On December 14, the singing competition First Voice was held in the Youth Hall in Koprivnica. Due to the corona virus pandemic, the competition was realized in a specific, so-called, hybrid way. The participants from Koprivnica participated in the competition live, while the participants from Hévíz participated via live video stream. The organizer of the competition was the City of Koprivnica, and the project partner is the Municipality of Hévíz.

Before the start of the competition, the Deputy Mayer, Ksenija Ostriž, said a few words to the participants and the audience, wishing everyone good luck and success. Via Zoom, the Mayor of Hévíz, József Kepli, also addressed everyone. Ana Mlinarić, the head of the Department for social services and Antonija Bedeković, program and communication manager of INTERREG V-A Program of cross border cooperation Hungary-Croatia 2014-2020 also came to watch the competition.

The main premise of the First Voice competition was to provide talented young people and children, children who love music and singing, a chance to exhibit their talents and capabilities, and to connect with other people through music, but also to feel the competitive spirit.

Before the actual competition, the participants had a month-long preparation, and each partner organized singing lesson in their own town, led by professional singers. Croatian participants were prepared by music teacher Darija Kivač, and the Hungarian participants by teachers Balázs Árpádné and Holczerné Szabó Ágnes.

Every participant sang one song in front of the panel of judges, in English, Croatian or Hungarian. The panel of judges consisted of: Martina Đurđević, the president of the panel, Gordana Evačić, Mihael Bogčev and Eric Vidović.

During the preparations for the competition, the Croatian and Hungarian participants had a task to learn about the beauties of Croatian and Hungarian language through music. The Croatian participants had the task to learn a Hungarian song Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt, and the Hungarian participants learned Čula jesam. Both songs will be performed during the intermission of the competition.

The intermission also featured students of Primary School „Braća Radić“ who sang a song Bratec Martin in Croatian and Roma language, prepared by their teacher Vesna Mlinarić. A student of Art School „Fortunat Pintarić“, Lucija Turk, had a piano performance.

The competition was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the city of Koprivnica on: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZhIH7bpkqEI_gtkbYAv3w. This enabled the broad public to watch the competition as well. 

All participants won by only participating in the competition, but the main prize, a statue of a treble clef – and art work designed and made specifically for this occasion by an artist sculptor Dragutin Ciglar Leo, went to Nikoletta Endrődi, who sang the song Anyone by Demi Lovato. The winner and the participant also received small gifts for participation. The prizes were presented by Ana Mlinarić, the head of the Department for social services. The main prize, with all other prizes, will be sent to Hévíz.

The singing competition First Voice is a good example of how music knows no bounds and it is truly a universal language we all understand and fell.

“This event has been realized with the financial assistance of the European Union. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of City of Koprivnica and Municipality of Hévíz and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union and/or the Managing Authority.”