List of Junior Eurovision Song Contest winners

Last updated

Ksenia Sitnik JESC 2005.jpg
Bzikibi.jpg
JESC 2013 (Malta) Gaia Cauchi at rehearsal 2.jpg
Left: Ksenia Sitnik, winner of the 2005 contest for Belarus. Centre: Bzikebi, winner of the 2008 contest for Georgia. Right: Gaia Cauchi, winner of the 2013 contest for Malta.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is an annual contest organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for children aged between 9 and 14 (8 and 15 between 2003 and 2006, 10 and 15 between 2007 and 2015). The contest has been broadcast every year since its inception in 2003, and is based on the Eurovision Song Contest, one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. The contest's winner has been determined using numerous voting techniques throughout its history; centre to these have been points awarded through jury voting or public voting. The song awarded the most points is declared the winner.

Contents

As of 2024, twenty-two contests have been held, with one winner each. Twelve countries have won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The country with the highest number of wins is Georgia, with four wins. France is the country, that have won three times. Five have won the contest twice: Armenia, Belarus, Malta, Poland (first country to win two years in a row and the first country to win on home soil), and Russia, and five have won the contest once: Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. Both Croatia and Italy achieved their wins on their debut participation in the contest. The first repeat winner was Belarus, completed in 2007, while the first country to win three times was Georgia, completed in 2016. North Macedonia is the country with the longest history in the contest without a win, having made eighteen appearances since their debut in the inaugural contest in 2003.

Winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest provides an opportunity for the winning artist(s) to capitalise on their success and surrounding publicity by launching or furthering their career. Some artists from Junior Eurovision have progressed later in their careers to participate in national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest or the main event proper, including Molly Sandén, Nevena Božović, the Tolmachevy Sisters, Lisa, Amy and Shelley (later known as OG3NE and Ogene), Stefania Liberakakis, Destiny Chukunyere, and Iru Khechanovi. [1]

Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the winning broadcaster of the previous year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest does not automatically receive the right to host the next edition, and until 2012 it was not tradition for it to host the next edition of the contest. This has been applied though since 2013, with only the 2015, 2018, and 2024 editions being held in a different country than the previous winner.

Winners by year

Winners of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
YearCountrySongArtistSongwriter(s)Language
2003 Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia " Ti si moja prva ljubav " Dino Jelusić Dino JelusićCroatian
2004 Flag of Spain.svg  Spain " Antes muerta que sencilla " María Isabel María IsabelSpanish
2005 Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus " My vmeste " (Мы вместе) Ksenia Sitnik Ksenia SitnikRussian
2006 Flag of Russia.svg  Russia " Vesenniy jazz " (Весенний джаз) Tolmachevy Sisters Russian
2007 Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus " S druz'yami " (С друзьями) Alexey Zhigalkovich Alexey ZhigalkovichRussian
2008 Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia "Bzz.." Bzikebi
  • Mariam Kikuashvili
  • Mariam Talulashvili
  • Giorgi Shiolashvili
None
2009 Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands "Click Clack" Ralf Mackenbach Ralf MackenbachDutch, English
2010 Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia " Mama " (Մամա) Vladimir Arzumanyan Vladimir ArzumanyanArmenian
2011 Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia "Candy Music" Candy
  • Mariam Gvaladze
  • Ana Khanchalyan
  • Irina Khechanovi
  • Irina Kovalenko
  • Giorgi "Giga" Kukhiadnidze
  • Gvantsa Saneblidze
Georgian
2012 Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine " Nebo " (Небо) Anastasiya Petryk Anastasiya PetrykUkrainian, English
2013 Flag of Malta.svg  Malta "The Start" Gaia Cauchi
English
2014 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy " Tu primo grande amore " Vincenzo Cantiello
  • Fabrizio Berlincioni
  • Vincenzo Cantiello
  • Leonardo de Amicis
  • Francesca Giuliano
  • Alterisio Paoletti
Italian, English
2015 Flag of Malta.svg  Malta "Not My Soul" Destiny Chukunyere English
2016 Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia " Mzeo " (მზეო) Mariam Mamadashvili
  • Maka Davitaia
  • Giorgi "Giga" Kukhianidze
Georgian
2017 Flag of Russia.svg  Russia "Wings" Polina Bogusevich Taras DemchukRussian, English
2018 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland "Anyone I Want to Be" Roksana Węgiel
Polish, English
2019 Flag of Poland.svg  Poland "Superhero" Viki Gabor
  • Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek
  • Patryk Kumór
  • Małgorzata Uściłowska
Polish, English
2020 Flag of France.svg  France " J'imagine " Valentina French
2021 Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia " Qami Qami " (Քամի Քամի) Maléna
Armenian, English
2022 Flag of France.svg  France " Oh Maman ! " Lissandro
  • Frédéric Chateau
  • Barbara Pravi
French
2023 Flag of France.svg  France " Cœur " Zoé Clauzure
  • Julien Comblat
  • Jérémy Chapron
  • Noée Francheteau
French
2024 Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia "To My Mom" Andria Putkaradze
  • Maka Davitaia
  • Giorgi "Giga" Kukhianidze
Georgian

Winners by country

Map showing each country's number of Junior Eurovision Song Contest wins (by color) as of 2024 Junior Eurovision winners map (as of 2024).png
Map showing each country's number of Junior Eurovision Song Contest wins (by color) as of 2024
Table key
Inactive countries which participated in the past but did not appear in the most recent contest, or will not appear in the upcoming contest
Ineligible countries whose broadcasters are no longer part of the EBU and are therefore ineligible to participate
Junior Eurovision Song Contest wins by country
WinsCountryYears
4Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia
3Flag of France.svg  France
2
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia
1Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 2003
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2004
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2009
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 2012
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2014

Performers and songwriters with multiple wins

The following individuals have won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as a performer or songwriter more than once.

Individuals with multiple Junior Eurovision Song Contest wins
WinsNameWins as performerWins as songwriter
3Giorgi "Giga" Kukhianidze
2Maka Davitaia
Małgorzata Uściłowska
Barbara Pravi

Winners by language

Since the contest began in 2003, all competing entries must be performed in an official, national or regional language language of the country they are representing. Between 2003 and 2007, the songs could only be performed exclusively in a national language, however, they could also have a few lines in another language. Then, between 2008 and 2016, at least 75% of the lyrics of each song had to be in a national language, with no restrictions on the language of the remaining part of the lyrics; this was changed to at least 60% in 2017, which has been the obligation ever since.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest wins by language
WinsLanguageYearsCountries
9English
4Russian
3Georgian Georgia
French France
2Armenian
Armenia
Polish
Poland
1Croatian 2003 Croatia
Spanish 2004 Spain
None 2008 Georgia
Dutch2009 [g] Netherlands
Ukrainian2012 [g] Ukraine
Italian2014 [g] Italy
  1. Partially sung in Dutch.
  2. Partially sung in Ukrainian.
  3. Partially sung in Italian.
  4. Partially sung in Russian.
  5. 1 2 Partially sung in Polish.
  6. Partially sung in Armenian.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Partially sung in English.

Performers

Songwriters

See also

References

  1. van Eersel, Dennis (14 January 2020). "Artists that went from Junior Eurovision to the adult Eurovision". ESCDaily. Retrieved 14 December 2022.