With preparations for Junior Eurovision in full swing, everyone at Armenian Public Television is excited about the surprises and ideas floating around in the last 80 days leading up to the big event on December 3rd.

Public TV's Gohar Gasparyan recently met with newly appointed Junior Eurovision supervisor Sietse Bakker in Yerevan to discuss his thoughts about the upcoming event.

Bakker has been back and forth to Armenia several times to monitor the preparations. When asked how he felt the preparations were coming along, he was very pleased. "I think everything so far is going really well, it's going all on schedule," said Bakker. "I think we're up for a great show in December." Each year, the hosting country for Eurovision Song Contest does its best to out-do previous hosting countries, adding creative touches and memorable surprises. Bakker feels that Armenia is giving its own touch and feeling to the show. "I think that what we will see on the third of December is the best that Armenia can do, so I am very excited about it." In response to the number of participating countries, Bakker was optimistic. "Well of course, there is still space for more. We are talking with other countries to join… But it looks that as of now, 14 will be the number of countries we will see." Bakker shared his enthusiasm about the "hospitality" of Armenians and his certainty about the excitement of the delegations to have this "great opportunity to get to know a new place." Each year, the stage design for Eurovision is kept a big secret until the day of the show. When asked his thoughts about the Yerevan stage, Bakker laughed, "all I can say is that if you like the logo, you'll like the stage." The rest, he said, will be kept a surprise for as long as possible. Bakker joked that his favorite country this year is "definitely Armenia, because you have the noble task of hosting Junior Eurovision." But in reality, he explained that everyone at EBU has to be independent, and that he feels all the participants this year are hard-working and amazing. Bakker's final wishes to Armenian Public Television and Armenia were "a lot of strength and energy, and hopefully a good sleep at night." The preparations are a lot of hard work, especially now that new issues are coming up at every moment, and it's time to "complete the puzzle." He assured, however, that the EBU and Junior Eurovision staff are here to help us, and the fans' endless support is evident on the Internet.