The Voice Kids winner Júlia Machado will represent Portugal at the upcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Nice in November. The 12-year-old singer has been selected as the country’s representative after winning the fourth season of the TV series which has been used to select Portugal’s entry for the contest since 2021.
She will follow in the footsteps of last year’s entrant for Portugal, Nicolas Alves, who finished in eighth place in the contest held in Yerevan with his song “Anos 70”. So far, Júlia is the third artist to be announced for this year’s contest following North Macedonia’s Tamara Grujeska and Georgia’s Anastasia Vasadze.
From The Voice Kids to the stage in Nice
Since returning to the contest in 2021, Portugal has used The Voice Kids as their selection process for the contest with the winner progressing to Junior Eurovision. Winner Júlia Machado was coached by singer-songwriter and former The Voice Portugal winner Fernando Daniel, who also coached 2021 representative Simão Oliveira.
With three judges turning their chair for Júlia in the blind auditions, where she performed “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, she joined singer Aurea’s team. However, Fernando later ‘stole’ Júlia in the battles stages. After this, she progressed through the live shows and won the grand final, where she performed Adele’s “Hello”, “Casa” with coach Fernando Daniel and “Part of Your World” again for the public vote.
Currently studying at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, Júlia lives in New Jersey. With her participation in the contest now announced, work will now begin on Júlia’s entry which will be revealed in due course.
Portugal in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Making their Junior Eurovision debut in 2006, Portugal has competed in the contest seven times, having taken an extended break from the contest between 2008 and 2016 and on one more occasion, in 2020. Pedro Madeira represented Portugal on their debut appearance with “Deixa-me sentir” finishing in 14th place with 22 points.
Their best, and also most recent, placing in the contest came in 2022. Nicolas Alves took Portugal to the top ten of the junior contest for the first time in Yerevan last year with his entry “Anos 70”. The entry placed in eighth place with 121 points, with 70 points coming from the online vote in which Portugal finished in joint fourth place.
Are you excited to see Júlia on the Junior Eurovision stage in Nice? Let us know by leaving a comment below! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite ESC and JESC acts.
