On Saturday 24 October 2026, from 21:00 CEST, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Ta’ Qali will host the 24th Junior Eurovision Song Contest, with 16 countries competing for the crystal microphone. The most eagerly awaited moment is always the voting, and this time you can help decide who wins. Here is how the winner of Junior Eurovision 2026 is chosen.
How does the voting work at Junior Eurovision 2026?
As in previous editions, the winner is decided by a combination of national juries and an online vote by viewers from all over the world. Each part is worth 50% of the total. Every participating country has its own professional jury, and viewers can vote for free on the official website, JESC.TV.
In both cases, votes are converted into points, which are revealed during the live show. With 16 countries, the juries hand out 928 points in total (58 each), and the online vote is converted into the same number of points in proportion to the votes each entry receives.
The online vote: free and open to everybody
Anyone, anywhere in the world, can vote for free at JESC.TV while the voting windows are open, both before and during the live show. In the children’s contest, viewers choose three entries, and, unlike in the adult Eurovision, they can include the one from their own country. There are no phone or SMS votes.
As in 2025, there are two voting windows. These are the official times:
| Voting window | Opens | Closes | What you vote on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 23:59 CEST on Friday 23 October | 20:59 CEST on Saturday 24 October, just before the live show starts in Malta | Rehearsal clips of the 16 songs |
| Window 2 | After the final song of the live show | Approximately 15 minutes later | The live performances |
The same times in other time zones:
| Time zone | Window 1 opens | Window 1 closes |
|---|---|---|
| CEST (Malta, Spain, France, Italy) | Fri 23 Oct, 23:59 | Sat 24 Oct, 20:59 |
| BST (United Kingdom) / IST (Ireland) | Fri 23 Oct, 22:59 | Sat 24 Oct, 19:59 |
| EDT (New York, Toronto) | Fri 23 Oct, 17:59 | Sat 24 Oct, 14:59 |
| AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne) | Sat 24 Oct, 08:59 | Sun 25 Oct, 05:59 |
Votes are counted by the organisers. In previous editions, only one vote per IP address has been allowed in each window, and the EBU has the right to invalidate multiple votes and any votes it suspects of breaking the rules. Check the conditions on the official website when you vote.
How does the jury vote?
Each of the 16 participating countries has a professional jury, set up according to the rules of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Each jury ranks the songs from best to worst and awards 12, 10 and 8 to 1 points to its top ten, never including its own country. In recent editions, the juries have voted at the dress rehearsal held the day before the show, known as the jury show.
How are the results announced?
As in recent editions, the jury points are announced first, by a spokesperson from each country connected to the show. Then the hosts reveal the total online points each entry has received from viewers around the world, from the lowest to the highest in the ranking after the jury vote. Only when the last result has been announced do we know the winner of Junior Eurovision 2026. The 2026 hosts are Gaia Cauchi, Destiny and Keane Cutajar.
The reigning champion is France, which won in Tbilisi 2025 with Lou Deleuze and “Ce monde”, scoring 248 points, and which declined to host the 2026 contest.
When is the voting?
In short, you can vote from 23:59 CEST on Friday 23 October until 20:59 CEST on Saturday 24 October, and again for about 15 minutes after the last song of the show. Remember to choose three entries before you submit your vote.