Sandra Valero will be the Spanish flag bearer at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which will take place in the French city of Nice on Sunday 26 November. The young Valencian artist has been chosen among more than a hundred candidates who applied for the contest.
The call opened by RTVE to select our representative in Nice has been a success, receiving a total of 114 applications, 19 more than in 2022. From there, 14 children had the opportunity to sing in front of a panel of experts.
Sandra Valero has been chosen unanimously after the castings carried out in RTVE and where a jury formed by Ana MarÃa Bordas, César Vallejo, Miriam GarcÃa Corrales, Pablo RodrÃguez, Tony Sanchez-Ohlsson, Rayden and MarÃa Eizaguirre has been in charge of selecting our representative in the 21st edition of Junior Eurovision.
Next, the Spanish public broadcaster will select the song that will represent our country at the Palais Nikaïa in Nice. Both the song and the official video clip will be released in the coming months. In September, Sandra Valero will record the song chosen by RTVE together with the video clip of the song. The deadline for submitting the application to the EBU is 16 October.
The confirmation has been made official through RTVE’s social media profiles and its website. In addition, during the programme “Hablando Claro” on La 1, Marc Calderó and Lourdes Maldonado have announced to the viewers the election of Sandra Valero as the representative in Junior Eurovision 2023.
This will be the 9th Spanish entry in Junior Eurovision and Sandra Valero joins the successful list of Spanish representatives in the children’s festival such as Sergio (2003), MarÃa Isabel (2004), Antonio José (2005 ), Dani Fernández (2006), Melani GarcÃa (2019), Soleá (2020), Levi DÃaz (2021) and Carlos Higes (2022).
THIS IS SANDRA VALERO
Sandra Valero was born on 20 August 2011. She is a singer, actress and model who lives in Benetússer (Valencia). From a very young age she has been immersed in the world of music, from her great-grandparents and her grandmother to her uncle and her father, the latter being musicians and composers.
She has published several of her own songs such as “Invierno En Mi Ciudad” and ” Y DIGO EHH! He has also participated in other TV competitions such as “Idol Kids” and “La Voz Kids” in 2022. In the Antena 3 contest, she was partner of Carlos Higes, our representative in Yerevan 2022. Both were in Aitana’s team.
She is currently playing the role of Mowgli from “The Jungle Book“ in a local theatre company and has been part of the musical “The Bodyguard“. Sandra declares herself an unconditional fan of the singer Aitana.
In the face-to-face casting held at the RTVE Studios in Madrid, Sandra Valero performed the song “Parte De Tu Mundo” from “La Sirenita”, with which she thrilled the jury. Her voice colour, her power, her wide vocal range and her profile as an actress stand out.
HOW WAS THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING SANDRA VALERO?
After last year’s success, RTVE maintains the format of choosing the singer through two phases: one online and the other in person.
CASTING PHASE I
Until 3 July, interested children could fill in the form available to the public on the RTVE website. All the artist’s details must be included in the form, along with a signed authorisation with the consent of both parents. In addition, they will have to send two videos in which they demonstrate their vocal and interpretative skills.
RTVE establishes a series of requirements, among which the following stand out:
- The artists must be between 9 and 14 years old by the date of the Junior Eurovision final (26 November). In other words, participants must have been born between 27 November 2008 and 26 November 2014.
- The consent of both parents or guardians is required, including the requested documents (ID card, Family Book).
- They must have Spanish nationality or permanent residence in Spain. In the case of groups, at least 50 per cent of the participants must be Spanish nationals or permanent residents in Spain.
- Minors who are first-degree relatives of RTVE staff members, or of people related to Junior Eurovision, are not allowed to participate.
- If the artist has a recording contract, the company must accept and sign the terms and conditions for the exploitation of the performance and image by RTVE and the EBU.
- Those who are participating in other competitions or calls for entries to represent another country in Junior Eurovision 2023 willnot be allowed to participate in the contest.
- Entries that do not meet minimum quality standards or that use inappropriate or offensive language or political messageswill be rejected.
- Entries must accept RTVE’s regulations on the transfer of rights to RTVE and EBU, in the case of being the winning entry.
In this registration phase, RTVE has received 114 applications, 19 more than in 2022. The public broadcaster highlights the recent expectation generated in our country by the children’s festival.
CASTING PHASE II
Next, the second part of the casting phase took place, which consisted of a face-to-face casting. Fourteen artists were chosen from those registered for the call for entries. It was held in the RTVE studios in Madrid on the first of July 2023. The 14 aspiring children performed several songs, which were evaluated and decided by an internal committee.
The internal jury had a maximum of 7 days to evaluate all the finalist candidacies, submitting to the committee the minutes to the RTVE management with the results and deliberations.
From RTVE, they emphasize that it has been a unanimous decision where a jury formed by Ana MarÃa Bordas, César Vallejo, Miriam GarcÃa Corrales, Pablo RodrÃguez, Tony Sanchez-Ohlsson, Rayden and MarÃa Eizaguirre.
THE SONG WILL BE CHOSEN INTERNALLY
Now comes the moment to select Sandra Valero’s song. RTVE will choose internally the song with which Spain will participate in the 21st edition of the European competition. The public broadcaster is expected to rely on a wide range of national and international composers, as it did in 2022. Finally, that song will be assigned to the individual artist or group chosen to represent our country. RTVE will assign the song that best suits their vocal characteristics.
SPAIN AT THE JUNIOREUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Spain participated in Junior Eurovision for the first time in 2003, being one of the 16 countries that opened the festival in Copenhagen (Denmark). In this first edition, Sergio with his song “Desde El Cielo” placed 2nd with 125 points. The following year, in Lillehammer (Norway), with 171 points, MarÃa Isabel with her “Antes Muerta Que Sencilla” achieved the only Spanish victory so far.
A new 2nd place in 2005 and a 4th place in 2006 were the end of a successful first stage for Spain in Junior Eurovision. In these first four consecutive editions, the contest gained great popularity among the Spanish public, thanks to a large extent to the pre-selections with which RTVE chose its representatives, such as Eurojunior. They were also the starting point for the musical careers of many of the singers who are now present in the Spanish music market, such as Blas Cantó (who represented Spain in 2021), Dani Fernández and Antonio José.
Despite the festival’s resounding success, the public corporation decided to withdraw from the event in 2007, claiming that it “promoted stereotypes that were not shared”. During these years of absence, public interest in Junior Eurovision continued and the EBU tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to bring Spain back to the contest. Finally, on 25 June 2019, RTVE announced its long-awaited return after 13 years of absence. In this second stage, the public broadcaster opted for internal elections and managed to maintain the good level of previous years. Both Melani and her song “Marte” in 2019 and Soleá and her “Palante” in 2021 achieved a great 3rd place. In 2021, Levi DÃaz with “ReÃr” reached the 15th position with 77 points.
In the recent edition held in Yerevan (Armenia), Carlos Higes with “Señorita” came in 6th place with 137 points, after being the second most voted entry of the 20th edition by the public on the online platform.
Spain is one of the countries with the best track record in Junior Eurovision, placing in the top six in seven of its eight participations.
JUNIOR EUROVISION 2023
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place on Sunday 26 November under the theme “Heroes” and is expected to have many new features. France is preparing to host the 21st edition of the children’s contest in the coastal city of Nice. On this occasion, the Palais Nikaïa has been chosen as the venue. Young artists from all over Europe will shine in a festival that returns to the month of November, after two editions held during the Christmas festivities.
As the main novelty of this year’s edition, the logo of the event incorporates the mythical Eurovision heart, just like 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. The official slogan and theme art for the 21st edition will be unveiled at a later date.
French television is counting on the great experience of Paris 2021 and will spare no effort and resources to offer us a high-level event that lives up to the format. The aim is to make this 21st edition of the festival “unique and unrepeatable”. Once again, France Télévisions aims to organise Junior Eurovision at the highest level.
France will once again host the contest which will have at its heart a celebration of music, friendship and diversity, where Europe’s young talents will take centre stage.
With two victories to its name, the French country will host the 21st edition of a children’s festival that year after year consolidates itself among young audiences and acquires greater potential and popularity to give visibility to new talents in the world of music.
In 2022, in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the Karen Demirchyan Complex hosted the competition for the second time in its history, as it did in 2011. There, France was the winner 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 via online voting.