The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the inaugural edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 15 November 2003, in Copenhagen, Denmark. With Camilla Ottesen and Remee as the presenters, the contest was won by the then eleven-year-old Dino Jelusić, who represented Croatia with his song "Ti si moja prva ljubav" while second and third place went to Spain and the United Kingdom respectively. The next time that a country would win on its first attempt was Italy in 2014.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the second edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 20 November 2004, in Håkons Hall, Lillehammer, Norway and lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was presented by Stian Barsnes Simonsen and Nadia Hasnaoui, broadcast in twenty countries and viewed by 100 million people. Eighteen countries participated, France and Switzerland participated for the first time.
Croatia participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times, and won the inaugural edition in 2003. Croatian broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT), a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the country's participation. Croatia participated in the first four editions, from 2003 to 2006, organising a national final to select the country's entrant. The first representative to participate for Croatia was Dino Jelusić with the song "Ti si moja prva ljubav", which finished in first place out of sixteen participating entries, with a score of 134 points. Croatia was absent from the contest between 2007 and 2013, but HRT decided to return to the contest in 2014 and selected their entry internally. In 2014, Josie finished in last place for Croatia with the song "Game Over", after which HRT again withdrew from competing the following year.
The United Kingdom first participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the inaugural 2003 edition which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. ITV, a member organisation of the United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting (UKIB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), was responsible for the selection process of their participation from 2003 to 2005. The United Kingdom used a national selection format, broadcasting a show entitled Junior Eurovision Song Contest: The British Final, for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Tom Morley with the song "My Song For The World", which finished in third place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of one hundred and eighteen points. The United Kingdom withdrew from competing after the 2005 contest, but returned to the contest in 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia, with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) replacing ITV as the country's broadcaster, the country withdrew again before the 2024 Edition in Madrid.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the fourth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged 8 to 15. On 2 December 2006, the contest was broadcast live from Bucharest, Romania making it the second time the contest had been held in a capital city. It was organised by the Romanian national broadcaster, Romanian Television (TVR), in co-operation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Sweden has participated at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its inception in 2003. Two broadcasters have been responsible for Sweden's entries at Junior Eurovision – from 2003 to 2005, Sveriges Television (SVT) was responsible, before withdrawing with other Nordic broadcasters. From 2006 to 2009, commercial broadcaster TV4 was responsible for Sweden's entry at the Junior Eurovision.
The participation of Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The current Spanish participant broadcaster in the contest is Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). Spain used a national selection format, broadcasting a show entitled Eurojunior, for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Sergio with the song "Desde el cielo", which finished in second place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of 125 points. Spain did not participate from 2007 to 2018, but returned to the contest in 2019.
Norway has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest three times and was the host of the 2004 Contest, held in the Norwegian city of Lillehammer.
Cyprus has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest nine times since debuting at the first contest in 2003. The country's best result was eighth place, which was achieved both at the 2004 and 2006 contests with Marios Tofi and the song "Oneira" and Luis Panagiotou and Christina Christofi and the song "Agoria koritsia" respectively. The national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) has hosted the event for Cyprus once, in 2008 in Limassol. The nation's last appearance in the contest was in 2017, they will return in 2024 for the contest in Madrid.
Belarus has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in every edition since its inception in 2003 until 2020. The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC), then a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has been responsible for the selection process of its participants since its debut. The country hosted the contest at the Minsk-Arena in 2010 and again in 2018.
The participation of Latvia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. Latvia used a national selection format, broadcasting shows entitled "Bērnu Eirovīzija" and later "Balss Pavēlnieks", for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Dzintars Čīča with the song "Tu esi vasarā", which finished in ninth place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of thirty-seven points. Latvia were originally absent from the competition from 2006 to 2009. Latvia briefly returned in 2010 and 2011 however again withdrew from competing after the contest held in Yerevan, and have yet to make their return to the contest.
Switzerland participated once in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI), a member organization of the multilingual Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. The only representative to participate for the nation was Demis Mirarchi with the song "Birichino", which finished in sixteenth place out of eighteen participating entries, achieving a score of four points. Switzerland did not compete in subsequent editions due to financial difficulties.
France has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in Lillehammer, Norway, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004. France Télévisions, a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is responsible for the selection process of their participation. The first representative to participate for the nation was Thomas Pontier with the song "Si on voulait bien", which finished in sixth place out of eighteen participating entries, achieving a score of seventy-eight points. France did not participate after 2004, and made its return to the contest in 2018, 14 years later. France has won the contest on three occasions: in 2020, with Valentina and the song "J'imagine", in 2022, with Lissandro and the song "Oh Maman!", and in 2023, with Zoé Clauzure and the song "Cœur".
The participation of Israel in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) were responsible for the selection process of their participation in 2012 and 2016, with the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) taking over participation from 2018. The first representative to participate for the nation was Kids.il with the song "Let the Music Win", which finished in eighth place out of twelve participating entries, achieving a score of 68 points. Israel did not return to the contest in 2013, and also sat out of the 2014 and 2015 contests. However, following their success at the 2015 and 2016 Eurovision Song Contests, the IBA expressed an interest in making a return to competing at Junior Eurovision. Israel returned to the contest in 2016, with their entrant being selected internally. Israel then withdrew from the contest in 2017, before returning again in 2018, and withdrawing again in 2019.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the thirteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT was the host broadcaster for the event. The final took place on 21 November 2015 and was held at the Arena Armeec in Sofia. Poli Genova, a Bulgarian singer and former representative of Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, hosted the show. A total of seventeen countries participated, with Australia and Ireland making their debuts. Albania and Macedonia returned after being absent since the 2012 and 2013 contests, respectively. Croatia and Cyprus withdrew after returning in the 2014 edition, while Sweden withdrew for the first time since 2008.
Germany debuted at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw, Poland. Children's television channel Kika, a joint venture of the German national broadcasters ARD and ZDF, broadcasts the event within Germany and organises the selection of the nation's entry in collaboration with ARD consortium member Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR).
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the fourteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, Malta. This was the second time that Malta have hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, their first being in 2014. Jon Ola Sand was appointed as the Executive Supervisor for the 2016 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, following the dismissal of the former supervisor, Vladislav Yakovlev.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place in the Belarusian capital city, Minsk on 25 November 2018 at the Minsk-Arena. It was the second time that the contest was held in Belarus, after it staged the 2010 edition at the same venue.
For the most recent participation see
