#BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Today, we look back on the second edition of Junior Eurovision!

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 took place on 20 November, 2004 at Haakons Hall in Lillehammer, Norway.

THE PARTICIPANTS:

1. Greece: Secret Band – O Palios Mou Eaftos
2. Malta: Young Talent Team – Power Of A Song
3. The Netherlands: Klaartje and Nicky – Hij Is Een Kei
4. Switzerland: Demis Mirarchi – Birichino
5. Norway: @lek – En stjerne skal jeg bli
6. France: Thomas – Si On Voulait Bien
7. F.Y.R. Macedonia: Martina Siljanovska – Zabava
8. Poland: KWADro – Łap Życie
9. Cyprus: Marios Tofis – Onira
10. Belarus: Egor Volchek – Spjavajtse So Mnoj
11. Croatia: Nika Turković – Hej Mali
12. Latvia: Mārtiņš Tālbergs & C-Stones Juniors – Balts Vai Melns
13. United Kingdom: Cory Spedding – The Best Is Yet To Come
14. Denmark: COOL KIDS – Pigen er min
15. Spain: María Isabel – Antes Muerta Que Sencilla
16. Sweden: Limelights – Varför jag?
17. Belgium: Free Spirits – Accroche-Toi
18. Romania: Noni Răzvan Ene – Îţi Mulţumesc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep0W-Z9thEI

INTERESTING FACTS:

• Originally this event was to be held in Manchester, England but ITV had to withdraw hosting due to financial considerations; then the chance to host was offered to Croatia, the winning country from 2003, who intended to hold the event in Zagreb but the venue was double booked and Croatia had to also withdraw. The event was then held in the Haakons Hall in Lillehammer when Norway stepped in at the last-minute and organised the event.
• The hosts of the show were Stian Barsnes Simonsen & Nadia Hasnaoui and the interval act was Westlife.
• The rules were pretty much the same as the previous year.
• Every country that had appeared in the 2003 JESC returned for the 2004 event, Switzerland and France both chose to make their debut, and only appearance, in 2004. This made 18 countries participating in JESC, the most of any event so far.
• Although the running order was selected randomly, Greece again opened the show. Malta were represented by the Young Talent Team, 1 of only 2 octets (acts containing 8 performers) to have appeared at JESC; and Julian Muscat, one of the backing dancers in the team, was 16 years and 3 months (5,936 days) old when he competed, making him the oldest person to have competed at JESC.
• Klaartje & Nicky, who represented the Netherlands, are the only Dutch contestants, so far, to win the National Final after having qualified on the ‘Wildcard’ ticket of Junior Songfestival.
• Poland were represented by KWADro, four girls including Weronika Bochat who became the first ever JESC contestant to take part in ESC – she performed as a backing singer for Marcin Mrozinski who represented Poland in Eurovision 2010 but, unfortunately, did not make it to the final.
• Latvia were represented by Mārtiņš Tālbergs & C-Stones Juniors, Mārtiņš has the distinction of being the first person to perform in 2 separate JESC events, as he was a backing vocalist for Dzintars Čīča in 2003.
• Cory Spedding, who represented the United Kingdom, is the first JESC contestant to become a parent, her daughter Eden Lily was born in October 2011.
• The second winner was María Isabel from Spain who was 9 Years, 10 Months and 16 days (3,608 days) old, making her the youngest ever winner, and her score of 171 points is still the highest ever score received by any JESC competitor (and this occurred before 12 points were awarded to all competing acts).

Steph Parker