Almost half a year before the Eurovision Song Contest takes place, France is already preparing for what will be another of the great musical competitions of the Old Continent. This coming weekend, Nice will host all the events corresponding to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, an event that has been gaining a lot of media popularity over the years.
Spain will be represented by the Valencian artist Sandra Valero. The performer, who will try to fight for the crystal microphone, will sing Ella Loviu’s song to open the gala. After her, the candidates from the other fifteen countries that will be present in the contest will perform: Malta, Ukraine, Ireland, United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Estonia, Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Portugal, France, Albania, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands .
The Junior Eurovision 2023 format
Although there were many similarities with the older version of the contest, Junior Eurovision presents some significant difference in its regulations such as the obligation to sing in the mother tongue of the country that each singer represents. There are also no semi-finals, so their duration is limited to the grand final on Sunday.
Otherwise, the dynamics are quite similar. Each country gives scores from 1 to 8, in addition to 10 and 12, to the performances that their juries liked the most. These evaluations will come from the exclusive pass for the judges that will be held on Saturday. 50% of the remaining points correspond to the famous televoting.
Viewers will be able to rate their favorite artists through the official website part Festival de Eurovisin Junior. Voting will open on Friday, November 24, at 8:00 p.m., and can be cast until the day of the contest. Internet users will have to choose their three favorite songs.
The main favorites
Sandra Valero will try to improve the performance of Carlos Higes, who finished in sixth place in the 2022 edition. The last podium from Spain was in 2019, when Melani García came third. To find Spain’s last victory we have to go back to 2004, when María Isabel won the contest with its famous Before dead than simple.
Looking at the number of views of the official videos of the songs on YouTube, Spain could be one of the biggest favorites, since Sandra Valero’s video is the most viewed of all the candidates. Loviu has more than 600,000 views and its only rival in numerical terms is the proposal from Armenia, with 579,000.
The specialized website Wiwibloggs It also points to the Armenian candidacy as the top favorite, leaving Spain in fourth place. North Macedonia and Ukraine will occupy the positions of honor according to their forecasts.
Presenters from all spheres
The gala will be hosted by Olivier Minne, Laury Thilleman and Ophenya. Minne is a television presenter and actor with dual Belgian and French nationality; Laury is a model and journalist, in addition to being the winner of the Miss France pageant in 2011; and Ophenya represents the digital profile of the new generations for being a well-known content creator on TikTok, where she has almost five million followers.
