We have a venue! After weeks of rumours, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and France Télévisions have made the destination of the European children’s competition official. The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in Nice (France) on Sunday 26 November.
After France’ s victory at the 2022 edition with Lissandro’s “Oh Maman!”, Junior Eurovision returns to France. The French public broadcaster will host the European song competition for the second time in three years, as they did in 2021 in the Parisian capital.
It should be noted that, this time, Junior Eurovision returns to November, after two editions held in December during the Christmas festivities. It is not yet known whether it will keep its usual time slot (16:00 CET) and whether Christmas will once again play a key role in the development of the competition.
The logo of the event incorporates the mythical Eurovision heart, as in the Eurovision Song Contest. Since the generic logo was introduced, this is the first time in the history of the children’s contest that the flag of the host country has been included. Thus, in Nice 2023, the French flag flies inside the heart, which is already a globally recognised icon. For its part, the slogan and the theme art of the 21st edition will be unveiled at a later date.
“We are delighted to return to France for the 21st Junior Eurovision Song Contest just 2 years after a spectacular performance in Paris. The France Télévisions team has the experience, vision and passion to create something truly magical in Nice this November and we look forward to working with them in the coming months on another exciting programme.”
Martin Österdahl, Junior Eurovision Executive Supervisor
Alexandra Redde-Amiel, Head of Entertainment at France Télévisions and Head of Delegation, was enthusiastic about the new edition. She thanked the City of Nice for its willingness to choose the French Riviera city as the venue for the children’s contest. She highlighted Nice’s popularity and its “international aura”.
“What an honour to have the opportunity to organise and produce one of the biggest European music shows once again in France together with the EBU, all the delegations and all the young artists! The Junior Eurovision Song Contest shows how much cultural and musical power our new generations have in the world”
Alexandra Redde-Amiel, Director of Entertainment at France Télévisions and head of the French delegation
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, says the coastal city will once again demonstrate its great ability to organiseglobal events“especially cultural”, saying the 21st edition of Junior Eurovision will be a “unique evening”.
“It is an honour for the city of Nice to host a renowned European competition such as Junior Eurovision, which brings together some 20 participating countries and more than 33 million viewers. Nice is a unique landscape, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which will be an exceptional setting to showcase the Junior Eurovision candidates”
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice
France Télévisions’ commitment to the EBU and Junior Eurovision is undeniable. A few minutes after the end of the 20th edition of Junior Eurovision, Alexandra Redde-Amiel confirmed France Télévisions’ intention to take over the organisation of the event to take over the organisation of the event.
Moreover, it should be remembered that, at present, the head of France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, is the president of the EBU, and she confirmed on her official Twitter profile that France will organise the 21st edition of the children’s event. At this stage, the role of the French public broadcaster within the organisation has greater weight and prominence.
“France Télévisions is proud to welcome young artists from all over Europe and beyond to celebrate the unifying power of music. I am delighted that this second edition of Junior Eurovision hosted by France will be held in Nice, a city of history and culture that is emblematic of our country. Once again this year, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will delight young and old alike, who will follow this festive and popular event at the Palais Nikaïa and on EBU public media channels”
Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, president of France Télévisions and the EBU
NICE, HOST CITY FOR JUNIOR EUROVISION 2023
Nice is a French city located in theProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, on the Côte d’Azur, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the largest city in the region. At present, Nice is the fifth most populous city in France with more than 340,000 inhabitants. It also has almost one million people in its metropolitan area.
Its seaside resorts and beaches attract high-end tourism , as do its promenades, museums, nightlife and magnificent sea views. It was the historic capital of the County of Nice and was linked to Italy until its invasion and annexation by the French in 1860. Some of the population still speaks the Nizardo dialect, a variety of the Ligurian language that was heavily influenced by the Occitan language after 1860. Variants of Ligurian, including Monegasque and Roya Valley, are spoken in areas near the city.
During these months, doubts centred on whether French television would again choose the Parisian capital or whether they would hold Junior Eurovision in another French city. In the end, a new host city has been chosen, serving as a way to promote the country and its large and touristic cities.
Nice joins other cities in France that have hosted major Eurovision network events, such as Paris, Cannes, Lyon and Montpellier.
THE PALAIS NIKAÏA
After holding Junior Eurovision 2021 in the multi-purpose hall of La Seine Musicale, France Télévisions has chosen the Palais Nikaïa as the venue for the 21st edition of the competition. The Palais Nikaïa is a 9,500 m2 multi-purpose performance hall. It has a capacity of between 1,500 and 6,250 people and can accommodate up to 9,000 spectators, including standing spectators. It is the largest venue in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
It was inaugurated in 2001 and is located next to the open-air Stade Charles-Ehrmann. The two venues combined can be used to host very large events with an attendance of up to 50,000 or more people.
It has two halls, the main hall being the larger one, which allows the organisation of large concerts and will host the large stage of the children’s festival. The adjoining space Nikaïa Live is smaller. It has a surface area of 350 m2 and is mainly dedicated to the cultural creation of contemporary music, exhibitions and can be used as a public relations and events space. It is an ideal space that could host the press room and other events related to Junior Eurovision 2023.
The venue can host variety shows, sporting events, conventions and gala dinners. It is very well connected, being only 5 minutes away from the Côte d’Azur International Airport.
From 6 to 15 September 2013, the Palais Nikaïa hosted the judo and wrestling disciplines at the 7th Francophonie Games held in Nice. It was also one of the venues where World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestling competitions were held.
The venue has been the venue of choice for major concerts by French artists such as Vanessa Paradis, Charles Aznavour, Jenifer, Zazie, Chimène Badi and Christophe Mae. Among the international artists who have performed here are David Bowie, Junior Kelly, Tokio Hotel, Mika, The Cranberries, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. It has also hosted musicals such as “The Ten Commandments, “Romeo and Juliet y “The Sun Kingtogether with the show “Alegria” by Cirque du Soleil by Cirque du Soleil.
In 2009, it hosted the Miss France 2010 election. The following year, it was the venue for the popular annual show “Les Enfoirés and, in 2012, it hosted one of the concerts of the tour of the French version of the “The Voice” tour.
It is therefore a venue with a proven and recognised capacity to host a major show such as Junior Eurovision, with the aim of organising it at the highest level.
Last Friday, 31st March, the first meeting of the new Junior Eurovision Executive Group took place, where the French public broadcaster’s managers were in charge of informing about the first fundamental aspects of the new edition. Also, the head of the Armenian delegation and Executive Producer of Junior Eurovision 2022, David Tserunyan, presented a summary of the 20th edition held in Yerevan (Armenia) last year.
The meeting in Paris (France) was attended by Martin Österdahl, as Executive Supervisor of the contest, the President of the Executive Group Marta Piekarska (TVP) with the rest of the members such as Carla Bugalho (RTP), Anja Zegwaard (AVROTROS), Mariangela Borneo (RAI), David Tserunyan (AMPTV) and Ana María Bordas (RTVE), via telematic means, in what will be one of their last meetings. In addition to other EBU officials such as Gert Kark.
During that meeting and after a publication by David Tserunyan on his social networks, it was rumoured that Paris could have been chosen to host the children’s contest. In the end, Junior Eurovision 2023 will travel to another French city in order to further consolidate its success.
what do you thinkabout Junior Eurovision returning to France? In the coming months, we will know much more about this long-awaited edition of the children’s contest.
THE GREAT EXPERIENCE OF PARIS 2021
Since its return to the festival in 2018, France has had an enviable track record in the contest, culminating in its big win in the atypical Poland 2020 edition with Valentina and her “J’Imagine”. Thus, in 2021, France Télévisions took over the organisation of the children’s event for the first time in its history, being the first major public broadcaster in the so-called Big 5 to organise Junior Eurovision.
Paris 2021 was a somewhat watered-down edition due to the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions that were still in place across Europe.
The French head of delegation, Alexandra Redde-Amiel, acted as executive producer of the event. From the outset, she was enthusiastic about the organisation of the competition. “France TV looks forward to welcoming these European singing talents to the City of Light during the Christmas season. This unique family event will be a gift for all viewers, young and old, long live Junior Eurovision,“ she told the press.
After several possibilities were discussed and other locations in the country were considered, it was decided that Junior Eurovision would be held in Paris in style. The French capital had hosted the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest and the 1989 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Other cities in France, such as Cannes, Lyon and Montpellier, have hosted other Eurovision network events.
The main wish of the organisers was that all of them could travel to Paris and hold a festival in as normal conditions as possible. Despite this, the EBU and France Télévisions were forced to make some modifications to their initial plan, in order not to take any risks with the clear objective that the final of the contest could take place normally. It was thus decided that the Opening Ceremony and the jury show would be held without an audience.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place on Sunday 19 December, from 16:00 CET, live from La Seine Musicale in Paris (France). The 19th edition of the contest was presented by Élodie Gossuin, Olivier Minne and Carla Lazzari, popular faces on French television.
The theme art of the competition revolved around three themes: imagination, Christmas and the Eiffel Tower, an iconic symbol of Paris. This was accompanied by the slogan Imagine(Imagine, in English), inspired by “J’Imaginethe song with which Valentina won the Eurovision Junior 2020. The logo was intended to show the magic, joy and generosity of the Christmas holidays in Paris, the city of love and light.
La Seine Musicale became the venue selected to host Junior Eurovision 2021. The venue was chosen to be significantly smaller than in previous editions in order to hold the festival taking into account the sanitary circumstances at the time.
The stage for the contest, created by the set designer Miguel Hernando, was a design with personality as well as versatility, evoking the famous French salons next to the great bridges that surrounded the gardens and courtyards of the Parisian palaces.
Despite the limited space available, the scenography was masterfully adapted to accommodate the 19 entries and an audience excited to enjoy Junior Eurovision live again, despite the restrictions.
After the numerous withdrawals in 2020 due to the pandemic, the festival regained the level of participation to 19 countries in competition. Germany was the main newcomer, while Junior Eurovision saw the traumatic exit of Belarus. The broadcaster BTRC was forced to leave the competition due to itssuspension as a member of the EBU, the tense political situation in the country and the loss of objectivity and freedom of the press on public television.
After its withdrawal in 2020, Armenia came back in style, winning its second victory thanks to the charismatic Maléna with her “Qami Qami”.
Poland continued its success with 2nd place for Sara James and her “Somebody” “Somebody”. For their part, the French hosts were thrilled with Enzo’ s 3rd place finish with his charming song “Tic Tac” “Tic Tac”and was the jury’s favourite.
Paris 2021 was a new twist for the Caucasus, after several editions with Western dominance in the Top 5. In addition to Armenia’s victory, Georgia and Azerbaijan closed the ranking of the five most voted countries. In the case of Spain, the participation of Levi Diaz with “Laughing gave Spain its worst result ever, coming 15th with 77 points. Until then, Spain had not fallen below the Top 5.
In 2021, the record achieved in Poland 2020 was not beaten, but it was very close. More than 4.3 million valid votes from 200 countries were counted.
The 19th edition of Junior Eurovision 2021 reached an average of 7.5 million viewers (15.60% share). More than 33 million viewers connected with the broadcast for at least one minute. Paris 2021 was the lowest in five years. Poland, France, Armenia and Spain were the countries with the highest audience share, although most of them saw a drop in viewership.
THIS WAS 2022: JUNIOR EUROVISION CELEBRATED ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place on Sunday 11 December in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The Karen Demirchyan Complex hosted the contest for the second time in its history, as it did in 2011. There, France was the winning country with the young singer Lissandro and his song “Oh Maman!”. With her charisma and energy in abundance, she managed to win the coveted crystal microphone thanks to 203 points from the national juries and the viewers through online voting.
The hosts from Armenia fell just short of making history once again. Nare’ s eye-catching performance with her song “Dance! came within 23 points of winning the trophy, placing them in 2nd place, a position they have already held 5 times and the most repeated in their great history. On the other hand, Georgia continued its successful role in Junior Eurovision by reaching 3rd place with Mariam Bigvava and her “I Believe”.
Ireland reached 4th place, their best result ever with Sophie Lennon and “Solas”. The United Kingdom closed the Top 5 in their great comeback to the competition. Freya Skye with “Lose My Head achieved the best British score in the competition, being the favourite entry of the viewers in the online vote.
Spain returned to the top of the ranking. Our Carlos Higes with “Señorita got the 6th place. The young artist was voted by all the national juries. In addition, Spain was again the second most voted country in the online voting.
The 20th edition of Junior Eurovision was characterised as one of the most open and competitive in history. In the weeks leading up to and during the rehearsal days, Armenia, Georgia, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands emerged as favourites to win.
In Yerevan 2022, Junior Eurovision returned to the dynamic of previous years in which the Eastern countries, especially those from the Caucasus, took the top positions. However, the great potential of the Western countries is undeniable thanks to the new victory of France and the presence of countries such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
This was a very special edition, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the children’s festival. Therefore, the public television ARMTV offered a great show presented by Iveta Mukuchyan, Garik Papoyan and Karina Ignatyan together with the robot Robin where 16 young artists shone on the impressive stage.
In this 20th edition, Junior Eurovision returned to the Caucasus to offer viewers a thrilling competition, one of the most spectacular in its history. All this, despite being held in a difficult international context that led to notable absences. Once again, the Christmas atmosphere was part of Junior Eurovision, filling the lives of the contestants and the millions of viewers with illusion and magic.
Armenian television spared no effort and resources to offer us a contest of the highest level and at the height of the format, betting on an avant-garde, versatile stage with the latest technology. All of this with the aim of making this 20th edition a “unique and unrepeatable” festival “unique and unrepeatable”.
The efforts of ARMTV and the EBU were rewarded with a great audience result. The 20th Junior Eurovision Song Contest was watched by an average of 7.9 million viewers(12.80% share). The broadcast had more than 33 million contacts for at least one minute. Compared to Paris 2021, the following increased by almost 500,000 viewers and became the third largest audience since 2011. These good figures were also passed on to the different participating broadcasters, where most of them saw their audiences increase compared to 2021. Poland, Italy, Spain, France and Armenia all achieved strong results, improving on the audiences of previous editions.
In 2022, Yerevan was the centre of the celebration around music, friendship and diversity, where the young talents of Europe were the protagonists of a children’s festival that year after year acquires greater potential and popularity to give visibility to new talents in the world of music.
JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is an annual children’s contest that has been held continuously since 2003 and usually takes place in the months of November-December.
It is modelled on the Eurovision Song Contest, but is aimed at children, with songs which, at least in part, must be performed in their official language. Over the years, the show has undergone changes to adapt to the public, consolidating its position as a benchmark in children’s television competitions and acquiring greater popularity and relevance year after year.
Its voting system has changed over the years to adapt to the audience. In its first editions, only by means of televoting. Since 2008, national juries have been included, and in some editions, panels of experts and juries of children with musical experience have been introduced. Finally, the current system consists of voting by national juries and online voting from the official website.
Georgia is the country with the most victories, 3 in total. Armenia, Poland, Russia, Malta, Belarus and France follow with 2 wins.
Unlike Eurovision, the winning country is not obliged to host the Song Contest the following year. Therefore, over its 20 editions, a total of 14 countries have hosted the children’s contest. Armenia, Belarus, France (host in 2023), Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine have had the pleasure of hosting the competition twice.
Following the victory of Lissandro and her song “Oh Maman!” in Yerevan (Armenia) last year, the 2023 edition will take place in Nice (France) next November. The French city is getting ready to host the 21st edition of the competition with the aim of further consolidating its success and popularity among young audiences.