Welcome to the second to last episode of ‘Junior Eurovision back in time’! Today we look back at the edition of 2017. After three wins, Georgia finally took the chance to host the kids contest in their capital Tbilisi. What do you remember from this edition?
Quick things to know
- Date: 26 November
- Venue: Olympic Palace
- Host broadcaster: GPB
- Presenter: Helen Kalandadze & Lizi Japarize
- Number of entries: 16
Participating countries
Georgia welcomed 16 countries in its capital. We’ve had two withdrawals, Bulgaria and Israel. On the other hand, we also had one returnee! After winning the adult Eurovision, Portugal found back its motivation to particpate in the Junior Eurovision.
Full list of participating countries:
- Cyprus: Nicole Nicolaou – I Wanna be A Star
- Poland: Alicja Rega – Moj Dom
- The Netherlands: Fource – Love Me
- Armenia: Misha – Boomerang
- Belarus: Helena Meraai – I Am The One
- Portugal: Mariana Venancio – Youtuber
- Ireland: Muireann McDonnell – Suile Glasa
- North Macedonia: Mina Blazev – Dancing Through Life
- Georgia: Grigol Kipshidze – The Voice Of Your Heart
- Albania: Ana Kodra – Don’t Touch My Tree
- Ukraine: Anastasiya Baginska – Don’t Stop
- Malta: Gianluca Cilia – Dawra Tond
- Russia: Polina Bogusevich – Wings
- Serbia: Irina Brodic & Jana Paunovic
- Australia: Isabelle Clarke – Speak up
- Italy: Maria Iside Fiore – Scelgo
Interval acts
Half time interval act
Interval act with Lizi Pop
Georgian dancers
Top 3
- 3. Australia: Isabelle Clarke – Speak Up
- 2. Georgia: Grigol Kipshidze – Voice Of The Heart
- 1. Russia: Polina Bogusevich – Wings
Polina wins Junior Eurovision 2017
And that marks the second victory for Russia! Polina won with a total of 188 points. She received 122 points from the jury. It contained 12 times four points, and they came from Australia, Georgia, Northern Macedonia and Portugal. In addition to the jury’s points, Russia also received 66 points from the online voting.
Some fun facts
- For the first time ever, an online voting was introduced instead of televoting. The first phase of the online voting started on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances were shown on the official website before the viewers could vote. Following this recap, voters had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant’s rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on 26 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and started after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers could vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five. For the first time, viewers could also vote for their own country’s song.
- Non-participants Israel, Kazakhstan and United Kingdom also broadcasted the show
- 2017 is another edition in which the winner didn’t get the most 12 points, it was runner-up Georgia!
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