FeaturesPoland 2020

Junior Eurovision 2020: Our Top 12 (6 to 1)

Welcome to our Junior Eurovision 2020 Top 12! The team here at ESCXTRA have scored all 12 entries ‘Eurovision-style’ and we’ll be counting down our top 12 along with a selection of reviews. Has your favourite made the top spot? Let’s find out!

Last year we revealed our top 10 of the 19 entries at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Our favourite entry in 2019 was ‘Bim Bam Toi’ from France’s Carla, followed by ‘Fire’ from North Macedonia’s Mila Moskov and ‘Superhero’ from Poland’s Viki Gabor.

The scores so far…

Earlier we revealed numbers 12 to 7 of our top 12 countdown. These are the scores so far…

12🇷🇸 Serbia: Petar Aničić – Heartbeat24
11🇬🇪 Georgia: Sandra Gadelia – You Are Not Alone26
10🇺🇦 Ukraine: Oleksandr Balabanov – Vidkryvai (Open Up)32
09🇲🇹 Malta: Chanel Monseigneur – Chasing Sunsets34
08🇷🇺 Russia: Sofia Feskova – My New Day36
07🇩🇪 Germany: Susan – Stronger With You46

06 – 🇵🇱 Poland: Ala Tracz – I’ll Be Standing

Score: 71 points

Maria: 7 points

As for me, previous Polish entries for Junior Eurovision were great. This year is no exception. At first, I wasn’t really impressed with “I’ll Be Standing” but afterwards I realise I like it so much. Sometimes there’s a feeling that the music sounds a bit louder than Ala’s voice but probably, that was on purpose. Overall that’s a good up-tempo entry with an inspiring message!

Tom O: 6 points

With two previous wins, there would be high expectations for Poland. I wasn’t convinced at first, maybe because this song is different from ‘Superhero’ and ‘Anyone I Want To Be’. But I now realise this is another solid entry from Poland, I could again do very well. The vocals are strong, the message is good and the music track makes an impact. There are some better entries though that stop me giving it the highest points.


05 – 🇧🇾 Belarus: Arina Pehtereva – Aliens

Score: 74 points

Tim: 12 points

I am in love with this song. Personally, I think that this is the best entry Belarus has sent in both the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and Eurovision Song Contest. I really wanted them to wait and send this to the main contest if I am being honest. The only concern for me is that people might overlook it because of how dark it is, but I would not mind Belarus winning once again.

Lisa: 2 points

I am bored of the moody dark pop trend that has taken over the music industry with the likes of Billie Eilish and Rosalia since 2019. So I’m even less enthusiastic about this Junior attempt at it. Especially when Belarus already gave us the awesome ‘I Am The One’ that did this much better. If I wanted a teenager full of angst, growling at me, I’d FaceTime my nieces and nephews! The rap section feels very shoe-horned in and isn’t needed when the drama and vocal is already there. I’m sure this will do well with the jury and probably challenge the obvious favourites in Spain and France. But this is not my cup of tea.


04 – 🇳🇱 The Netherlands: Unity – Best Friends

Score: 77 points

Aline: 12 points

“Best Friends” describes the definition of an ideal Junior Eurovision song perfectly for me. Four girls singing a joyful song about friendship. None of them tries to act like an adult, but stick to their age. Of course we all know that Demi couldn’t join her friends during the national final because she tested positive on the corona virus. Fortunately Unitiy won so Demi can grab her chance to still join them for the international final. I have high hopes for this song because it is one of the only, if not the only, uptempo song in the contest. The Netherlands have done fairly well with uptempo songs in the past, so I am confident that a top 5 position is possible. Maybe even a win, who knows?

Costa: 2 points

This is such an earworm. The verses are a bit slow for my liking, but the chorus is beautiful – catchy, melodic and fresh. The production is fairly simple, but not to the point of feeling hollow, and gives the track a light and airy feel. Overall this is one of the catchiest songs of the contest.


03 – 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan: Karakat Bashanova – Forever

Score: 79 points

Sean: 12 points

This is one of the most technically complete and flawless compositions I’ve heard at JESC. Probably the most comparable song I could think of is Kazakhstan’s song from last year. Nothing else conveys the same amount of raw emotion as effectively as this song. I was split for a while as to which song would be my winner, but in the end this had to be my winner. Now, the English lyrics are less than stellar, but that’s pretty forgivable in JESC. This is a slam dunk for jury winner, so long as Karakat’s vocals are a little better than at the national final. When she is on point, she is ON POINT. Its just a matter of consistency. If Karakat pulls this off, Kazakhstan could walk this.

Conor: 2 points

While I can appreciate the raw emotion Karakat presents in her song, it goes nowhere for me. It seems to be going down a similar route to their entry last year, which I connected to a lot more. I feel the English lyrics were unnecessary but it will probably help in the international reach of the song. If the music video is anything to go by however, I think this will be a candidate for staging of the year. And perhaps a Kazakh win would open the door to ESC participation?


02 – 🇪🇸 Spain: Soleá – Palante

Score: 95 points

Nathan P: 12 points

It’s everything that I want from a Spanish entry in either Eurovision or Junior Eurovision! It’s bright, vibrant and them latin beats are infectious. It’s brilliantly produced and you can tell that the team behind the entry and RTVE have put a budget behind this. It is a real shame that they can’t put this effort into their adult entries. If I have to have one criticism of the song though is that on occasion her vocal does, at time feel like it’s a chipmunk remix that do the rounds on YouTube. It would be a deserved winner.

Nick: 3 points

Spain just keep on doing what they’re doing and that’s… being Spanish. They once again manage to deliver a quality entry to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. An entry the Spanish fans are (very) proud of and which probably has a solid chance of winning the televote. Sadly though, the combination of Soléa and this song just doesn’t quite do it for me. Not sure what it is, but I find myself zooming out after the first chorus…


01 – 🇫🇷 France: Valentina – J’imagine

Score: 102 points

Tom R: 12 points

Just like in the past two years, France’s Junior Eurovision didn’t immediately impress me this year. “J’imagine” semeed to be missing too many important components and I worried it would focus on the “la-la-la” hook too much. However, as I listened to the song more and more, I realised how perfect for Junior Eurovision it actually was – very much like “Jamais sans toi” and “Bim Bam Toi”. It has a catchy chorus (that’s the “la-la-la” hook!), toe-tapping verses and it feels well packaged with a wonderful vocal performance from Valentina. I have high hopes for this in Warsaw – a possible winner for me.

Justas: 4 points

Even though I am not a big fan of this song, I can say this entry is really good example of JUNIOR Eurovision entry. Yes, people sometimes forget that this show is for youngsters. Simple. joyfull, happy, easily remembable – what else could you ask? The only small complain I could have would be that this is probably a bit too sugary, but I am absolutely sure that they can fix it with a good performance. If they won’t mess it up, France has a really good chance to end up in top 3 and maybe even win it all.


Congratulations Valentina!

The full set of points from the ESCXTRA team are as follows…

RankCountryTom RTom OAlineLisaMariaSeanNathan PTimConorCostaJustasNickScore
1🇫🇷 France12101010107106110412102
2🇪🇸 Spain1012112128121078395
3🇰🇿 Kazakhstan3835812582612779
4🇳🇱 Netherlands8512835773271077
5🇧🇾 Belarus17424106121210674
6🇵🇱 Poland76777685485171
7🇩🇪 Germany625662461846
8🇷🇺 Russia54354172536
9🇲🇹 Malta381113385134
10🇺🇦 Ukraine624104632
11🇬🇪 Georgia41431533226
12🇷🇸 Serbia222212424

What do you think of our Top 12? Be sure to stay updated on Junior Eurovision 2020 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 for interviews and reactions.

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