Best song about Universiade to be chosen on June 28

Authors of the best song will have an opportunity to shoot a video clip. It will be presented in the Universiade Park near the Farmers' Palace which is going to become the main stage during the Games from 4 to 17 July.

The Grand Prix winner will be chosen by the spectators through the SMS voting system during the live broadcast of the concert.

For the present moment, the jury have already indicated the contest winners in such categories as The Best Song About Kazan, The Best Song About the Universiade, Sports, You are Peace!, and MegaSong (a special category from the General Partner of the 27th Summer Universiade, MegaFon OAO).

During the contest period, the organising committee received 60 entries – songs in the Russian, English, and Tatar languages, written by authors from Tatarstan, Moscow, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Geneva and Munich.

The 15 finalist songs were included into the best contest works compilation to be released on the same day, June 28. CDs containing the selection will be distributed as gifts to the finalists and jury members.

The president of the jury is People's Artist of Russia, People's Artist of Ukraine, Honoured Art Worker of Russian Federation, famous composer Igor Krutoy. The panel includes Alexander Sladkovsky, Merited Artist of Russia, principal director of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan 2013 Ambassador; Renat Ibragimov, Soviet and Russian singer, producer, People's Artist of the RSFSR, People's Artist of the TASSR; Dilyara Vagapova, the front woman for the rock band Murakami, Kazan 2013 Ambassador; Radik Salimov, multi-instrumentalist, composer, member of the Union of Composers of the Republic of Tatarstan; Lyalya Garifullina, Director of the Sofia Gubaidullina Centre of Contemporary Music; and representatives of OAO MegaFon, the General Partner of the 27th Summer Universiade.

As we reported earlier, the Russia, Kazan, Universiade! Contest was launched in November 2012. Its goal is to create rich musical backgrounds for the grand sports festival.

The Cultural Universiade, within which the competition for the best song is held, is being implemented for the first time in the history of the World University Games, and includes a series of international cultural and art festivals. A significant share of the project belongs to events involving young performers from regions of Russia and from abroad.