Svante Stockselius, the man in charge of all the Eurovision contests, has traveled to Belarus to review their plans for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010. According to him, Belarus is not only perfectly prepared to host the JESC, but also the senior edition - Eurovision. It was their intense preparation that led Belarus to be chosen as host for 2010 over Russia and Malta. He has visited the Minsk Arena, where the contest will be held and has deemed it very suitable for hosting such a large contest. As it is a new building, they should not suffer the same technical problems organisers found in Kiev.

The EBU does not want more than 18 countries in JESC, instead preferring to keep it small and personal... although perhaps not quite as small as the bakers dozen we saw in 2009. They want to focus on the children enjoying their performance, eliminating the rush and pressure of the adult contest. They will send the five remaining invitations to all EBU countries in March, who will then have until May to enter.

Deputy President of the Belarusian Teleradiocompany Alexander Martynenko says:
“We are in active negotiations with UNICEF about possible partnership. With UNICEF’s aid we plan to invite famous ambassadors of good will for holding master classes. The Swedish television will be our partners for setting the stage. Apart from that, a special team of professionals recruited from EBU member-states will help stage the show. These professionals have taken part in arranging all the Eurovision contests."

According to Esckaz, the age limit for JESC will stay as 10-15. The show will take place on Saturday, November 20th, not the Sunday as was rumoured. Also, and this is exciting news - Belarus will invite all previous JESC winners to Minsk! Should they accept, we will see Dino, Maria Isabel, Kseniya, the Tolmachevy Twins, Alexey, Bzikebi and Ralf! There will be a documentary filmed on their lives since winning, where they are now. I'd say it is likely at least Kseniya, Alexey and the twins will appear, and Bzikebi appeared at Belarus national selection 2009 so they are also a good bet.

Sources: Belarus Telegraph Agency, Esckaz