After a year like no other, ESCXTRA can’t be in the Polish capital city of Warsaw to bring you live coverage of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Nevertheless, we bring you the next best thing… an overview of each of the twelve participating entries and all the details you need to cast your online votes right now!
Meet Oleksandr Balabanov
14-year old Oleksandr Balabanov was successful after winning Ukraine’s Junior Eurovision Selection. He will be performing the song “Vidkryvai (Open Up)” at this year’s contest. A song which he co-wrote with Mykhailo Klymenko.
We managed to speak to Oleksandr about his Junior Eurovision participation, and you are able to find out more here:
In an interview with junioeurovision.tv, Oleksandr explains that his favorite lyric from his entry is ”But you are the argonaut who has found his fleece!’. He names his idols are Michael Jackson and the British band Jungle.
Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
As ESCXTRA team member Riccardo summarised in his 2018 feature article, Ukraine’s Junior Eurovision journey so far…, since debuting in the contest in 2006, Ukraine hasn’t missed a single contest and has enjoyed mixed results in the competition. Ukraine has won the competition once, in 2012 with Anastasiya Petryk and her entry ‘”Nebo” (Небо).
Ukraine has finished twice in the competition: in 2008 Viktoria Petryk and in 2013 with Sofia Tarasova. They have been consistent in their participation and has only finished outside the top ten on five occasions. The country has also hosted the competition twice (2009 and 2013), in its capital city Kyiv. Both of their participations on home turf managed to reach the Top 5 position.
Vote for UKRAINE now!
Votes can be cast via vote.junioreurovision.tv NOW! Viewers from all over the world can vote for three countries.
The first round of voting is open right now and will close at 4.59pm CET on Sunday 29th November, just before the beginning of the live broadcast. Then, voting will reopen during the show for fifteen minutes following the final performance so that any final votes can be cast.
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 news in the upcoming months.