Eurovision Young Musicians comes to Cologne

29 August 2016 at 14:00 CEST
This week rehearsals for the 18th Eurovision Young Musicians begin in Cologne, Germany. The live final takes place at 20:00 on Saturday 3rd September. The contest, which has taken place every two years since 1982, will see San Marino make its debut this year. Like the Eurovision Song Contest, the event is a competition between members of the European Broadcasting Union. The 2014 contest, also hosted in Cologne, was won by Austria which is the reigning champion of the competition with five victories to date.

Each participating country is represented by a musician who performs of piece of classical music of their choice, up to six minutes long, accompanied by an orchestra. This year 11 musicians from around Europe will compete for the title of Eurovision Young Musician 2016. Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the winner is decided solely by a jury of international experts and the winning country does not necessarily host the following edition of the competition. 

Austria has hosted the show six times in total, followed by Germany which has staged the event three times. Portugal and Poland are the only countries never to have hosted the Eurovision Song Contest but staged Eurovision Young Musicians, in 1994 and 1996 respectively.

Participating countries in 2016:

  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Malta
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • San Marino
  • Slovenia
  • Sweden 

The 2016 edition of Eurovision Young Musicians will take place in Cologne on Saturday 3rd September and be produced by German public broadcaster WDR in collaboration with the EBU. The live show will be hosted by German TV personality Tamina Kallert and British violinist Daniel Hope. For more information and to watch the show online visit the official website.