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Wearing a popular European soccer club’s red & blue jersey and singing an upbeat fan tune, Armenia’s entry in this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be hoping she can win the hearts of Europe’s music-loving audience and, probably, draw support from the Spanish La Liga grand side’s followers.

Luara Hayrapetyan, 12, a native of Astrakhan in Russia, is representing Armenia at the song contest in Kiev, Ukraine, on Saturday. She will be singing, in Armenian, about goals, shots and soccer dreams – in short about her and her brother’s favorite team Barcelona.

The plot of the song that has already become popular with many listeners, including in online song charts, was born when the Hayrapetyan family was watching last season’s Champions League final featuring Manchester United and Barcelona. As Luara said later, her whole family jumped up shouting “Goal, Barcelona!” when celebrating a Catalonian winner. (You can listen to the song here: http://www.junioreurovision.tv/event/artistdetail?song=24743&event=1483)

The song (authored and performed by Luara) was picked from among seven short-listed entries in the main national qualification round in July. Now the 12-year-old and nine members of her Armenia team have left for Kiev to try their luck in the contest’s grand finale that features 13 countries (participants aged 10-15).

It is the third time Armenia is participating in a Junior Eurovision event. The trail-blazer, Arevik group, in 2007 nearly brought Armenia the first place in a close runoff with Belarus. Monika Manucharova finished eighth last year.

This year Armenia is for the first time represented by an Armenian participant living abroad. Luara, a citizen of Armenia, lives in Astrakhan, southern Russia. She, however, also spends a lot of time in Kapan, Armenia, and takes saxophone, vocal and dance classes.

Head of the Do Re Mi center that Luara has attended sees a great potential in the commencing singer.

“She is a strong kid, with both good vocal and artistic qualities. I am confident of her strength, even though I haven’t heard the rest of the participants perform,” said Nadezhda Sargsyan in a recent interview with RFE/RL’s MaxLiberty program.

The choice of an upbeat song about FC Barcelona, arguably the world’s most popular soccer club, might also be instrumental in winning votes from a diverse European audience.

In contests like this, Armenia traditionally expects support from Diasporas in different European countries that will get a chance to support participants in tele-voting. It is generally believed, however, that unlike the competition of the adults, Junior Eurovision contests tend to be less about “politics” and “ethnic votes” than about good vocals and performance.

Diana Mnatsakanyan, a special programs advisor at Armenian Public Television H1, said during one of the recent Eurovision preview programs that the Armenian entry is currently among the top three songs according to different online charts.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast on Armenian Public TV H1, beginning at 11.15 pm (Yerevan time) Saturday night. Luara Hayrapetyan and five teenage dancers accompanying her performance will be the third among 13 participants to appear on stage.