International contest "New Wave 2003" opens in Latvia

On Wednesday the Dzintari concert hall in the Latvian resort city of Yurmala will host the opening of the international contest of young pop artists "Novaya Volna 2003" /New Wave 2003/. The contest will last five days and close on August 3rd.

16 singers from 13 countries - Armenia, Great Britain, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Sweden and Estonia, will take part in the final. Russia is represented by Vadim Azarkh, Anastasiya Stotskaya and the Radio-cafe project.

On the first day of the competition, July 31st, the participants will perform a world hit of the 1990s they chose themselves. On the second day they will sing a retro hit of their country, and on the third, a song written especially for the contest.

Their performances will be judged by a jury comprising composers Igor Krutoi and Raimond Pauls /the jury's co-chairmen and the contest's creators/, popular Russian artists, world famous guitar player Al Di Meola, producer Seymour Stein who discovered Madonna, representatives of the Sony and Universal companies. The winner will receive the Crystal Wave prize, as well as $25,000.

All concerts of the contest will be broadcast live by the Russian First TV Channel and Latvian television. Last year the audience of the New Wave amounted to over 50 million people.