Junior Eurovision Song Contest over the decade

Words from Kyriakos Tsinivits and Alyce Collett

As the decade comes to a close it’s time to take a look at the best Junior Eurovision Songs of the decade, from 2010 to 2019. Unlike the main Eurovision Song Contest edition, there was a voting change part way through the decade as online voting was introduced in 2016. In this article Alyce and Kyriakos take a look at the top three entries from each year and an honourable mention that we believe was underrated.

2010 - Minsk, Belarus - Feel The Magic

Info by Kyriakos

1st place - Vladimir Arzumanyan - Mama - Armenia (120 points)

The first JESC winner of the decade was a victory for Armenia. They were runner ups the year before and again in their debuting year in 2007. Their winning song “Mama” was composed by the Canadian-Armenian music composer, and songwriter DerHora who also composed Armenia’s infamous 2008 ESC entry “Qele, Qele” for Sirusho.

2nd place - Sasha Lazin and Liza Drozd - Boy and Girl - Russia (119 points)

Sasha and Liza’s swing inspired cute performance of “Boy and Girl” got Russia their second runner up place in a row. They maintained Russia great record in JESC remaining in the top 10 ever since their debut in 2005.

3rd place - Sonja Skoric - Carobna Noc / Magical Night - Serbia (113 points)

Sonja smashed it with her very strong and beautiful performance of her song “Carobna Noc”. She got Serbia a third place finish. It was their equal highest placing, their first third place was achieved by Nevena Bozovic (who went on to represent Serbia twice in ESC, the last time this year) in 2007 with her song “Pisi mi”. Unfortunately the year after Serbia withdrew. They did return in 2014, but haven’t been able to return to the top 5.

Honourable mention - Nicole Azzopardi - Knock Knock!... Boom! Boom! - 13th place - Malta (35 points)

Nicole and her backup dancers wear the most iconically colourful dresses in 2010, and together with their fun dance routine made for a very uplifting performance. Unfortunately, it was the first time in three years that Malta missed the top 10. They withdrew the following year, but their absence in the JESC was short lived.

2011 - Yerevan, Armenia - Reach for the top!

Info by Alyce

Fun fact: Australia played a part in the voting for the first time. Although SBS had been broadcasting the Contest since the inaugural show in 2003, this time around Australia gave every country 12 points to start off with.

1st place - CANDY - Candy Music - Georgia (108 points)

CANDY’s quirky disco song about all kinds of sweets secured Georgia’s second win in Junior Eurovision history and what would be the first this decade. Georgia managed to harness support from across Europe, gaining points from every fellow competing nation’s jury.

2nd place - Rachel - Teenager - The Netherlands (103 points)

The Netherlands’ best result this decade came in the form of a catchy pop song from 13 year old Rachel about being a teenager. Like Georgia, The Netherlands also got points from all the other countries.

3rd place - Lidiya Zablotskaya - Angely Dobra - Belarus (99 points)

Angely Dobra, which translates to Angels of Good, was written, composed and sung by Lidiya, was well staged and landed the equal best result for Belarus this decade. Like Georgia and The Netherlands, Lidiya also got points from every single one of the other countries.

Honourable mention - Info by Kyriakos

Dalita - Welcome to Armenia - 5th place - Armenia (85 points)

Now Dalita gives Scooch a run for their money with her air host themed performance as she welcomes us to Armenia. The Armenian feel to the song, with the breakdancing kid makes for an excellent performance worthy for them to use as a tourism ad. So fitting for the host country’s entry to be your airline host.

2012 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Break The Ice

Info by Alyce

1st place - Anastasiya Petryk - Nebo - Ukraine (138 points)

Nebo, which translates to The Sky, was sung by 10 year old Anastasiya Petryk, who wrote and composed the song, and achieved Ukraine’s first victory at Junior Eurovision. To date Anastasiya’s win is the biggest winning margin in JESC history..

2nd place - The Funkids - Funky Lemonade - Georgia (103 points)

The Funkids’ very funky and kid friendly sounding track about lemonade almost won Georgia their second title in a row, but ultimately fell short. They managed to get points from every fellow competitor’s jury, but none of the juries gave them 12 points.

3rd place - Compass Band - Sweetie Baby - Armenia (98 points)

Classmates and close friends Compass Band took their rock song Sweetie Baby to third place. Interestingly enough, the song was written and composed by Davit Paronikyan, the soloist from the band. The band managed to get points from all bar one country, Azerbaijan.

Honourable mention - Info by Kyriakos Fabian - Abracadabra - 5th place - Belgium (72 points)

Nothing beats a Justin Beiber look-a-like singing about magic, with a performance with magic tricks performed by his two assistants who make his guitarist, and then his keyboard player appear, like magic, to join in his performance.

2013 - Kyiv, Ukraine - Be Creative

Info by Alyce

1st place - Gaia Cauchi - The Start - Malta (130 points)

Malta’s first ever Eurovision win at either Junior or Adult level was also the first time a winning song at Junior Eurovision had been performed entirely in English. The Netherlands,

North Macedonia, Ukraine and Moldova each gave Malta 12 points, and Malta got points from every opponent.

2nd place - Sofia Tarasova - We Are One - Ukraine (121 points)

Like Georgia the year before, Ukraine almost went back to back but fell just short. The talented 12 year old Sofia, with a long list of awards and achievements even before entering Junior Eurovision, helped co write the song. Like Malta, Ukraine also got points from every fellow competing country.

3rd place - Ilya Volkov - Poy so Mnoy - Belarus (108 points)

Ilya’s fun, uptempo dance song Poy so Mnoy secured Belarus’ second third place finish in three years. Like the two entries who finished above him, Ilya managed to get points from every other fellow competing country.

Fun fact, Ilya performed at Junior Eurovision the previous year, but as a dancer. According to the Junior Eurovision website “Shortly before the start of National Selection 2012, the BTRC production team received a lot of emails and letters with these words: "Please do not change this boy; he's dancing with passion!"”

Honourable mention - Info by Kyriakos

The Peppermints - Breaking my Heart - place - San Marino

“You’re breaking my heart, You don’t understand!” some catchy lyrics from this memorable entry! The Peppermints who represented San Marino gave an energetic performance with their awesome dance routine and coloured skirts. The band still exists though now only a trio with only one original member from JESC left.

2014 - Marsa, Malta - #Together

Info by Alyce

1st place - Vincenzo Cantiello - Tu Primo Grande Amore - Italy (159 points)

Italy’s debut gave them instant success, with 14 year old Vincenzo Cantiello wowing audiences with his emotional song “Tu Primo Grande Amore (You are my very first love)” and taking the title in Valetta. To date Italy are the only country (apart from Croatia the first winners of JESC) that had a victory on their debut.

2nd place - Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim - Planet of the Children - Bulgaria (147 points)

Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim and their song of hope achieved Bulgaria’s best result of the decade. They got 12 points from a wide variety of countries, including Serbia, the Netherlands, Croatia and Cyprus.

3rd place - Betty - People of the Sun - Armenia (146 points)

11 year old Betty (Elizabeth Danielyan) and her happy bop of a song managed to gather support from all over Europe, receiving points from all fellow competing countries, and getting higher points from usual eastern allies like Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. Surprisingly enough Betty got more 12 points than Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim from Bulgaria did.

Honourable mention - Info by Kyriakos

The Peppermints - Breaking My Heart - 15th place - San Marino (21 points)

“You’re breaking my heart, You don’t understand!” some catchy lyrics from this memorable entry! The Peppermints who represented San Marino gave an energetic performance with their awesome dance routine and coloured skirts. The band still exists though now only a trio with only one original member from JESC left.

2015 - Sofia, Bulgaria - #Discover

Info by Alyce

1st place - Destiny Chukunyere - Not My Soul - Malta (185 points)

Malta’s second win of the decade came about through a powerful performance from 13 year old Destiny Chukunyere with her boppy song “Not My Soul”. Destiny managed to get points from all fellow competing countries to take the title.

2nd place - Mika - Love - Armenia (176 points)

Mika’s delightful song about the benefits of love delivered Armenia’s second top three finish in a row. Despite getting high points from the usual suspects Georgia, Russia and Belarus, they also got a high number of points from countries like the Netherlands, San Marino and Australia.

3rd place - Lina Kuduzović - Prva ljubezen - Slovenia (112 points)

Lina’s sweet song Prva ljubezen, which translates in English to First Love, delivered Slovenia’s best result of the decade, but was also unfortunately it’s last participation at Junior Eurovision to date.

Honourable mention -

Mishela Rapo - Dambaje - 5th place - Albania (93 points)

Albania haven’t had a great run the past few years, but it hasn’t always been the case. Dambaje has one of the most catchy choruses ever, and is a song that you just can’t help but bop and sing along to, no matter what language you speak.

2016 - Valletta, Malta - Embrace

Info by Alyce

1st place - Mariam Mamadashvili - Mzeo - Georgia (239 points)

Mariam’s haunting movie-esque song “Mzeo” gave Georgia it’s third win in Junior Eurovision and second this decade. Proving that diplomatic issues don’t always trickle down to children, Georgia both received points from Russia and also gave Russia points.

2nd place - Anahit & Mary - Tarber - Armenia (232 points)

One of the most popular entries in the fandom, Armenia’s third top three finish in a row came after a high energy performance of just as high energy song, about the power of music to unite people despite their differences.

3rd place - Fiamma Boccia - Cara Mamma - Italy (209 points)

Another simply staged performance, Fiamma’s emotional song “Cara Mamma (Dear Mum)” is a song of appreciation to her mum. Fiamma was able to draw support from all over Europe, including surprisingly only one 12 points.

Honourable mention -

Alexa Curtis - We Are - 5th place - Australia (202 points)

In what has since become a bit of a trend for Australian entries, Alexa Curtis sang the first of what would become many Australian songs about empowerment. However, even all these years later, this song still feels fresh and fun. It’s definitely Australia’s highest scoring entry for a reason.

2017 - Tbilisi, Georgia - Shine Bright

Info by Alyce

1st place - Polina Bogusevich - Wings - Russia (188 points)

Bogusevich delivered an emotional and polished performance to deliver Russia’s second win in Junior Eurovision. “Wings” was popular right across the geo-political spectrum, gaining jury votes from every other fellow competing countries.

2nd place - Grigol Kipshidze - Voice Of The Heart - Georgia (185 points)

A peaceful, simple performance almost gave Georgia it’s second win in a row. Like Russia, Georgia got jury points from every other competing country and surprisingly enough actually got more 12 points than Russia.

3rd place - Isabella Clarke - Speak Up - Australia (172 points)

Isabella Clarke’s high energy performance of her motivational song “Speak Up” gave Australia its first top three finish in the competition. Like Georgia and Russia, Australia managed to get jury points from all their fellow competitors, and surprisingly Australia only managed to get one set of 12 points that year.

Honourable mention -

Mariana Venâncio - Youtuber - 14th place - Portugal (54 points)

In hindsight, this definitely should have placed higher than it did. A fun and catchy song with just as much fun and quirky staging. What’s not to love about that? Also, how can you not help but sing along to “Youtuber, Youtuber, Youtuber”?

2018 - Minsk, Belarus - #LightUp

Info by Alyce

1st place - Roksana Węgiel - Anyone I Want To Be - Poland (215 points)

Poland's first win at either Junior or Adult level came with a well polished and professional performance from Roksana Węgiel. Surprisingly enough, Roksana only got one 12 points from a jury, and got most of her points from the televote.

2nd place - Angélina - Jamais Sans Toi - France (203 points)

France returned to the competition for the first time in 14 years with a bang. The delightful song about friendship was highly catchy and bubbly, and a well deserved second place. Angélina was able to connect with jurors and fans across the geopolitical divide, also getting a higher number of televotes than jury votes and getting jury votes from countries such as Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

3rd place - Jael - Champion - Australia (201 points)

Australia’s second top 3 finish in a row saw another inspiring performance, this time from fellow Melbournian Jael Wena. Australia also won the jury vote, but unfortunately for Aussie fans, in what is becoming a bit of a pattern for Aussie entries Jael was resigned to a respectable 3rd place after not doing as well in the televote.

Honourable mention -

Marija Spasovska - Doma - 12th place - FYR Macedonia (99 points)

Oh the Macedonian 12th placed curse. This is a case of a brilliantly staged entry not reaping the benefits at the voting stage. It was a haunting performance of an emotional song that for some reason didn’t translate into the required votes. A mystery that baffles some to this day.

2019 - Gliwice-Silesia, Poland - Share the Joy

Info by Alyce

1st place - Viki Gabor - Superhero - Poland (278 points)

Poland’s second victory was arguably just as well put together as their first. Viki Gabor performed with maturity and confidence well beyond her years, and together with a very well put together staging saw Poland make history as the first country to go back to back in JESC.

2nd place - Yerzhan Maxim - Armanyńnan Qalma - Kazakhstan (227 points)

Kazakhstan’s second attempt at Eurovision achieved it’s best result, with Yerzhan Maxim‘s Disney-esque song wowing juries enough to win the jury count. The online voting didn’t go so well for Kazakhstan, but the jury score was still enough for Yerzhan to finish with the silver medal.

3rd place - Melani Garcia - Marte - Spain (212 points)

Spain’s return to the contest this year, after a hiatus of 12 years, saw the Iberian nation maintain its perfect top 5 record in the junior contest. Melani Garcia’s beautiful operatic song “Marte” received points from 15 of the juries and the second highest online voting score.

Honourable mention -

Anna Kearney - Banshee - 12th place - Ireland (73 points)

In the days leading up to this year’s contest, a lot of the talk was around Ireland, and there was talk of Ireland being the dark horse to win. An amazing and beautiful song combined with captivating staging left Irish fans feeling excited and hopeful.

Unfortunately when it came to voting, that excitement quickly evaporated as Ireland failed to get very many votes and once again finished outside the top 10 for the fourth time out of five attempts. This left many people after the contest feeling as though Ireland had been underrated and/or robbed.

Overall analysis of most successful country in Junior Eurovision this decade

Info by Alyce

Now you may be wondering, who is the most successful country is this decade? Is it Malta, Poland or Georgia? Who have won the contest twice this decade?

We look at the average placing of each country over the decade. Now Poland won back to back and do make the top 5 of the list of the most successful country this decade, but it is actually Spain that comes out on top.

After their top 3 finish this year, they top the list, calculated by average placing, with an average place of, you guessed it, three. Though they only competed once this decade their top placing skews the list.

In 2nd place is France, who after two top 5 placings this decade have an average place of 3.5.

Third place is Kazakhstan, who have had two successive top 10 finishes to finish the decade with an average placing of 4.

Rounding out the top 5 are Armenia (average place 4.6) and Poland (average place 5.25).

The remainder of the list is as follows: 6th – Russia (Average Place 5.3) 7th – Australia (Average Place 5.4) 8th – Georgia (Average Place 5.8) 9th – Belgium (Average Place 6.33) 10th – Belarus (Average Place 6.5) 11th – Bulgaria (Average Place 7) 12th – Malta (Average Place 7.35) 13th – Italy and Slovenia (Average Place 7.5 ) 15th – The Netherlands (Average Place 7.8) 16th – Lithuania (Average Place 8) 17th – Ukraine (Average Place 8.5) 18th – Moldova (Average Place 8.75) 19th – Sweden (Average Place 9.6) 20th – Serbia (Average Place 10.86) 21st – Azerbaijan (Average Place 11.33) 22nd – Latvia (Average Place 11.5) 23rd – North Macedonia (Average Place 11.86) 24th – Israel (Average Place 12.3) 25th – Ireland (Average Place 12.8) 26th – Albania (Average Place 12.84) 27th – San Marino (Average Place 13) 28th – Montenegro (Average Place 13.5) 29th – Cyprus (Average Place 13.67) 30th – Croatia and Portugal (Average Place 16) 32nd - Wales (Average Place 19)