Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Armenia participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 which took place on 20 November 2016, in Valletta, Malta. The Armenian broadcaster Armenian Public Television (ARMTV) was responsible for organising their entry for the contest. Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan were internally selected to represent Armenia with the song "Tarber".

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country	Armenia
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 10 August 2016 Song: 28 October 2016
Selected artist(s)	Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan
Selected song	"Tarber"
Selected songwriter(s)	Nick Egibyan Avet Barseghyan
Finals performance
Final result	2nd, 232 points
Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016 • 2017►

Background

Main article: Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Armenia had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 2007, with their best result being in 2010 when they won with the song "Mama", performed by Vladimir Arzumanyan.^[1] Armenia went on to host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011, in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.^[2]

Before Junior Eurovision

"I was very inspired by Mary and Anahit. The song was already creating itself in my mind, when I met them for the first time. As soon as we started rehearsing, I realised that the song fits them perfectly. It's very interesting, how music can unite two completely different artists, with different vocals and styles. I think we have created something very special!"

—Nick Egibyan
(the composer of the song)

The Armenian broadcaster announced on 21 July 2016, that they would be participating at the contest being held in Valletta, Malta on 20 November 2016.^[3] ARMTV announced on 10 August 2016 that they had internally selected Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan to represent them at the contest.^[4] Their song for the contest, "Tarber", was released on 28 October 2016.^[5][6]

Artist and song information

Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan

Anahit Adamyan
Born	(2003-07-28) 28 July 2003 (age 21) Sochi, Russia
Genres	Pop R&B
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2013–present

Anahit was born in Sochi, Russia in summer 2003 but has a very strong connection to her motherland, Armenia. Anahit started singing when she was just 4 years old. Her professional career started in 2013, when she participated in the auditions of Russia's The Voice Kids competition. Later Anahit took part in world-famous composer Igor Krutoy's "The battle of talents" show where she became one of the three finalists. Anahit's biggest dream was to be a part of the Eurovision family, and this year her dream is coming true!

Mary Vardanyan
Born	(2003-04-07) 7 April 2003 (age 21)[7] Vardenis, Armenia
Genres	Pop R&B
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2011–present

Mary was born in April 2003 in Vardenis. She took her first steps into music back in 2011, when she started studying music at the Do-Re-Mi vocal school. She has participated in numerous music competitions, including the Renaissance International Music Festival, where she took the grand prix and the Friendship of Nations music competition, where she took first place.

^[8]

Tarber

"Tarber"
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry
Country	Armenia
Artist(s)	Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan
As	Anahit & Mary
Languages	Armenian, English
Composer(s)	Nick Egibyan
Lyricist(s)	Avet Barseghyan
Finals performance
Final result	2nd
Final points	232
Entry chronology
◄ "Love" (2015)
"Boomerang" (2017) ►

"Tarber" (Armenian: Տարբեր; English translation: "Different") is a song by Armenian teen singers Anahit Adamyan and Mary Vardanyan. It will represent Armenia during the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It is composed and written by Nick Egibyan and Avet Barseghyan, and produced by Anush Hovnanyan.

At Junior Eurovision

During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 14 November 2016, Armenia was drawn to perform second on 20 November 2015, following Ireland and preceding Albania.^[9]

The final was broadcast in Armenia on Armenia 1.

Final

Anahit and Mary were joined by a backstage group of four girls who were dancing around the duo throughout the whole performance of "Tarber".

Voting

During the press conference for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in Stockholm, the Reference Group announced several changes to the voting format for the 2016 contest. Previously, points had been awarded based on a combination of 50% National juries and 50% televoting, with one more set of points also given out by a 'Kids' Jury'. However, this year, points will be awarded based on a 50/50 combination of each country's Adult and Kids' Jury, to be announced by a spokesperson. For the first time since the inauguration of the contest the voting procedure will not include a public televote.^[10] Following these results, three expert jurors will also announce their points from 1–8, 10, and 12. These professional jurors are: Christer Björkman, Mads Grimstad, and Jedward.^[11]

Points awarded to Armenia[12][13][14] Score Adult and expert juries Kids juries 12 points  Serbia  Belarus  Bulgaria 10 points  Belarus  Israel  Jedward  Macedonia  Malta  Italy  Russia  Serbia 8 points  Christer Björkman  Bulgaria  Georgia  Georgia  Macedonia 7 points  Cyprus  Netherlands  Russia  Ireland  Malta 6 points  Albania  Netherlands 5 points  Mads Grimstad  Australia  Ukraine 4 points  Australia  Ireland  Cyprus 3 points 2 points  Ukraine 1 point

Points awarded by Armenia[12][13][14] Score Adult jury Kids jury 12 points  Georgia  Poland 10 points  Netherlands  Georgia 8 points  Bulgaria  Belarus 7 points  Belarus  Netherlands 6 points  Russia  Malta 5 points  Australia  Bulgaria 4 points  Malta  Albania 3 points  Ukraine  Russia 2 points  Poland  Cyprus 1 point  Italy  Italy

References

1. Adams, William Lee (23 November 2010). "Baby Gaga and Tributes to Mama at Junior Eurovision". Time. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
2. Siim, Jarmo (18 January 2011). "Armenia to host Junior Eurovision in 2011". European Broadcasting Union.
3. García, Belén (21 July 2016). "Armenia confirms participation at Junior Eurovision!". esc-plus.com. Esc-plus. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
4. "Musical duo to present Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2016". eurovision.am. ARMTV. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
5. García, Belén (10 August 2016). "Anahit & Mary to sing for Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2016!". esc-plus.com. Esc-plus. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
6. Jordan, Paul (28 October 2016). "Anahit and Mary will sing 'Tarber' for Armenia". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
7. "Anahit & Mary". escpedia.info. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
8. "About Anahit & Mary". junioreurovision,tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
9. Jordan, Paul (15 November 2016). "Final running order revealed!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
10. Jordan, Paul (13 May 2016). "Format changes for the Junior Eurovision 2016". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
11. Jordan, Paul (13 May 2016). "Jedward to appear at Junior Eurovision 2016!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
12. "Results of the Final of Valletta 2016". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
13. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 - Complete scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
14. "Whizz-kids, let's dive into the results!". www.junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2017.