Will some countries make their return next year, or will we see some debut?
Last night, French superstar in the making Lissandro gave the world a show-stopping performance and eventually took the crown with 203 points total. Though France have been involved in the Junior Eurovision since 2004, they took a 14-year long pause, only to return extremely successful in the past couple years. In a press conference on December 8th, Martin Österdahl (Executive Supervisor of the JESC) mentioned that he expects more countries to participate in the contest next year.
We’re seeing the contest on first channels in countries, e.g. BBC 1 and Rai 1, taking a step into prime time and major distribution. Following the example of Yerevan, this contest can take further steps and grow even further, with more countries joining and distribution getting wider.
I am having a dialogue with some of the countries in northern Europe, and I am hopeful that they will join eventually.
Recent comebacks
In the last couple of years, we have seen the return of a few countries who had taken a break from JESC, such as the United Kingdom (came back after 17 years), Spain, France and Germany. Although the latter returned in 2020, they withdrew from this year’s competition. Fortunately, the German broadcaster have announced their return for 2023.
This year we saw 16 countries participating in the host city of Yerevan, Armenia. This is not as high as the 2018 edition, where 20 countries send their hopeful candidates to Minsk, Belarus.
One country has been rumored to debut on JESC for some time now: Iceland. Although they had send a delegation to last year’s edition and broadcasted the show for the first time on TV in almost 20 years, no confirmation was made for 2022.
Is Iceland in talks with Mr. Österdahl for 2023? His comments during the press conference could suggest that. But we would all be happy to see more Northern European countries join next year’s line-up!
Junior Eurovision 2022
This year the JESC took place in Yerevan, Armenia, where the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex hosted the 16 participating acts from all over Europe.
In a nail biting voting sequence, France topped the scoreboard with 203 points for Lissandro’s ‘Oh Maman!’. Host nation Armenia’s Nare finished in second place with 180 points.
Lissandro’s victory gives France their second Junior Eurovision win following Valentina’s win back in 2020 with “J’imagine”.
Who do you think should debut/come back for Junior Eurovision 2023 Let us know by leaving a comment below! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite ESC and JESC acts.
