The Eurovision Young Dancers 1997 was the seventh edition of the Eurovision Young Dancers, held at the Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia, Poland on 17 June 1997.[1] Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP), dancers from seven countries participated in the televised final. A total of thirteen countries took part in the competition. Latvia and Slovakia made their début while five countries (Austria, France, Norway, Russia and Switzerland) decided not to participate.[1] However, France, Switzerland, Norway and, for the first time Ireland, broadcast the event.

Eurovision Young Dancers 1997
Dates
Semi-final11 June 1997
Final17 June 1997
Host
VenueTeatr Muzyczny, Gdynia, Poland
Presenter(s)
Directed byDariusz Goczal
Executive producer
  • Barbara Trzeciak-Pietkiewicz
  • Malgorzata Jedynak-Pietkiewicz
Host broadcasterTelewizja Polska (TVP)
Websiteyoungdancers.tv/event/gdynia-1997 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries13
Debuting countries
Returning countries Estonia
Non-returning countries
  • frameless}}SpainGermanyPolandArmeniaKosovoBelarusSloveniaNorwayNetherlandsCzech RepublicSwedenUkrainePortugalFranceItalyBelgiumUnited KingdomDenmarkSwitzerlandAustriaSlovakiaCroatiaRomaniaGreeceBulgariaHungaryCyprusRussiaFinlandLatviaEstoniaCanada
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         Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi-final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1997
Vote
Voting systemA professional jury chose the finalists and the top 3 performances
Winning dancers Spain
Antonio Carmena San José
1995 ← Eurovision Young Dancers → 1999

The participant countries could send one or two dancers, male or female, who performed one or two dances. The semi-final took place six days before the final (11 June 1997).[1]

The non-qualified countries were, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Slovenia. Spain, with Antonio Carmena San José, won the contest for a 5th time (4th in a row) with Belgium and Sweden placing second and third respectively.[2]

Location

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Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia, before its major renovation (2008)

Teatr Muzyczny, a theatre in Gdynia, Poland, was the host venue for the 1997 edition of the Eurovision Young Dancers.[1]

Format

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The format consists of dancers who are non-professional and between the ages of 16–21, competing in a performance of dance routines of their choice, which they have prepared in advance of the competition. All of the acts then take part in a choreographed group dance during 'Young Dancers Week'.[3]

Jury members of a professional aspect and representing the elements of ballet, contemporary, and modern dancing styles, score each of the competing individual and group dance routines. Once all the jury votes have been counted, the two participants which received the highest total of points progress to a final round. The final round consists of a 90-second 'dual', were each of the finalists perform a 45-second random dance-off routine. The overall winner upon completion of the final dances is chosen by the professional jury members.[3]

Folk dance group "Bazuny" performed as the interval act.[1]

Results

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Preliminary round

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A total of thirteen countries took part in the preliminary round of the 1997 contest, of which seven qualified to the televised grand final. The following countries failed to qualify.[1]

Country Participant Dance Choreographer
  Cyprus Carolina Constantinou "La Bayadère" M. Petipa
  Estonia Mari Savitski "Don Quixote: Quitry Variations" M. Petipa
  Germany Valentina Scaglia "Le Conservatoire" H.S. Paulli and A. Bournonville
  Slovenia Ana Klasnja Pas de deux G. Balanchine
  Hungary Gabor Kapin "La Sylphide" A. Bournonville
  Greece Nefeli Markaki Pas de deux G. Balanchine

Final

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Awards were given to the top three countries. The table below highlights these using gold, silver, and bronze. The placing results of the remaining participants is unknown and never made public by the European Broadcasting Union.[2]

Draw Country Participant Dance Choreographer Result
01   Belgium Alain Honorez "The Sleeping Beauty" M. Petipa 2
02   Latvia Viktorija Jansone "Sleeping Beauty: Aurora's variation" M. Petipa -
03   Sweden Tim Matiakis "Paquita" M. Petipa 3
04   Finland Salla Suominen "Romeo and Juliet: Juliet's variation" E. Sylvestersen -
05   Slovakia Roman Lazik "La Sylphide" A. Bournonville -
06   Poland Magdalena Dzięgielewska and Bartosz Anczykowski "Paquita - Grand pas de deux" F. Capouste -
07   Spain Antonio Carmena San José "Angelitos Locos" J.C. Santamaría 1

Jury members

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The jury members consisted of the following:[1]

  •   Russia – Maya Plisetskaya (Head of Jury)
  •   Romania/  France – Gigi Caciuleanu
  •   Italy – Paola Cantalupo
  •   Poland – Katarzyna Gdaniec
  •   Germany – Uwe Scholz
  •   Sweden – Gösta Svalberg
  •    Switzerland – Heinz Spoerli

Broadcasting

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The 1997 Young Dancers competition was broadcast in 17 countries.[4] France, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland broadcast it in addition to the competing countries.

Broadcasters in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s)
  Belgium RTBF
BRTN
  Cyprus CyBC
  Estonia ETV
  Finland Yle
  Germany ZDF
  Greece ERT
  Hungary MTV
  Latvia LTV
  Poland TVP
  Slovakia STV
  Slovenia RTVSLO
  Spain TVE
  Sweden SVT1
Broadcasters in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s)
  France France 3
  Ireland RTÉ
  Norway NRK
   Switzerland SRG SSR

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Eurovision Young Dancers 1997: About the show". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Eurovision Young Dancers 1997: Participants". youngmusicians.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Eurovision Young Dancers - Format". youngdancers.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Eurovision Young Dancers 1997". Issuu. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
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