Martin Osterdahl: “BBC close to joining Junior Eurovision”

Today (17th December) the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision, Martin Osterdahl gave a press conference where he was asked about the past, present and the future of the Junior Eurovision. These questions included the possibility of the UK returning to the competition.

Some interesting topics were discussed including that of the possibility of a BBC debut and a UK return to the contest.

A long, long long awaited reunion.

As of present for the 2021 edition of Junior Eurovision, four of the classic Eurovision “Big 5” are currently actively competing in the contest. But there is one missing, the United Kingdom.

This is ironic due to the fact that the UK was actually the FIRST of two of the Big 5 to take part in the contest, the other being Spain. These two nations went head to head in 2004 with Spain’s Maria Isabel beating the UK’s Cory Spedding. During the UK’s short three year tenure ITV was the broadcaster and not the BBC.

So if the BBC were to sign up to Junior Eurovision in 2023 this will be the first time the Big 5 would be reunited if all of the other four nations stay. This would be a very apt moment for a contest that will celebrate their 20th anniversary next year. So will it be a 20 song competition for a 20th anniversary?

The dragon keeping the UK’s seat warm.

The UK’s involvement in Junior Eurovision might be a long time ago, but this hasn’t stopped a constituent nation from taking part in recent years. Wales and their Welsh language broadcaster S4C took part in the contest for two years in 2018 and 2019. However this was unsuccessful as Manw’s song “Perta” finished last in their debut year with 29 points. In their second year they were only able to get one place higher as Erin Mai and her song “Calon yn Curo” got 35 points.

Would you like the BBC and UK in Junior Eurovision? 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 follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which is due to take place in Turin, Italy!