Academy, where she chose the music department. Sofia is not only good at singing and dancing, she is also a painter with more than a dozen oil paintings to her credit.

More achievements from the impressive curriculum of this talented young artist include starring in musicals (Snow Queen, Chunga-Chunga) and top placings in several competitions for young children (World of Talents, Black Sea Games, New Wave Junior). Sofia is not only a creative person, but also a very athletic one - she likes skiing, ice-skating and rollerblading. On top of all that she is still taking vocal and piano lessons.

At school she prefers English and History and her least favourite subject is Maths. A fan of the Twilight saga, she also likes the film The Life Of Benjamin Button. Her favourite singers are Adam Lambert and Alicia Keys and she also likes artists from Eurovision includingthis year's Ukranian "senior" performer Zlata Ognevich and the Swedish act Robin Stjernberg.

From Junior Eurovision she picks two artists from 2009 when the contest was also held in Kyiv: the Dutch winner Ralf Mackenbach and the Ukranian singer Andranik Aleksanyan whom she reckons is "a very talented guy and a wonderful person."

Last year she also took part in the Ukranian national final for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest but ended in 8th place with the song Puzzle Of Life. This year she was back with a bang with the song We Are One, and has won the honour of representing Ukraine on home ground on the 30th of November.