Anastasia Vasadze won the sixth season of Ranina and will represent Georgia at Junior Eurovision 2023 in Nice, France on Sunday, November 26, 2023.
After ten weeks, four rounds, a semi-final and tonight’s Grand Final, the 11-year-old from Tbilisi will have the honor of representing the Caucasus nation.
Tonight’s Grand Final featured five contestants following last week’s unusual move to progress all Semi-Finalists to the Final, though Vasadze, who performed fifth this evening with her rendition of “What made me human”, prevailed over strong competitors in Anastasia Berishvili, Soso Chachua, Tako Tomashvili, and Gabriel Lomsadze.
The Grand Final’s judging panel was comprised of Sopho Toroshelidze, the lead vocalist of Eurovision 2011 ninth-placed group Eldrine who was also a coach on this season’s The Voice of Georgia which picked Iru Kchechanov for Eurovision 2023, and famed Georgian jazz singer Nato Metonidze and Shavnabada ensemble leader Dato Tsintsadze.
In a post before the Final, Ranina advised that David Evgenidze, the Georgian composer, would miss being the judge for the Grand Final due to illness.
Information about the song that Vasadze will perform in Nice will be revealed later.
Last year’s winner Mariam Bigvava, who presented the Ranina trophy to Vasadze, posted Georgia’s best result since 2017 and in the Ranina era by coming in 3rd with “I Believe.” Georgia came in 2nd with the Jury vote, though 12th with the online vote.
Georgia holds the most Junior Eurovision wins, having taken the trophy in 2008, 2011, and 2016.
Do #YOU think Anastasia Vasadze can deliver a great result for Georgia? Or do #YOU think Ranina should have selected one of her rivals? Let us know in the comments below, on social media, or in our forum.
