Some loves it, others can’t be bothered – and then there are those Eurovision fans who follow it just because it has Eurovision in its name. 12 Eurovision fans talk about their relationship to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is based on a Danish idea, which then turned into a Scandinavian event with Sweden and Norway taking part too. EBU saw potential and took this idea to the European stages starting in 2003. Denmark eventually pulled out after just three years. They have however continued their own MGP final ever since – and it’s still a popular TV show. The Danish broadcaster DR pulled out as the Eurovision Junior show wasn’t what they had in mind: Children having fun. Instead they saw Children dressed as adults performing adult songs.

While the Junior Eurovision Song Contest has many similarities to the Eurovision Song Contest, one thing is significantly different: The winning country does not get to host the show the following year. This year, Poland is officially hosting the Junior show, but none of the participants will perform from there. For each participants a pre-recorded live performance from a national TV studio will be shown.

Eurovision fans about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Does the Junior Eurovision Song Contest appeal to Eurovision fans? We asked our Fan Panel which consists of team members as well as fans from all over the world. They were all asked whether or not they watch the show.

🇬🇧 Michael O. – Yes I will watch it, just because it’s connected to Eurovision. I won’t keep track of the songs, and won’t really care which one wins, but every now and again, a little gem makes its way on to the stage.

🇨🇿 Josef Š. – I watched Junior Eurovision Song Contest for a few years now, because I love getting new songs. And the quality goes up every year. Some songs would be great to have at the adult Eurovision as well and some countries may be very successful at Junior Eurovision but poor at the actual Eurovision. It’s good to have full picture of the music and the differences between both shows. I think everyone should give it a chance. The last two or three years are something I strongly recommend! ❤

🇩🇰 Charlotte J. – I haven’t watched the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in many years. I use to watch it, but I am all along the lines of the Danish broadcaster. While the Danish junior final continued to have its charm, Junior Eurovision didn’t. They forgot that this was meant as a children’s show. If things have improved lately, I wouldn’t know, but I intend to find out this year. I plan to watch the 2020 edition just for the sake of the show – could this be how next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be? We don’t know, but with that thought in mind, I will watch it this year.

🇵🇹 Linete A. – I actually love Eurovision Junior and have been following it closely for the past three years! Pity that this year there are only 12 participants, but the songs are all beautiful ❤️

🇳🇱 Jacques H. – The only time I was ‘interested’ in Junior Eurovision Song Contest was in 2012 when it was hosted in Amsterdam. I can’t remember a thing, apart from having ‘Break The Ice’ as a weird slogan. At that time I covered Eurovision for the #1 entertainment press agent in The Netherlands, so I did what I had to do. I reported the winner Ukraine and that was it. The songs are dreadful. The kids can hardly sing and it just appeals to other kids. Sorry, not my cup of tea, or Fanta…

🇫🇮 Martti I. – Honestly I have not been following every year. When Sweden took part I could watch the shows from TV, but later on not really. There is definitely lots of talented Kids, sometimes even better songs than in the adult contest, but I am not that interested. Something irritates here and that’s the contest part. Kids should be allowed just to have fun without the disappointments.

🇨🇴 🇫🇮 Alvaro S. – I don’t watch it. Some friends tried to introduce me to the show, but it was not my thing. From what I have seen there are many children acts pretending to be adults for the sake of the contest. There an exploitative element about it which I don’t like.

🇪🇸 Alexander S. – I used to watch Eurovision junior the first years because my country won once, placed very well and the songs were children type of songs /performances. However, these last years my country withdrew and the songs are very random and lyrics are more into adult minds, and besides at the beginning there was a big variety in languages, now almost like the senior, all sing in English which makes the songs unnatural….this is my humble opinion.

🇸🇪 Jill R. – I haven´t seen Junior Eurovision for a long time. Here in Sweden it hardly gets any attention and Sweden haven’t participated since 2014. It isn´t even aired on TV here. I saw the first years, but I didn´t like that some countries treated Junior Eurovision as a miniature version of ESC for adults; dressing up little girls in sexy outfits and doing grown up choreography instead of treating it like a competition for children. Hopefully that has changed now. Maybe it could be fun to watch it again with my own kids, since they enjoy the regular ESC.

🇬🇧 Steve P. – I have never watched the Junior Eurovision and never plan to! There is nothing more annoying than child performers in this context. We can all appreciate the school nativity play or the many wrong and bad notes at a concert performed by children learning a musical instrument. However, Junior Eurovision stretches tolerance levels too far! There is too much potential for spoilt brats who believe they are stars to ‘grace’ the screen. It’s a bad idea that may have had novelty value, but that novelty has long since worn off!

🇳🇱 🇩🇰 Wouter V. – I don’t watch it. Honestly, can’t really be bothered. In contrast to the Eurovision Song Contest, I don’t feel like I have a stake in it. Even when The Netherlands won in 2009, it didn’t feel like we won. Maybe it’s because the winning country doesn’t also win the right and obligation to host a prestigious event. Or maybe all of those are just excuses, and I just don’t watch it because I don’t have children to watch it with.

🇺🇸 Grace W. – It was 2015 when I first watched Eurovision and fell into the rabbit hole of all things Eurovision related, so naturally I watched Junior Eurovision that year. I also watched it in 2016, but haven’t seen it since then because they changed from Saturdays to Sundays and I’m usually in church when it airs. I’ll follow the songs, but now Junior Eurovision seems childish and pales in comparison to the big contest; some of the singers are way too good for a children’s contest.

The 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest takes place on the 29th of November at 17:00. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all acts will be shown in a LIVE performance from a studio in their home country. 12 acts will take part. In the coming days, we’ll put focus on these participating songs. Stay tuned on EuroVisionary as fans discuss this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest entries.