Armenia: Yan Girls are doing it their way

After an open call to represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision followed by auditions, Yan Girls turned up for what they thought was another round of auditions. It wasn’t. They’d impressed Armenia’s professional jury enough to get the spot to represent their country at Junior Eurovision 2023.

And the surprises kept coming — when the girl group headed out to the cinema one night, what they saw on the big screen was better than any Hollywood blockbuster. As they got stuck into their popcorn, their Do It My Way music video came up on the big screen.

Before they even get to the Junior Eurovision stage, Yan Girls have made history, as they’re the first girl band in Armenia made up of kids. The 9 to 11-year-olds found each other in 2023 and their catchy music mixes K-pop beats with traditional Armenian melodies. They’re playful and rebellious — just ask them about some of the practical jokes they’ve played, most of which didn’t go quite to plan.

Writers assemble! Do It My Way was written by a collection of real Junior Eurovision superheroes. One of the talented pop stars behind the lyrics is Maléna, who not only co-wrote her own Junior Eurovision 2021 entry Qami Qami, but also won the competition for Armenia. With a banger like that, it’s easy to see how she took home the Junior Eurovision crown, and her success has kept on going up the charts ever since.

Two of Maléna’s other Qami Qami co-writers have also re-joined the Armenian songwriting dream team. Tokionine, whose real name is David Badalyan, is a pop producer, songwriter, and record label founder, who even wrote the Junior Eurovision 2022 theme song. Vahram Petrosyan, an Armenian composer, pianist, and producer wrote both of Armenia’s winning Junior Eurovision songs. Could there be a third win on the horizon?

The song is all about being true to yourself and having the confidence to do things your own way.

The 5 members of Yan Girls know exactly what they’d do if they had the power of invisibility for a day. Nane would go undercover behind the scenes of a BLACKPINK music video shoot, Nensi would spy on her favourite pop star Justin Bieber, and Syuzana would find out what people say about her when she’s not there (probably that they love Do It My Way, Syuzana!). Kamilla says she’d play tricks on her friends, while Aida’s wish is about to come true. She says she’d sneak backstage at Eurovision. Aida, the backstage area of Junior Eurovision is calling.

If Yan Girls are ever in charge of your party playlist, they’re going to bring an edgy pop vibe. Expect Dua Lipa’s Dance The Night, Doja Cat’s Paint The Town Red, and BLACKPINK’s Shut Down. And, honouring Armenia’s Eurovision Song Contest 2022 superstar, Brunette’s Smoke Break features in their favourite songs. Their pop heroes are all international megastars: Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna. 

If you ever wondered what 5 girls from an Armenian pop band watch on YouTube, we have the answer. They’ll be catching up on all the singing competitions you can imagine (including Eurovision and Junior Eurovision of course) as well as music videos and behind-the-scenes features. In that mix, are plenty of K-pop music videos.

You can learn more about Yan Girls right here.

Junior Eurovision returns on Saturday 16 November, and you can help decide the winner when voting opens at JESC.tv

All songs are available to watch on our YouTube channel and you can keep up to date with all the latest news and BTS action by following #JESC2024 on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook