Wales in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

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Wales in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg
Participating broadcaster Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C)
Participation summary
Appearances2
First appearance 2018
Last appearance 2019
Highest placement18th: 2019
Participation history
External links
Wales's page at JuniorEurovision.tv OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Wales participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 and 2019. Welsh broadcaster Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) has been responsible for the nation's participation in the contest.

Contents

In 2018 and 2019, S4C selected their artist through the televised national final Chwilio am Seren (English: Search for a Star), with the song selected internally. [1] In both years, the competition was held at Venue Cymru in Llandudno. [2]

Although Wales has English as a co-official language, their entries were sung primarily in Welsh due to being represented by a Welsh-language broadcaster.

History

Wales previously took part in the contest as part of the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2005, with ITV being responsible for their participation. S4C had also shown interest in participating in the 2008 contest in Limassol, Cyprus, but in the end decided against participating. [3]

S4C announced that they would debut in the 2018 contest on 9 May 2018. [4] The country was represented by the song "Perta" performed by Manw, placing last in a field of 20 songs with 29 points. Wales participated in the 2019 contest, represented by the song "Calon yn Curo" performed by Erin Mai and finished 18th with 35 points.

2019 was the last year Wales participated in the contest. S4C cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for not participating in subsequent editions. [5]

On 25 August 2022, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced that the United Kingdom would return to the contest in 2022 after a sixteen-year absence. [6]

On 16 November 2024, S4C confirmed that it did not participate in the 2024 contest due to the BBC's late withdrawal, leaving it with insufficient time to organise an entry and form a delegation. However, a spokesperson for S4C stated that there is a prospect for Welsh participation in 2025, with 2018 representative Manw calling for a return to the contest. [7]

Participation overview

Manw in Minsk (2018) Manw at JESC 2018 (3).jpg
Manw in Minsk (2018)
Erin Mai in Gliwice (2019) Erin Mai 2019.jpg
Erin Mai in Gliwice (2019)
Table key
Last place
YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
2018 Manw"Perta" Welsh 20 ◁29
2019 Erin Mai "Calon yn curo (Heart Beating)"Welsh1835

Commentators and spokespersons

The Welsh broadcaster, S4C, sent their own commentators to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Welsh language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Wales. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2018.

YearCommentatorSpokespersonRef.
2018 Trystan Ellis-Morris (Welsh) and Stifyn Parri (English)Gwen Rowley
[8]
2019 Cadi Morgan
20202024 No broadcastDid not participate

See also

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Wales debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 held in Minsk, Belarus on 25 November 2018. The Welsh broadcaster S4C was responsible for organising their debut entry for the contest. Manw was selected through Chwilio am Seren to represent Wales, winning the televised national final on 9 October at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno. The winning song, "Hi yw y Berta", was chosen internally and written by Ywain Gwynedd.

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Wales participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Gliwice, Poland on 24 November 2019. The Welsh broadcaster S4C was responsible for organising their second entry for the contest. Erin was selected through Chwilio am Seren to represent Wales, winning the televised national final on 24 September at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno. The winning song, "Calon yn Curo", was chosen internally by S4C and composed by Eurovision Song Contest 2010 performers, Sylvia Strand and producer Jonathan Gregory, with the lyrics written by rapper and composer Ed Holden.

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References

  1. Granger, Anthony (9 May 2018). "Wales: Debuts in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. "Manw is the winner of Chwilio am Seren Junior Eurovision". S4C Press. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  3. Kuipers, Michael (20 April 2008). "Junior Eurovision 2008: United Kingdom to return to JESC?". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  4. "Chwilio am Seren". junioreurovision.cymru. S4C. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. Farren, Neil (14 July 2020). "Wales: Withdraws From Junior Eurovision". Eurovoix. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. "United Kingdom returns to Junior Eurovision". Junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 25 August 2022.
  7. "Junior Eurovision: Cymru yn 'colli cyfle' wrth beidio cystadlu eleni" [Junior Eurovision: Wales are 'missing an opportunity' by not competing this year]. S4C (in Welsh). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  8. Herbert, Emily (22 November 2018). "Wales: Trystan Ellis-Morris to Commentate on Junior Eurovision 2018". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  9. Granger, Anthony (22 November 2019). "Wales: Trystan Ellis-Morris to Commentate on Junior Eurovision 2019". eurovoix.com.
  10. Filippidou, Ifigeneia (24 November 2019). "These are the Junior Eurovision 2019 spokespersons". esc-plus.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.