Today rehearsals for Junior Eurovision 2024 kicked off in Madrid. Countries rehearsing on Day 1 include Georgia, Italy, Cyprus, Albania, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, North Macedonia and Spain. The seventh country to rehearse today is Armenia’s Leo.
What did we learn about Leo’s staging?
Disclaimer: Please note that the EBU has not released footage from the first rehearsals, and that the description detailed in this article is mainly based from the pictures and if available footage from the delegations themselves.
Leo brings us a lot of colour and movement with his staging. There are four dancers in shiny reflective clothing, and from the photos they’re all moving a lot – the background features a stylised rainbow, a planet with a ring, and all sorts of other delights.
If you are interested in seeing more pictures from Leo’s first rehearsal today, you can look through them right here.
Who is Leo?
Leo Mkrtchyan, known mononymously at Junior Eurovision, is ten years old and was raised in a family of singers. His taste, influenced by his family, leans towards musicians like Frank Sinatra and Justin Timberlake. He looks up to Armenia’s 2021 entrant, and Junior Eurovision winner, Maléna, and hopes to win the contest himself. Outside of music, he enjoys playing football and reading.
Leo beat out over 100 other applicants to be Armenia’s internal selection this year. AMPTV announced him as the representative on September 28th; his song, “Cosmic Friend”, was released on DATE. Leo was selected by an expert focus group consisting of both local and international industry professionals.
Albania’s Junior Eurovision Journey
Armenia is one of the most successful countries in Junior Eurovision. The Caucasian nation first took part in 2007 and finished in second place, with “Erazanq” performed by Arevik. Following this, Armenia has scored eleven top-five results – including two wins in 2010, when Vladimir Arzumunyan triumphed in Minsk with his song “Mama”. They won the contest again in 2021, in Paris. when Maléna represented them with her song “Qami, Qami”
In 2023, Yan Girls represented Armenia with their song “Do It My Way”. At the close of voting in Nice, Yan Girls placed third after earning 180 points, 116 of these came from the national juries, while the other 64 points came from the online voting.
Are you looking forward to seeing Armenia at Junior Eurovision in Madrid? As always, let us know what you think by commenting down below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Junior Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU
That Eurovision Site 
Tim J