Armenia are absolutely one of the strongest nations at Junior Eurovision, having never finished outside of the Top 10 since their debut in 2007. Furthermore, they have won the contest, finished in second place a total of four times, and third twice – it’s not a bad record! This year, Karina Ignatyan will be representing the nation with the song Colours of Your Dream, but will it continue Armenia’s Junior Eurovision success?
Song + Vocals
The Armenian entry this year was selected through a national final, and upon Karina winning the national final, I didn’t give too much attention to this song. I continued to hear it in snippets on YouTube, and only recently have I started to really listen to the entire song. The song has definitely grown on me in that time, and I see its potential at the contest more than I had previously.
Much like many of the Armenian entries at Junior Eurovision, the song features a strong cultural identity, but the song still feels fresh. The nation loves an upbeat entry at Junior Eurovision, and they really know how to create catchy melodies. The song feels suitable for a younger audience, but yet also appeals to the older viewers like myself. Colours of Your Dream opens strong with some impressive vocals, and as the beat kicks in, the melody starts to shine. The chorus is by far the catchiest part of the song, and it’s what will remain in your head well after the song has ended.
The entry features both English and Armenian, which is common across the Armenian entries, and in fact most of the Junior Eurovision entries nowadays, but occasionally the switch between the two languages can seem forced. That isn’t the case in this song, and the switch between Armenian and English feels natural. There’s just enough English to capture the meaning of the song, and for the remainder of the three minutes, we get to enjoy the Armenian language.
Since this was performed during a national final, we know what to expect vocally, and Karina can definitely pull it off.
Act + Performance
What is great about this entry is that they have managed to really create an identity across the national final, to the music video, and I would assume that the themes and choreography will be also used at Junior Eurovision. With that said, the national final performance was already Junior Eurovision worthy, but if they elevate the quality for the contest, I suspect it will be one of the best stage performances of the night.
Karina is a confident performer who engages naturally with the choreography, and does it so elegantly. She comes across as bright and positive, and matched with the song, I think it will be incredibly uplifting to watch on screen.
Conclusions
I definitely underrated this previously, but now I wouldn’t be surprised to see Armenia back in the Top 5. In fact, I would be quite surprised if they weren’t in the Top 5. The song is great, the stage show is likely to be very good, and Karina is a confident performer – all these things will certainly add up to points, and a lot of them.
Rating
8/10
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