Earlier this week, the EBU confirmed that thirteen countries will be competing at the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
When the announcement was made, the EBU told us that ‘The list of participating broadcasters we released today isn’t necessarily the final one‘. Therefore, this leaves the door open to withdrawing countries to still participate at this year’s competition.
Following this announcement, the team at ESCXTRA got in touch with the delegations who withdrew from the competition, about the new format and the reason for their withdrawal.
Australia: Restrictions and new format not communicated
One of the countries that we have asked is Australia, who confirmed their withdrawal from this year’s competition in July. Their response from an SBS spokesperson confirmed that travel restrictions, and the fact that the EBU had not communicated the new format to them at the time of their decision, was behind their withdrawal earlier this summer:
“Due to the restrictions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, SBS informed the EBU in July that Australia would not be competing in the Junior Eurovision Contest 2020. The new format had not been confirmed or communicated at this stage.”
SBS on their withdrawal and the new format changes
We would like to thank SBS for taking the time to reply to our query.
Australia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Following Australia’s first Eurovision entry in 2015, they made their Junior Eurovision debut later that year in Sofia. Bella Paige represented the country with her song “My Girls” which finished in 8th place with 64 points. Since then, Australia have consistently finished in the top 10 of the contest, finishing in 3rd place on two occasions in 2017 and 2018.
Last year, Jordan Anthony represented Australia in Gliwice with the song “We Will Rise”. Scoring 121 points, they finished in 8th place.
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<small>This article was compiled by <a href="https://escxtra.com/author/tjumawan/">Tim Jumawan</a> and <a href="https://escxtra.com/author/nathan/"></a>. An SBS spokesperson responded to both of the questions we submitted.</small>
