They may not have a singer in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, RTVSLO, Slovenia’s representative broadcaster for the event, will still broadcast the show leaving the door open for a return to the contest next year. The JESC show will air on SLO 2Â on Sunday, November 20, at 16.00.
The contest, going into its 14th cycle, returns to JESC powerhouse Malta, but the Slovenes won’t be singing along. The country debuted 2014, in one of the ‘golden years’ of the contest, when the amount of competitors for JESC had climbed back close to historic highs. But after just two tries and a very good placing in 2015 with Lina Kuduzović singing “Prva Ljubezen” and reaching the top 3, Slovenia decided to pass on this year’s celebrations. Despite losing a few competitors, the contest will still feature 17 or Europe’s finest singing talents, aged 10-15.
The announcement of the RTVSLO to air the contest however, is a positive sign for fans that Slovenia could decide to take part in the 2017 edition, but no indication actually came from the broadcaster on whether or not they were considering participation in 2017. Only the details of this year’s broadcast were mentioned.
Each country must air the previous year’s broadcast in order to be eligible to compete in the following year’s event. At the very least, a generation of young Slovenes can watch the contest which, despite claiming a winner, is known for being a fun event for kids with less emphasis on the competition as with the main Eurovision Song Contest. The party and events for the participants surrounding the competition are engaged with the enjoyment of the kids in mind.
Here’s hoping for a Slovene entry in 2017 to match the quite wonderful 2015 entry!