Georgia’s Junior Eurovision Journey so far

Next November 25th, Minsk Arena will host the sixteenth Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It will be the second time that the event takes place in the venue in Belarus’s capital. With Ukraine’s last minute confirmation, a record-breaking 20 countries will participate. Therefore, it is the perfect time to look back at the journeys of all of this year’s participating countries in the contest. Today, let’s in fact take a look at the journey of the most successful country at the contest : Georgia!

Quick facts

Country: Georgia
Broadcaster: GPB
Debut appearance: 2007
Number of participations: 11
Highest finish: 1st (2008, 2011, 2016)
Lowest finish: 11th (2014)

Back to the very beginning…

Georgia made its Junior Eurovision debut back in 2007. The first to fly the country’s flag at the contest was Mariam Romelashvili with her song “Odelia Ranuni“. She finished in 4th place with 116 points, giving her country a good start to a successful Junior Eurovision journey.

Georgia’s journey so far

Since debuting in 2007, Georgia hasn’t missed out on a single contest and has enjoyed great results. In fact, the country holds the record for most victories, being the only country that won three times. Georgia first won in 2008 with Bzikekb and their song “Bzz..“, then again in 2011 with Candy’s “Candy Music” and finally in 2016 with Mariam Mamadashvili and her song “Mzeo“. Besides, they also came second twice in 2012 with Funkids and 2017 with Grigol Kipshidze. They also only missed out on being in the top 10 once in 2014 with 2017’s host Lizi Pop. Georgia also hosted the Junior Eurovision in 2017 in its capital Tbilisi, the first time the country hosted a Eurovision-related event. Their entrant, Grigol Kipshidze, narrowly missed out on giving Georgia its fourth victory, finishing second just 4 points shy of the trophy.

Looking ahead to 2018

Georgia is one of the two countries (together with Russia) that has already selected its entrant for Minsk. After winning the selection show “Ranina“, 13-year-old singer Tamar Edilashvili will fly Georgia’s flag in Minsk. Although the entrant is known, the song is not. As we reported back in July, Georgia’s broadcaster is accepting song submissions until September 1st. Keep checking ESCXTRA for more information on Georgia’s song when it is known!

My favourite Georgian entry

Although I only watched the contest for the first time in 2017, I knew all of Georgia’s winning songs. After listening to all the past ones, I have to say I am quite impressed with their repertoire. Take away 2008 (how did that “song” manage to win???), 2010 and 2015 and I like all their entries. Picking my favourite was a fierce re-listening battle between 2011 and 2012. Eventually, 2012 with Funkids and “Funky Lemonade” won it for me.

I am all about uplifting, fun songs delivered by fun performers and this ticks all the boxes for me. I have a wide smile on my face whenever I listen to the song. Sure, maybe the initial part is a bit underwhelming for me, but once the beat boxing and upbeat bit starts, I am sold. It’s such a fun performance to watch and Georgian is such a beautiful language, I wish I understood it just to sing along. Also, it reminds me of Mika’s “Lollipop” which happens to be one of my favourite songs of my teenage years, so this is also a point in favour of Funkids!