On Friday and Saturday 3 and 4 April 2020 Apenrade/Aabenraa will host the 13th edition of European minority language song contest Liet International, the song contest for singers and bands who sing in a European regional or minority language, since 2002. After twelve previous editions in Friesland, Swedish Sápmi, Brittany/Breizh in France, Udin/Udine in Italy, Xixón/Gijón in Spain, Oldenburg in the northern part of Germany, Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino in Norway and Ljouwert/Leeuwarden in Friesland, Liet International will visit Denmark for the first time.
Liet International 2020 is a special edition, due to the fact that the border between Denmark and Germany exists 100 years in 2020. Several activities are being organised to celebrate this anniversary as well as the 100th birthday of the German Minority in Nordschleswig/Denmark. Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger (BDN) – the umbrella organisation of the German Minority in Denmark – is looking forward to host Liet International 2020 and to celebrate its anniversary with this great event.
Because of the year 2020 20 acts are invited to travel to Denmark. They will all perform on Friday 3 April. The jury picks 10 acts for the big final on Saturday 4 April.
Therefor the organisation calls upon bands, singers and cultural organisations throughout Europe to submit their new songs in a regional or minority language for the 13th edition of our song contest. The song contest will this year consist of 20 singers or bands who represent European regions where a minority language is being spoken and sung. Bands or artists are invited to send in newly composed music and lyrics in any of the lesser used, regional or minority languages in Europe until 31 October 2019. The organisation of Liet International 2020 aims to announce the selection of the songs for Liet International 2020 by the end of November 2019.
In previous contests, we have had songs in languages such as Arbëresh, Asturian, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Cornish, Corsican, Faroese, Frisian, Friulian, Gaelic, Galician, Karelian, Low German, Manx, Meänkieli, Mordvinian, North Frisian, Occitan, Romani, Sámi, Sorbian, Udmurtian, Vepsian, Votian and Welsh. The last edition in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden was won by the Cornish band The Rowan Tree. The musicians award was won by Galician Nastasia Zürcher.
The winner of the Frisian song contest Liet 2019 (15 November 2019) and a contestant representing the German minority in Denmark are automatically selected for participation in Liet International 2020. This means that there are 18 open places for all other minority languages of Europe. The selection process is done by a small and completely independent selection jury in the first part of November. Qualification criteria for the committee are the following: quality and uniqueness of song and music, linguistic, geographical and musical diversity, gender and age. The lyrics ánd music should be new or newly written and composed.
The singers/groups chosen will be invited to take part in the contest. Liet International encourages participants to seek financial support for the travel expenses from the nation they represent, or seek other possibilities. The organisation only takes care of accommodation and meals.
The panel of judges comprises of a selection of experts on music and regional and minority languages. It is also our intention to arrange a live broadcast on the radio and/or the internet. We also intend to register the event for television. The song contest has become one of the largest events for the promotion of minority languages and usually attracts a lot of media attention.
To apply for Liet International 2020, you can fill out the application form on our website (https://liet-international.com/). The deadline for your application is 31 October 2019. Only fully completed applications are taken into consideration by the selection jury. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to lietinternational@gmail.com.