Imagine a show held primetime across Europe with musical talents from across the European Broadcasting Union. After a brief introduction from the hosts the camera swings to the back of the audience and our well dressed jury being welcomed to the show. The interviews are stunted, but following them act one is wheeled out onto stage. Then act 2, act 3, act 4 and so on competing for the grand prize. Each individual performance is nit-picked, albeit oh-so-gently, by the expert jury. After every performance there’s a recap, some jury deliberation, and a dance number recap before the winner’s reprise brings the two hour spectacle to an end.
This is the model we have currently for Eurovision Young Musicians, the EBU’s competition for classically trained musicians, which was held most recently in Cologne this September. That competition is a biennial one that began in 1982. As a competition Young Musicians has many nods to current Eurovision trends, a producer-led running order, time limits for each performance (but much longer at over five minutes for classical musicians to showcase tons of musical movements) and just like Junior Eurovision prize awards for the top three acts. It should be no surprise that exchanging ideas like this flows between all these Eurovision concepts, with Jon Ola Sand now sitting on the Young Musicians Steering Group in his role as EBU’s Head of Live Events.
This Year’s Junior Differences
Since stepping into his new oversight of Junior Eurovision Jon Ola Sand has added numerous tweaks to the competition. The age limit has dropped to 14 years old, the show broadcasts on a Sunday afternoon, and the voting process will be 100% jury. Originally it was announced that this jury decision making would be split 50% between adult juries in each country, and 50% kids juries. We now understand that with the addition of these three extra jurors that ratio is slightly swung in the favour of the adult decision makers. Each juror has the power of one country vote, so in effect 20/37 (54 %) of the score is adult controlled.
Those juror choices also add to the knowledge sharing culture, but this time from the bigger Song Contest. Christer Bjorkman is the name most of us will recognise, the Contest Producer of Stockholm’s hosting this year. Christer has had many indirect hands in Junior Eurovision previously. His roles have included being head of the jury for SVT’s preselection Lilla Melodifestivalen and not only attending Junior Eurovision in Malta two years ago but was part of the jury selecting Destiny to win Malta’s selection show last year.
The second jury member is Mats Grimstad. From Denmark, Mats has the role of being Senior Project Leader for Universal Records. What that project is very relevant to the Song Contest. He is responsible for the release of Eurovision tracks across the participating nations. His job therefore is very close to the EBU hierarchy, after the EBU gave Universal control over the distribution process and song rights in 2014. Asking Mats Grimstad to be on the jury is basically as close as the EBU could ever be to selecting one of their own employees to judge the music.
The third member was still to be confirmed when the news was revealed, just two weeks before the show started. However it was eventually confirmed to be, wait for it, Jedward. The duo who represented Ireland in Eurovision in 2011 and 2012 have kept their hands firmly in Eurovision circles since. They appeared as an interval act in Sweden’s Melodifestivalen in 2013, was part of a comic sketch in Copenhagen’s hosting in 2014 and this year were expert jurors for Ireland’s own preselection to Junior Eurovision. Alarm bells should be ringing here, as this means that John and Edward Grimes have already been more than involved with their host entry, and I am certainly not alone in questioning their ability to be impartial.
Not only are all three jurors (Jedward we understand are just one entity with two heads) tied down in many ways to ensure the Song Contest is successful, one should also note that all three are safely Western European in a competition that is Eastern-dominated. One would expect these jurors to play honestly, but honest voting is incredibly essential given the way the competition will turn out. The adult and child juries will vote on the performances of Dress Rehearsal Two. The three members of the expert jury, just 8% of the final vote, will be decided on that final performance. Together they could swing 36 points for or against a winning song based on the results of Saturday’s jury performance. They could very much prove to be kingmakers, popular or otherwise.
Don’t Expect To Find The X Factor
The concept of a specially invited jury to sit on display is nothing new in terms of TV production, and one could certainly argue that the Eurovision Song Contest stands out as a show without the interference of opinionated experts. Indeed the premise to many primetime entertainment show is usually the opinions of the panelists getting the same airplay and hype as the acts themselves. Fans at home react positively or negatively to their manipulation which often makes the shows far more emotional to the viewer at home. Fans engage more.
There’s a multitude of reasons why Junior Eurovision’s expert panel won’t have the same effect. One is that we’re not expecting the model of one song followed by expert comments which entertainment TV viewing usually dictates. This was part the Young Musicians model, but it’s hard to see time for seventeen songs and performances to be critiqued in the show.
The second reason is that it’s going to be very hard for the jury comments to be very interesting. In Young Musicians the jurors can critique the technical in a way that is much harder in the world of singing without it sounding horrendously personal. That’s not going to happen in Junior Eurovision, and Christer Bjorkman is not going to transform overnight into the next Simon Cowell.
Christer Björkman is one of three jurors on the Junior Eurovision expert panel
The third issue one has is with language. Junior Eurovision’s aiming itself at a teenage audience in a way Young Musicians does not have the target audience for. Therefore the English used has to make itself easily understood from Lisadell to Latvia. Anybody attempting critique will have to not just make the language impersonal, but veer towards very simple English. It’s going to be get very boring very fast.
I don’t foresee that happening. The jurors are probably going to make their obligatory ‘what a wonderful show’ and ‘aren’t these kids all so talented’ comments just the one time as they reveal their points. There’s no production based desire to make the show more tedious, and remember there is no televoting for the production team to nudge. All of this begs the question. What point is there of even having this expert jury after all?
A Way Of Spreading Junior Appreciation?
One theory for the concept being introduced has to be that this is a way of inviting high-ranking people from new prospective Junior Eurovision territories into the show. Sweden’s two-year absence from the competition might surprise the EBU. Perhaps there’s a plan where bringing Mr. Melodifestivalen to the limelight might encourage a policy change back in Stockholm, and perhaps into the peculiarly absent Nordics. Jedward’s inclusion here may also try and lock this market where the Grimes twins still have an incredibly loyal fan base who may tune in and tweet repeatedly (do the kids still tweet or are they using something else now anyway?).
Having our Dane from Universal Records as well may also be a shrewd move to make the actions of the EBU just a little more commercial. One can see the obvious example first that it might help make this year’s Junior Eurovision songs have an easier route into a commercial future. However another likely goal is that through courting high flying production executives we are also more likely to see the Eurovision Song Contest dominated by established artists.
You could even possibly argue that this selection of three Western European experts is another chance to subtly swing the voting slightly westwards. Even with Malta and Italy holding the crown for the last three years Junior Eurovision can not shake off its reputation as an Eastern-dominated minefield. Such perceptions may be one factor putting broadcasters off from subjecting their young people to an uphill scoreboard battle.
Belarus’ Ruslan Aslanov performing in Sofia last year. In 13 Junior Eurovision appearances Belarus have 2 wins and 8 top-5 positions (Photo: Elena Volotova & Vladimir Dudakliev, EBU)
However these three jurors will only count for around 8% of the final vote. Their presence is unlikely to have any significant impact on the scoreboard. By inviting these experts into the competition might allow the EBU to gain some soft power credentials and maybe break out the show into new locations, but the chances are slim for a show 37 countries have tried and only 17 are still involved with. Junior Eurovision is just not everybody’s cup of tea.
Let’s put forward another theory. This isn’t a move in any way to nudge the competitive aspect of the show, but to nudge a new future for Junior Eurovision itself. One that makes this show a touch more like that Eurovision Young Musicians show earlier this year. Welcome to a future which we could call ‘Eurovision Young Singers.’
Moving Away From A Song Contest
The ‘song’ part of Junior Eurovision has had a turbulent history. Songs should have been written by the children in the early editions, but scandal after scandal of adults doing more than just helping led to these rules constantly being relaxed. We are now in a position in the competition where it’s rare to have songs even co-written by children, and those that claim to be written without adult assistance languish at the very bottom of the leaderboard.
If you assess what makes a good Junior Eurovision song against its bigger brother, the one big consideration is that when watching little kids perform we are looking for their talent to blow us away. Sure a big vocal in Eurovision is something spectacular, but when an 11-year-old smashes through multiple octaves this adoration is multiplied. Those last three Junior winning tracks had huge power vocals at their forefront in ways even the Eurovision Song Contest can never rival.
As a general population the viewers are not looking at Junior Eurovision for a hip, teenage show filled with hashtags and acronyms, they are looking to be impressed by amazing children. As much as we can write songs to fit these kids, it’s far less pressure on all sides to focus on the talent they have vocally. Malta has realised this already. They hold a National Final to select their Junior Eurovision entrant, but this 20 artist show is just a glorified talent show of popular covers. The much more difficult task of showing that off in a new song comes much later with many adults crafting out that success.
Calling Junior Eurovision a song contest feels fake when the process of a song and all the different elements that make up a great song performance are controlled by factors outside of the kids control. This doesn’t just apply to the composition but even the soft elements like choreography, camera angles, and the still obligatory overdose of fireworks some countries provide. Modelling like a talent show will mean countries may still want to pump resources into these departments, but the criteria to follow will be far more technical and focused on showing off talent.
We already have some great elements of Junior Eurovision that match up with the talent show more from previous years. The common song, as a part of the interval act, gives a great chance for all the acts to come together at the end of the show. Such group collaboration is even part of the judging criteria in the Eurovision Young Dancers. There’s no reason the same could not happen in Junior Eurovision.
This year with the judging panel in the Mediterranean Conference Centre, as well as the 100% jury voting, it feels like we are very much moving towards a similar format. At the moment the songs remain, and as much as many of them are very pleasant I can understand arguments that would rather classic covers and simply far more popular songs to be part of the show. Young Musicians and Young Dancers have been going on far longer in the EBU’s history without needing to rely on new music.
The fields are very different, but making what we call Junior Eurovision into a singing talent show might be a far easier pill for many to swallow. In theory that takes away the crazy routines, the awkwardly fitting songs and hopefully many of the political nuances between the acts from each country. It’s also far less effort for everybody involved too, which is important when we realise there will always be less commercial interest in child talents even if there’s a captive TV audience.
What has kept Junior Eurovision going all this time, despite the many stumbles on the way, is the fact talented children keep dazzling us. That’s the core to this show regardless of the rest of the package. Junior Eurovision is making steps to make that talent more of the focus and to make a much simpler model for the EBU to manage. Give it a few years of this progression and we may end up in something that might be Eurovision in name only.
‘The adult and child juries will vote on the performances of Dress Rehearsal Two. The three members of the expert jury, just 8% of the final vote, will be decided on that final performance’. So in effect the contest is all but decided before the artists step out on stage on Sunday. You could have the farcical scenario of someone totally messing up in the live broadcast and still being crowned winner.
As for JESC becoming a competition of singers with big voices covering Whitney Houston tracks – we have more than enough of that already with X-Factor, The Voice etc etc. If JESC goes the same way I for one won’t be watching. The fascination with ESC – both Adult and Junior – is the original songs. For sure, many of them are no more than average, and every year there are a number of turkeys, but don’t tell me the world isn’t a slightly better place for JESC giving us ‘Water of Life’ and ‘Besoj’.