Let me take you back to the First Semi Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest from Turin. More specifically let me take you to a certain timestamp, one hour, fifty-six minutes and twenty-five seconds into the online stream.
It is because it is at this point in the show, squeezed in between Diadato’s performance of ‘Fai Rumore’ and the introductions to the Big 5 artists, witness we a two minute long section to highlight Junior Eurovision. The way Junior Eurovision is highlighted is by a short interview with last year’s winner, Malena, as well as the briefest of looks at her taking the Junior Eurovision crown before a video montage of the Yerevan sights, and welcoming people there in December.
I’m going to make a brash and intentionally harsh comment now. This was the worst part of the entire Eurovision Song Contest from Turin. So bad that it is something I never want a Junior Eurovision act to ever be exposed to again.
Dissecting Those Two Minutes
Let’s go through each of the three parts of those two minutes in order, starting with the interview between host Alessandro Cattelan and Malena. I will give you all the pleasure of reading each line of this script in full below, with Malena’s words in italic text.
“And now let me introduce you to the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, from Armenia, give it up for Malena!”
“Ciao Italia! Good Evening Europe! Thank you for having me. I am so glad to be here.”
“Malena, welcome it is like your dream became reality at only fifteen years old.”
“You know, I’ve always been obsessed with Eurovision and it’s crazy for me. I still can’t believe that I am the girl holding the trophy and in the pictures and videos.”
“You deserve it and now after Paris 2021, next year’s Junior Eurovision….”
“This year!”
“This year! Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held in your own town, Yerevan. Am I right?”
“Yes!”
“Tell us three beautiful things about your hometown.”
“Only three?!”
“Pick your best.”
“OK, let me try. So I think the first one is the delicious food you can find in every corner, the second one is the kindest people you will ever meet, and the third one is the magical ancient places you have to visit so welcome to Armenia in December!”
“You make me wanna go there so thank you very much Malena. Good luck for your future and let’s see a video that celebrates you, your music and your hometown.”
Congratulations, by reading this far you have managed to get through some of the driest writing that the continent’s largest entertainment show has ever witnessed. It’s not the fault of either of the two people involved, but this little interview and its setting is complete fluff and offers nothing insightful about Malena or Yerevan.
The clips of Malena’s victory focus on the last mere seconds and focus on the emotional moments – the dramatic voting finale and the tears on stage upon realising she had been victorious. While ‘Qami Qami’ plays as the video overlay one doesn’t get to see any of the winning performance, and there is nothing to make it clear and obvious to the viewer that the song playing is the Junior Eurovision winner.
The video zooms then instead to artistic shots of Yerevan’s fine architecture, including the TV tower, opera and main square. Beautiful but ultimately nothing more than the type of footage one expects from scenic shots of any nation’s capital.
And also in all honesty the number of people who would be tempted by this little promo to Junior Eurovision in this cold month of December in Yerevan is likely in the double digits at most. That is a frivolous waste of Eurovision Song Contest airtime.
But am I against two minutes of time being used in a Eurovision Semi Final to showcase Junior Eurovision? Absolutely not. If anything, I think it needs a longer time. One minute longer to be precise.
Starting A New Tradition
Malena isn’t alone in being invited as the most recent Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner to the main Song Contest and getting thirty seconds of fame via interview format. This is the norm of how the winner of Junior Eurovision is presented again to the continent, and each year it offers the perfect chance in the show to nip out for a toilet break.
This is because none of these interviews are what the artists are there for. They haven’t won Junior Eurovision for their articulate use of English or their masterful skills to be the tourism representative for their nation. Instead they won Junior Eurovision for nothing more than their three minute performance.
So let them perform.
Instead of two minutes of waffle, the grand prize for winning Junior Eurovision should be that you get the right to perform your song at May’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The benefits to this are huge. Firstly the marketing and narrative aspect of Junior Eurovision now has a purpose. The right to perform at the big Eurovision Song Contest is something that can be used by each broadcaster as they advertise the show and build up momentum in each participating country. This is the carrot that will be promoted as the ‘end goal’ of Junior Eurovision, much as the winner of Britain’s Got Talent receives the right to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
Then we return to the fact that the winning performances of Junior Eurovision are entertainment in their own right. Malena may not be the best travel guide to Yerevan but she is undoubtedly one of the best performers from her hometown. ‘Qami Qami’ lies comfortably in the seven figures for streams and in the eight figures for music video views. It’s a hit song and a brilliant three minutes of songwriting and artistry that, as many have commented at the time, would be right at home amongst the rest of the Eurovision Song Contest.
And ‘Qami Qami’ is anything but an exception to this rule. The two recent Polish winners have been mega hits that have had constant radio airplay and feel at home regardless of whether the prefix Junior is placed in front of the word Eurovision or not. Prior to that both ‘Mzeo’ and ‘Wings’ show off a vocal talent that few other artists could match even if they happen to be over 16 years old. The odd one out of the pack is the 2020 winner ‘J’imagine’, a bubblegum Junior entry that does feel very children’s entertainment rather than the hybrid and older sounds of the other five I mention. But even that Barbara Pravi-written number is no embarrassment to Brand Eurovision, with a clever hook and charismatic performance that is charming to all from age 3 to 99.
Regardless of the style of song that wins Junior Eurovision all the recent winners have without question oozed one thing – quality. I feel safe in allowing the Junior Eurovision winner to perform the next May because time and time again the song and artist in question is unquestionably good enough to feel right at home there.
If you want to advertise Junior Eurovision to the rest of Europe, to the TV audience and to prospective broadcasters, the best advertisement was never Malena talking about Yerevan, but Malena rocking out a full PalaOlimpico. That image would surprise many and would change perceptions of what Junior Eurovision is all about for the better.
So why on Earth is this not happening?
The Decision
Despite the tradition of the meet-the-Junior-Eurovision-winner interview this practice is something that isn’t an annual directive to the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest.
A spokesperson for the Eurovision Broadcasting Union explained the current situation.
“There is no fixed format on how the JESC winner is presented in the ESC show. The Host Broadcaster is free to decide in which show and in which format the winner appears.”
That means for the 2023 Contest in Liverpool it will ultimately be the BBC who will decide on how this appearance will play out. This year is the first year the broadcaster has been a part of Junior Eurovision, and they have the power to take their debut enthusiasm through to the Liverpool Arena in May to give Junior Eurovision the biggest spotlight.
Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of both Junior Eurovision and the Eurovision Song Contest, commented on this at the Junior Eurovision Press Conference
“We haven’t made final plans for the three shows of Eurovision but we will try to include Junior Eurovision in some way.
“The songs and performances have improved at Junior Eurovision in recent years. Yet the Eurovision Song Contest is governed by a different board. We are not ruling it out but with more songs, interval acts and the like the Eurovision Song Contest is a crowded space.”
Allowing the artist to perform will show off talent, charisma and entertainment in ways an interview will never succeed in doing. Junior Eurovision has proven in recent years that it constantly succeeds in producing quality winning entries. The time will never be more perfect to start a new tradition that thrusts Junior Eurovision truly into the limelight and showcases just how talented our next generation of musical stars are.