DUSHANBE, September 1, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- A 19-year-old Tajik singer Tahmina Niyozova has been awarded a grand prize of the “Five Stars: Intervision” contest that was held in Sochi, Russia on August 28-30. 

The ward ceremony for winners of the contest and gala concert was held on August 31  

It is the fourth “Five Stars: Intervision” organized by Russia’s TV Channel One.  This year, the contest''s format has been changed slightly – starting from 2008 this song contest is open not only for Russian contestants but also for participants from other CIS states.  This year, representatives of eleven countries, including Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine participated in the contest.

Each country sent one delegate and the winner of the competition was announced via short SMS voting.    

The jury consisted of the representatives of participating countries and famous figures in the sphere of art.  Among them are Josef Kobzon (Russia) – head of the jury, Robert Amirhanyan (Armenia), Qudratullo Hikmatov (Tajikistan), Yerulan Kanapyanov (Kazakhstan), Yan Tabachnik (Ukraine), Ivar Kalnynsh (Latvia), Alexander Tihanovich (Belarus), Nelly Chobanu (Moldova), Polad Bul-Bul Oglu (Azerbaijan), Aktam Isanbaev (Kyrgyzstan), and Rovshen Nepesov (Turkmenistan).

Based on the results of the SMS voting, the jury awarded the grand prize to Tahmina Niyozova.  Since Tajikistan’s contestant won this year’s competition, the next contest will be held in Tajikistan in 2009.

On the results of the SMS voting of the first and the second days, Tahmina was ranked 2nd, following the Russian group Quadro.  On the last third day of the contest, Tahmina sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero” and with 216 points she took the place, leaving behind the Russian group Quadro (215).