Eurovision Young Musicians tune up in Cologne

Fourteen of Europe's finest young instrumentalists will be fine-tuning their performances this weekend as they prepare to compete in EUROVISION's classical music contest for under 19s, starting on Monday.

Eurovision Young Musicians, which has aired every two years since 1982, will this year be contested in Cologne, Germany. The preliminary rounds can be watched live online at www.youngmusicians.tv on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 May, between 1400 and 1630 CET.

The Grand Final will take place live from the Roncalliplatz, outside the majestic Cologne Cathedral, on Saturday 31 May at 2000 CET.

This years Young Musicians are from Austria; Croatia; Czech Republic; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Malta; Moldova; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Slovenia and Sweden.

Under several format changes, the virtuosos will now be vying for first, second and third places, which carry 10,000, 7,000 and 3,000-euro prizes respectively. The top spot also earns a chance to perform with one of the worlds most highly acclaimed orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic.

Eurovision Young Musicians Executive Supervisor, Vladislav Yakovlev, said everything had been done to create a more open competition with greater overall appeal.

"In the past, half the contestants were eliminated after the preliminary rounds but, for the first time, all the musicians will also perform live in the televised Grand Final, on Saturday night, he said.

Each performer is required to play long pieces in the initial stages of the competition, but their Grand Final performances must last no longer than five minutes.

EUROVISION Head of Television, Bettina Brinkmann, said the changes made for a fairer and more balanced spectacle: "We wanted to enable all 14 young musicians to show off their talent to the largest audience possible. We have made the Grand Final performances shorter, yet the contestants will still have plenty of time to shine.

In another break with tradition, all the musicians will unite in the Grand Final to perform a piece written especially for the event by British Composer Martin Adair who also wrote for the Eurovision Young Dancers competition in Gdansk in 2013.

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