From 1986 to 1989, the Dzintari Concert Hall in Jurmala hosted the All-Union Contest for Young Performers of Pop Songs. The contest was discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but in the early 2000s two famous composers, Igor Krutoy and Raimonds Pauls, came up with the idea of reviving the contest in Jurmala.
The first New Wave contest and festival was held from July 31 to August 4, 2002. It featured 15 young singers from Russian, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Israel, Bulgaria, and the United States. The winner was the Russian pop duo Smash!! consisting of Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Topalov.
The New Wave contest is open to young singers aged 16 to 35, including solo performers, duos and bands. Although it is officially a pop music contest, here are no genre restrictions. The applicants have to go through a series of preliminary selections. The contest itself lasts for six days, including thee contest days, two special event days, and the award ceremony followed by the gala concert.
The winners are selected by a jury comprised of accomplished music industry professionals from different countries. Many New Wave winners and participants have become popular in their country of origin, including Sergey Lazarev (Russia), Natalia Gordienko (Moldova), Jamala (Ukraine), Dima Bilan (Ukraine), Tina Karol (Ukraine), Polina Gagarina (Russia), and others. Two New Wave alumni, Dima Bilan and Jamala, went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest (in 2008 and 2016, respectively).
New Wave was held in Jurmala for more than a decade, but in 2015 it was decided to move the festival to the Russian city of Sochi due to a whole number of reasons, including the ban of several Russian singers to enter Latvia due to their support for the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
Photo: newwavestars.eu
