Liet International (), formerly Liet-Lávlut, is an international

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, solo (music), soloists, composers, conducting, conductors, musicologists or compositions. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are h ...

for songs in European

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

and

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority La ...

s. The inaugural edition took place on 28 April 2002 as a spin-off of the West Frisian-language song contest (), held annually in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

, Netherlands since 1991. Since 2006, Liet International has been held in a different city each year. The 2006 and 2008 editions, held in the Swedish part of

Sápmi is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, stretching over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Most of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle, boun ...

, were titled Liet-Lávlut ( is

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

for 'sing'). The contest was cancelled in 2007 and 2013 when the hosting organisations, in

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

respectively, backed out at a late stage, and in 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. No Liet International was held in 2005, 2015, 2016, 2019 or 2021. Due to its similarities to the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, the competition has been dubbed the 'Eurovision of minority languages'. It has been organised under the auspices of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

since 2008.

Overview

Past editions

2002

The first Liet International song contest was held on 28 April 2002 at in

, Netherlands, one day after the song contest. Both the jury and public awards were won by the Catalan band with the song "".

2003

The second Liet International contest was again held at De Harmonie in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, on 23 November 2003. Transjoik, a Sámi group from Norway, won the jury award with the song "Mijjajaa". The public award was won by Welsh-Cornish singer

Gwenno Saunders Gwenno Mererid Saunders (born 23 May 1981) is a Welsh-Cornish musician, known mononymously as Gwenno. She has released three critically acclaimed albums as a solo artist: Welsh Music Prize winner '' Y Dydd Olaf'' (2014); '' Le Kov'' (2018), her ...

with the song "Vodya".

2004

The third edition of the contest was held on 22 October 2004. The venue was once again De Harmonie in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Sámi singer

Niko Valkeapää Niko-Mihkal Valkeapää (born 30 December 1968) is a Finnish Sami people, Sami musician, joiker (Sami folk singer), teacher, actor and politician. Biography Born in Enontekiö, Finland, he has been described as "one of Sami music's foremost ...

won both the jury and the public award with the song "Rabas mielain". This was the second time in a row that the contest was won by the Sámi entry.

2006

Since

had won two out of the three competitions, the fourth edition was held in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

, Sweden. Sixty competitors, singing in twenty-five minority languages, took part in the preliminary elimination round. Eleven songs, representing eleven languages, were selected for the final competition. Although the winner was selected by a jury, the audience could also vote for their favourite entry via text messages and online voting. The Sámi duo Johan Kitti and Ellen Sara Bæhr won the competition with "Luđiin muitalan", sung in

Northern Sámi Northern Sámi or North Sámi ( ; ; ; ; ; disapproved exonym Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely spoken of all Sámi languages. The area where Northern Sámi is spoken covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Geographic distr ...

. The public award was won by Liza Pannetier with the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

song "Soleu Rouge".

2008

Liet-Lávlut 2008, the fifth edition of the contest, took place on 18 October 2008 at Kulturens hus in

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

, Sweden. Corsican singer Jacques Culioli won both the jury and public award with the song "Hosanna in excelsis".

2009

In January 2009, the board of the Liet Foundation decided to continue under the name Liet International. The sixth edition of the contest was held on 31 October 2009, returning to the De Harmonie theatre in

, Netherlands. The Finnish Sámi rock band Somby won the competition with the song "Ii iđit vel", sung in

. The public award was won by Dr. Drer & CRC posse from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, with the song "Apu biu".

2010

In 2010, Liet International was held in the Breton city of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, France. The contest was won by the Faroese band Orka with the song "Rúmdardrongurin". The public award went to the Friulian band R.esistence in Dub with the song "Fieste".

2011

The eighth Liet International was held on 19 November 2011 at the Teatro Giovanni da Udine in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, Italy, the historical capital of the region of

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

. The West Frisian singer Janna Eijer won the jury award with the song "Ien klap", while the band Coffeeshock Company from Austria won the public vote with "Gusla mi se je znicila", sung in

Burgenland Croatian Burgenland Croatian is a regional variety of the Chakavian dialect of Croatian language, Croatian spoken in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Burgenland Croatian is recognized as a minority language in the Austrian state of Bu ...

2012

The ninth edition of Liet International was held on 1 December 2012 at the Teatru de la Llaboral in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, Spain. Welsh-born Breton singer Lleuwen won the jury award with the song "Ar Gouloù Bev", while the public award went to Asturiana Mining Company with "Si nun conoces Vaḷḷouta".

2014

The tenth Liet International song contest was held on 12 December 2014 in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany. Italian singer Martina Iori won the jury award with the song "Via con mia mùsega", sung in Ladin. In this year, the audience award was replaced by a musicians' award voted on by the contestants themselves. The musicians' award was won by Aila-duo from Finland with the song "Naharij kandâ", sung in

Inari Sámi Inari Sámi may refer to: *Inari Sámi language *Inari Sámi people Inari or Aanaar Sámi (Inari Sámi language, Inari Sámi: ''anarâšah'') are a group of Sámi people who inhabit the area around Lake Inari, Finland. They speak the Inari Sámi l ...

2017

The eleventh Liet International song contest was scheduled to be held in late 2016 in

Kautokeino Kautokeino () may refer to: Places *Kautokeino Municipality (also known as: ), a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Kautokeino (village) , , or is the administrative centre of Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The vill ...

, Norway, the home of the

Sámi Grand Prix The Sámi Grand Prix, often abbreviated as SGP, is a Sámi yoik and song music competition, competition organized annually by the Sámi Music Festival organization (, ), featuring participants from all corners of Sápmi. While the majority o ...

. However, due to a lack of funds, the contest was postponed to 13 April 2017 and was held as part of the Sámi Easter Festival. For a second time in the history of the contest, a local singer,

Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen (born 25 April 1998) is a Sami musician, activist and actor from Tana Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. In 2016 she won the Sámi Grand Prix with her original song ''Luoddaearru'', and in 2017 she won Liet Inter ...

, won the contest with her song "Luoddaearru" (). She also won the musicians' award.

2018

The twelfth Liet International song contest was held on 23 May 2018 at the Neushoorn in

, Netherlands, as part of the

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

activities. The Rowan Tree won the jury award with the song "Tresor", sung in Cornish. The musicians' award was won by Galician singer Nastasia Zürcher with the song "Espertos".

2020

The thirteenth Liet International contest was due to be held on 3 and 4 April 2020 in

Aabenraa Aabenraa (; , ; South Jutlandic: ''Affenråe'', also known as Åbenrå) is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It ...

, Denmark, but was cancelled due to the

. A full list of participating acts had been released prior to the cancellation. It was decided that a non-competitive, online replacement show, entitled Liet International 2020+1, would be held on 8 October 2021 to celebrate the acts due to compete in the 2020 contest. Ten out of the twenty acts participated in Liet International 2020+1.

2022

The thirteenth Liet International contest was held on 13 May 2022 at the Schweizerhalle in

Tønder Tønder (; ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,477 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might have been in th ...

, Denmark. There were 13 competing entries, and the show was hosted by Stefanie Pia Wright and Niklas Freiberg Nissen. It featured the first competitive entries in South Jutlandic, Southern Schleswig Danish, and South Tyrolean German, as well as the first entry in North Frisian since the inaugural contest in 2002. It was the first contest since 2008 to not feature an entry from Scotland, and the first competitive edition to not feature a submission from the United Kingdom. Initially, the Russian band Juna were due to compete with the song "Takhetle konem" in the

Tatar language Tatar ( ; or ) is a Turkic languages, Turkic language spoken by the Volga Tatars mainly located in modern Tatarstan (European Russia), as well as Siberia. It should not be confused with Crimean Tatar language, Crimean Tatar or Siberian Tatar ...

, but they withdrew due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In their place, Israeli band Sofi and the Baladis competed with the song "Rebutalla", marking both the first time Israel was represented by an entry, the first entry from a country in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and the first entry in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, as well as the third entry from a non-European country (the first two being the entries representing Suriname). Early announcements also listed the Cornish band Brother Sea with the song "Trodhydhyek" as a participant, while the final listing contained Billy Fumey with "U Port Titi" instead. The jury award was won by Corsican singer Doria Ousset with the song "Roma". The audience award was won by Sardinian singer Emanuele Pintus with the song "Genia".

2024

The fourteenth Liet International contest was held on 22 November 2024 at the Centru Culturale Alb’oru in

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

, France. Eleven competing entries were chosen out of 30 submissions, including the first competitive entries in

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * Judeo-Spanish language (ISO 639–3 lad), spoken by Sephardic Jews *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especially in Guatemala * Black ladinos, a ...

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

, and

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

. It was the first contest since 2005 where the Sámi Grand Prix is not used as a national final for the contest, and the participant list announcement confirmed that it would be the first contest to not include an entry in any of the Sámi languages. The contest was broadcast live on France 3 Corse as well as online. Despite initial announcements of the participant list saying that there would be thirteen entries, and then later announcements saying there would be eleven entries, ten entries appeared in the show. Cornish song "Oll an dra" by Annie Baylis, and Aromanian song "Ti un lai dor" by Tumbe were originally announced as participating in the contest before being removed. The Sardinian song "Ita abarrat" by Su Maistu was included in the participant list, before being changed to "No dda infiu" by Luca Marcia. Additionally, the South Tyrolean German entry "Spaziern" by Robin's Haut was not present in the show, despite being announced as a participant.

Regional selections

The majority of Liet International contestants are chosen from applying artists by a selection committee. In addition, entries may be selected through regional song contests. Regional song contests that have served as a preselection for Liet International include: * ( West Frisian; 2002–present) *

(

Sámi languages The Sámi languages ( ), also rendered in English language, English as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Indigenous Sámi peoples in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwest ...

; 2006–present) * Nòs Ùr (

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

and Scots; 2008–2009) * ( Galician; 2008) * (minority languages of the Nordics and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

; 2008) * ( Asturian; 2009–2014) * (minority languages of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

; 2009–2014) * Romansh Song Contest ( Romansh; 2011) * Liet Corsica ( Corsican; 2012)

Selected entries

Language history

A total of fifty-nine languages have been represented at the contest at least once (counting the canceled 2020 edition). West Frisian is the only language to have appeared at every contest, as well as one of only two to have been represented by two different entries at the same contest (the other being Galician, and both occurred at the 2018 contest).

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

is the only region to be represented by two languages at the same contest, once again at the 2018 contest (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

and Scots). Two non-European language have appeared at the contest, being

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the popu ...

and

Samaritan Hebrew Samaritan Hebrew () is a reading tradition used liturgically by the Samaritans for reading the Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Hebrew language of the Samaritan Pentateuch. For the Samaritans, Ancient Hebrew ceased to be a spoken everyday language. It ...

. The

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

has participated the most, with regional entries in all every edition, while

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

have only missed one each. Languages representing

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

have each only appeared once.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

is the country with the most regional languages featured at the contest, totaling eight. Although many languages featured at the contest are recognized national or regional languages within their countries, only three featured languages (

, Irish, and

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

) are considered their countries' official or co-official language.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liet International 2002 establishments in the Netherlands Recurring events established in 2002 Folk music festivals Song contests Indigenous music festivals

Overview

Past editions

2002

2003

2004

2006

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2014

2017

2018

2020

2022

2024

Regional selections

Selected entries

Language history

See also

References

External links