7 May, Minsk /Tatsiana Pastushenka - BELTA/. Participants have been selected for the Vitebsk International Pop Song Performers Contest and the Vitebsk International Children's Music Contest, which will be held during the XXI Vitebsk International Arts Festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Ministry of Culture of Belarus. In the younger age group, two young vocalists will represent Belarus: 10-year-old Elizaveta Muravyova (a student of the Vladimir Mulyavin National Centre for Musical Arts; studies at Gymnasium No. 22 in Minsk) and 10-year-old Evgenia Klepitskaya (studies at Gymnasium No. 61 in Minsk). In the senior age group, the competent jury has selected 22-year-old Yevgeny Dolich, a student of the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. According to the terms of the national selection, participants must have experience of concert performances and have made a name for themselves through successes at republican and international contests and festivals. The selection of performers took place in two stages. The results of the first stage were summarised by an expert group, and the second stage by a professional jury. The composition of the expert group and the professional jury was formed from leading specialists in the field of musical pop art, well-known cultural and art figures, and was approved by order of the Ministry of Culture. The jury for the Pop Song Performers Contest will be headed by composer and People's Artist of Russia Maxim Dunaevsky, and the jury for the Children's Music Contest by Georgian composer and singer Jemal Sepiashvili. A total of 21 applications from 18 countries were received for the Pop Song Performers Contest, and 21 applications from 21 countries for the children's contest. The Vitebsk International Arts Festival will be held in Vitebsk from 12 to 18 July.-0-

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