On this Saturday, 23rd of July, the 20th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for Young musicians will take place in Montpellier, France, with the presence of Young artists by 9 competing countries, which is the lowest number since the second edition of 1984. This contest is an international event of classical music made for radio and television, with a clear public service intention of showing the different talent that young European musicians have to offer in relation to classical music.
The event, which has been held biannually since 1982, with the exception of 2020 due to the difficult situation of the pandemic at that time has been won by eleven countries, being Austria the one with the best results overall, having won 5 editions, followed by Poland with 3, Germany and The Netherlands with 2, and Norway, Slovenia, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Sweden and Greece having won once. Some of the most successful winners have achieved international success, like Julian Rachlin (violin), Natalie Cline (cello), or Elvind Holtsmark Ringstad (viola). The last edition in 2018 was held in Edinburgh and was won by the Russian pianist Ivan Bessonov, who won a 7000€ price.
This year the contest is being organized by 2 different broadcasters: French radio and television and Telewisja polska from Poland. It will be the first EBU event to be hosted by more tan one broadcaster.
The show will be hosted by the playwright Judith Chaine, who has been hosting Musiques en fete since 2007, with Vincent Delbushaye, a radio presenter of belgian origin, as a co-host
The jurors of the contest were revealed on 5th July 2022. They are the lithuanian pianist Mūza Rubackytė, who will act as the chairwoman of the jury,Swiss oboist Nora Cismondi, director of Festival Radio France Montpellier Jean-Pierre Rosseau, French cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca, and Albanian violonist Tedi Papavrami. Each jury member will give each participant an independent score between 1 and 10 points, judging their technical accuracy, quality of sound, interpretation and performance. In case of ties, the different jury members could debate the different positions. Apart from these scores, which have always been maintained secret, only revealing the top three, the jury members usually comment on the event in general and all the performances in particular.
This years’ contest will have the performances by 9 different artists, aged from 12 to 21 years old. Initially only 8 countries had signed for the competition, but later Croatia confirmed their presence in Montpellier. The number is still a big step backward from 2018, when 18 countries competed and auditions needed to be made in order to select the finalists. Noting the low number of participants this year only a final will be made, with the future of the contest depending on future editions.
Here are all the details regarding the countries, performers, running order, instrument and the pieces that the artists are going to perform:
| 1 | Croatia | Ivan Petrović-Poljak | Piano | Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat minor by F. Liszt |
| 2 | France | Maxime Grizard | Cello | Concerto for cello by A. Dvořák |
| 3 | Poland | Milena Pioruńska | Violin | Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor by H. Wieniawski |
| 4 | Germany | Philipp Schupelius | Cello | Pezzo Capriccioso op.62 by P.I. Tchaikovsky |
| 5 | Austria | Alexander Svetnitsky-Ehrenreich | Clarinet | 3rd mvt from Concerto No. 2 for clarinet in E flat major by C.M. von Weber |
| 6 | Norway | Alma Serafin Kraggerud | Violin | Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso op.28 by C. Saint-Saëns |
| 7 | Belgium | Thaïs Defoort | Cello | 1st mvt from Cello concerto in E minor op.85 by E. Elgar |
| 8 | Sweden | Lukas Flink | Trombone | 1st mvt from Trombone Concerto by H. Tomasi |
| 9 | Czech republic | Daniel Matejča | Violin | 3rd and 4th mvt Violin Concerto No. 1 by D. Shostakovich |
The show will be broadcasted live on 23rd July 2022 at 21.00 CET time by the participating broadcasters. It is unsure upon the writing of this article whether or not it will be broadcasted live by the EBU through their youtube channel as no official announcement or advertisement of the event has been made on that platform as it did in 2018. Escplus will provide a multiscreen in order to help its viewers watch the contest live. If you prefer to see the show via satellite tv, these are the different broadcasters and the date of broadcasting:
| Country | Broadcaster | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | WDR Fernsehen | 24th of July – 07:40 CET |
| Austria | ORF 2 | 24th of July – 22:10 CET |
| Bélgium | La Trois y RTBF Auvio Radio: Musiq’3 | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| Croatia | HRT 3 | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| France | Culturebox (France 4) Radio: France Musique | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| Norway | NRK 1 | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| Poland | TVP Kultura | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| Czech Republic | ČT art | LIVE – 21:00 CET |
| Sweden | SVT 2 SVT Play | 29th of July– No timeslot yet |