Yesterday evening, the Armenian entry for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest was selected in a national final out of nine contenders. In the end, according to the song contest’s official website, Eva Rivas convinced the jury and the TV public. She will represent her home country in Oslo with Apricot Stone.

The Armenian national final was broadcast live from the National Opera Theatre in Yerevan tonight, and it was presented by Gohar Gasparyan and Khoren Levonyan. The show was opened by Inga and Anush, who had represented Armenia in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.



Before the competing acts performed, Lys Assia, the winner of the first ever Eurovision Song Contest, in 1956, took the stage and wished all the participants the best of luck. Initially, ten songs had been selected for the final, but the song Never, performed by Sonya, was withdrawn from the competition, thus only nine entries remain. The winner was picked by a combined vote of the TV public (SMS voting) and an expert jury. This is the final result (in order of appearance):

1. Another Story - Ays Dzmer
2. Ani Arzumanyan - The Mermaid Song
3. Meline Beglaryan - We Must Believe
4. Emmy & Mihran - Hey (Let Me Hear You Say)
5. Davit Ashotyan - Infected Dreams
6. Nick Egibyan - Countdown
7. Maria Kizirian - Little Red Riding Hood
8. Razmik Amyan - My Love
9. Eva Rivas - Apricot Stone

Several entries of last night’s final featured elaborate stage performances. Ani Arzumanyan was supported by a folk choir, while Emmy & Mihran were accompanied by a modern dance group, whose choreography was a tribute to Michael Jackson. The stage act to Apricot Stone started with a musician in a black coat playing the duduk, a traditional Armenian flute, and during the song, Eva Rivas was accompanied by the composer of the song on the piano.

During the interval act, Andre, the Armenian representative in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, performed, as well as Sirusho, who had reached the fourth place in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with Qélé Qélé. In the end, Eva Rivas convinced both the jury and the public with her Apricot Stone, the lyrics of which show her strong feelings towards her Armenian homeland. Thus, she will represent Armenia in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.

During this year’s Eurovision contest, Armenia will be participating in the second semi-final, which will take place on May 27. Also competing on that day are Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Lithuania, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Cyprus, Romania and Israel.