First, they all go through a preliminary stage, sending phonograms and videos to the jury. And then its winners meet in the final. And every year, contestants from new countries appear among the finalists. This will be the case at the Road to Yalta 2024 festival, where vocalists from Slovenia, Cyprus, Madagascar and even Congo will now make their debut.

“This time, 14 solo performers and one duet will come to us from Germany, Greece, Egypt, Indonesia, Italy, Cyprus, China, Congo, Madagascar, Mongolia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, France”.

And they added that “many songs will be performed at the festival for the first time: “Holy War”, “Alyosha”, “A young sailor is going on leave”, “Farewell of a Slav”, “Nightingales”, “Eaglet”, “We don’t need to feel sorry for us” and others .

Festival program

On April 28, in the semi-finals, each of the contestants will sing their favorite song (some even study Russian all year just for this). And their duets with popular Russian artists are scheduled for the final on May 1.

It is expected that they will be Zara, Yaroslav Sumishevsky, Denis Maidanov, Kai Metov, as well as “Road to Yalta” newcomers: Yuta, Dmitry Dyuzhev, Margarita Lisovina and Alexandra Vorobyova.

There are new people on the jury: rock musician Alexander F. Sklyar and German singer Tino Eisbrenner. The names of the rest are already familiar and known: Lev Leshchenko, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Mikhail Kovalchuk, Denis Maidanov, Vadim Volchenko, Zara and Kai Metov.

At the same time, “The Road to Yalta” will continue the tradition that appeared last year: the performance of the song by a contestant with a Russian war correspondent covering the actions in the Special Operation Zone. And this year, military correspondent Nikolai Dolgachev was invited to the festival.

Direct speech

Ernest Matskevichyus, artistic director of the “Road to Yalta” festival:

– Tino Eisbrenner, who took second place in 2023 with the song “Cranes,” will be present at this festival as a guest and honorary member of the jury. We value this human acquisition very much. He is an excellent performer, he has an original bard style, very sincere, which does not leave you indifferent. And he translates our Russian songs into German – Vysotsky, Vizbor, Okudzhava. And he performs them in Germany. Such an incredible educator, our ambassador, who brings the good news of our festival throughout Germany.

Tino was inspired by our idea! And, by the way, he helped us in choosing a German performer who is participating in the competition program of the festival this season and who – this is no longer a secret – will sing “Song of the Earth” by Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky.