Back in June, Kazakh broadcaster Khabar TV confirmed that Kazakhstan will participate in this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Warsaw, Poland. This will be Kazakhstan’s third participation in the contest! Following the broadcaster launching an open selection for their entry, they’ve now announced their first televised national final since their debut!
Last week, Khabar TV announced details of a closed selection to internally-select their entry for Junior Eurovision 2020. Now, it has been confirmed that the choice will fall with the Kazakh public, as the broadcaster announces their first national final!
The four stages of the selection will be as follows:
- Submissions window open between August 10 and 20
- Between August 21 and 22, a jury will vote for the 30 acts they think should progress to the next stage of the competition
- From August 24 to 31, the public will be able to vote online to select the twelve finalists who will be competing in the televised selection
- Live national final will be held on September 26
The jury who will be picking the long list of entries is as follows:
- Amre – Winner of Slavianski Bazaar 2018
- Bagym Mukhitdenova – Music Producer
- Dinaya – Second Place at New Wave Junior in 2015
- Erlan Bekchurin – Producer for Dimash Kudaibergen
- Indira Edulbayeva – Superfinalist in the Voice of Ukraine 2020
- Khamit Shangaliyev – Music Producer, Composer and Sound Producer
- ZaQ – Soloist of the group ‘Ninety One’
- Zhanar Dugalova – Winner of the Turkvision Song Contest 2014
In the televised final, the winning entry will be determined by 100% televote (call and SMS). The jury’s input will come into force in the event of a tie. However, the broadcaster has stated that the format and location of the show is subject to the situation with COVID-19 by the time September rolls around.
Junior Eurovision 2020 – what we know so far
Junior Eurovision 2020 will take place on November 29 in the Polish capital of Warsaw. The slogan for the show is ‘Move The World’. Following Viki Gabor’s victory on home soil in 2019, this will mark TVP’s second consecutive time hosting.
Note, unlike previous years, the show is due to be held in a TV studio, rather than an arena. The host venue is yet to be confirmed. However, both the ATM Studio or Transcolor Studio are in contention.
To date, the following countries have confirmed participation in the contest:
Kazakhstan in Junior Eurovision
So far, Kazakhstan has finished in the top five in both of their previous participations in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. In 2018, their debut entrant Daneliya Tuleshova earned fifth place with “Òzińe Sen”. Last year, Yerzhan Maxim almost took the title after dominating the international jury vote. In the end, his song “Armańnynan Qalma” placed second overall once the jury vote and online votes were combined.
Perhaps the 2020 contest will be third-time lucky for Kazakhstan? In 2018, Daneliya Tuleshova was selected via a televised national final. Last year, Khabar TV chose to internally select Yerzhan Maxim who had previously participated in the 2018 national selection.
Are you excited to year Kazakhstan’s 2020 entry? What kind of song would you like to see the Central Asian nation send? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our reactions to the over the coming months.