Georgian Girl, 10, Wins Junior Eurovision 2016

Georgia's representative in the 2016 Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC), ten year old Mariam Mamadashvili, was declared winner of the famous contest on November 20.

The 14th edition of JESC was held in Malta. The final took place in Valletta’s Mediterranean Conference Center on Sunday, where Mariam sang a song called Mzeo (the Sun) and earned 239 points.

In total, the representatives of 17 countries took part in the contest.

A representative from Armenia came in second, followed by a participant from Italy.

The winner was chosen by a professional jury and a children’s jury through voting.

This is the third time Georgia has won the contest.

Georgia won its first victory at the JESC in 2008 when group Bzikebi (Wasps) won the first place in Limassol, Cyprus.

Afterwards, in 2011, girl band Candy won the contest with their song Candy Music.

This year’s winner, Mariam Bibilashvili, has been performing since she was four years old and since 2015 has been studying at the Broadway Method Academy in the United States.

Mariam's song for 2016, Mzeo, was written by Giga Kukhianidze and Maka Davitaia. The main message of the song is love; a call to love each other, love nature and love the world we live in.

Mariam has watched Junior Eurovision since 2010. For her, the competition represents "color, joy and happiness."

The first Junior Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen (Denmark) on 15 November 2003 and was an instant international hit. Since then it has taken place in Lillehammer (Norway), Hasselt (Belgium), Bucharest (Romania), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Limassol (Cyprus), Kyiv (Ukraine) twice, Minsk (Belarus), Yerevan (Armenia), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and Valetta (Malta).

By Thea Morrison

Photo & Video: Mariam Mamadashvili. Source: junioreurovision.tv / youtube.com