The city of Tbilisi is ready to welcome the 18 delegations participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Georgia hosts the 23rd edition of the most popular and successful children’s contest. The Caucasian country is organizing the event for the second time in its history, having done so in 2017 in the same city and venue.
All participants are prepared to take the impressive stage at the Tbilisi Olympic Palace on Saturday, December 13, from 17:00 CET. The contestants of Junior Eurovision 2025 will be the protagonists of a competition where they will be “united by music” thanks to their entries with which they will fulfill their great Eurovision dream.
Thus, with Junior Eurovision 2025 just around the corner, it is time to get to know each of the contenders aiming to take home the crystal microphone trophy.
How did they get to Junior Eurovision? What dreams do they have? Where does their passion for music come from? What do their entries mean to them as they compete in Tbilisi 2025? We delve into their daily lives to learn more about the representatives of the 23rd edition. For many of them, Junior Eurovision was a big dream that has finally come true.
The protagonist of this article is Anita Abgariani, Georgia’s representative at Junior Eurovision 2025 with a song yet to be presented. The young artist triumphed in Ranina 2025 on November 1, securing the ticket that takes her to Tbilisi with the song “Shine Like A Star.”
This is Anita Abgariani: talent and a great voice on stage
Anita Abgariani, born on November 4, 2014, in Batumi (Georgia), is an 11-year-old artist whose affinity for singing showed itself before she began formal education. In 2019, at only five years old, she started her training at the Zvezbeshvili Studio, where she learned vocal technique, breath control, and artistic expression. Later, she continued at the Zghvis Shvilebi – Sons of the Sea studio, where she formed a friendship with Andria Putkaradze, future winner of Junior Eurovision 2024. There, she performed songs like “You Raise Me Up” alongside Mariam Makharadze at the 2024 New Year’s Gala. Simultaneously, she studies piano at the Revaz Lagidze Music School, where she also takes part in concerts. Her teachers highlight her mastery of ballads and classic Georgian and international songs.
In June 2024, she won first prize at the Arpeggio International Competition in Malta with “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. In October, she performed at the Batumi 2025 events alongside Andria Putkaradze and the Zghvis Shvilebi choir. That same year, she participated in the Ranina program, where she shined with “Mzeo Tibatvisa” and “Akedana Da Shenamde”, being crowned winner with “Chongurs Simebi Gavubi”.
Offstage, Anita is cheerful, restless, and creative. She is passionate about drawing, sculpture, and especially swimming. Before dedicating herself to music, she was a gymnast at the Valentina Kuzmidi High School, winning three group awards. Her friends describe her as affectionate and energetic, with an overflowing imagination. She dreams of becoming a singer, dancer, or actress.
Her song “Shine Like a Star”, by Giga Kukhianidze and Mariam Ghvaladze, combines Georgian and English, with a message of overcoming challenges and unity, where everyone can shine like a star.
This is “Shine Like a Star”, Georgia’s entry for Junior Eurovision 2025
Anita Abgariani will compete in Junior Eurovision 2025 with the song “Shine Like A Star”, a song with which she will try to achieve Georgia’s fifth glass microphone in Tbilisi.
The song was composed by Giga Kukhianidze. Thus, the legendary Georgian composer returns to the junior contest with what will be the 15th entry he has composed for the country, who also added a new victory with Andria Putkaradze in Madrid 2024. Meanwhile, Mariam Ghvaladze wrote the lyrics.
The song was officially presented on Friday, November 7. That same day, young Anita Abgariani appeared on the morning show GPB 1’s ‘Akhali Dghe’ to enjoy the premiere of the videoclip together with Georgian viewers.
“Shine Like A Star” is a dramatic, ascending, and energetic proposal sung in Georgian and English, opting for a translated title to convey the song’s message to a more international audience.
Among its main themes, hope and overcoming challenges stand out. The lyrics speak of lighting an inner shine like a star and opening the heart to face the future.
All this is presented from a perspective of unity, emphasizing that mutual support strengthens everyone. Using the metaphor of the star and the moon, it portrays a series of great aspirations that guide and give meaning to our path. The light of that star allows us to overcome sadness or obstacles with hope, leaving behind limits and making the improbable possible.
Anita acknowledges that the song is “quite difficult”, but it is made by and for her, adapted to her great vocal qualities. In fact, Giga Kukhianidze himself states that the song was composed especially with the singer in mind, thanks to the enthusiasm that the artist conveys. “I think I have achieved something more. I wrote a very difficult song to perform, although I am sure that for Anita it will be a piece of cake to sing it live,” says Giga.
Lyrics of Shine Like a Star
Georgian / English
შორიდან ისმის სიმფონია
ლიტავრის ხმამ ამიყოლია
ერთი ვარსკვლავით ავანთებ ცას
მომავალს გავუღებ გულით კარს
Shine like a star, let the world see,
The fire inside, it’s the best of me.
Voices unite, we are not alone,
Together we rise — this is our song!
მთვარის შუქს აჰყვა ჰარმონიაც
ზღაპარს მიქარგავს ეს მელოდია
ღამეს ნატვრა აუხდენია
ჩემს ვარსკვლავს რა ძალა ჰქონია
იყო და არა იყო რა
იყო და არა იყო რა
ღვთის უკეთესი რა იქნებოდა
One day, we’ll all shine like stars!
English
From afar, a symphony is heard,
The sound of the timpani carries me away.
With a single star, I will light up the sky,
And open the door to the future with my heart.
Shine like a star, let the world see,
The fire inside, it’s the best of me.
Voices unite, we are not alone,
Together we rise — this is our song!
The harmony follows the moonlight,
This melody weaves me a tale.
The night’s wish has come true —
How powerful my star must be.
Once upon a time, or maybe never was,
Once upon a time, or maybe not at all —
What could be better than God’s creation?
One day, we’ll all shine like stars!
Georgia in Junior Eurovision
Georgia has participated continuously in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since 2007, debuting with Mariam Romelashvili and her song “Odelia Ranuni”, which achieved 4th place. The country is the most successful in the contest, with four victories. The first came in Limassol 2008, when the group Bzikebi and their original song “Bzz…” swept the competition with 154 points.
In Yerevan 2011, the group CANDY won with “Candy Music”, achieving the lowest winning score in history (108 points). The third victory was in Valletta 2016, when Mariam Mamadashvili conquered the trophy with “Mzeo”, scoring 239 points, a record only surpassed by Poland in 2019.
Georgia’s worst results were 14th place in Gliwice-Silesia 2019 with Giorgi Rostiashvili (“We Need Love”) and again in Nice 2023 with Anastasia & Ranina (“Over The Sky”). Nevertheless, 14 Georgian entries have finished within the Top 10, consolidating their prestige in the contest.
The country has hosted the contest twice: in 2017, when Tbilisi hosted the 15th edition at the Olympic Palace, presented by Elene Kalandadze and Lizi Japaridze; and in 2025, when the festival will return to Georgia.
In 2023, Anastasia Vasadze, along with Nikoloz Kharati and Oto Bazerashvili, represented the country in Nice, earning 74 points and repeating their worst placement. In 2024, Andria Putkaradze won Ranina and, with “To My Mom”, achieved victory in Madrid 2024 with 239 points, matching the 2016 record and giving Georgia its fourth glass microphone.