Tele-voting will be eliminated from this year’s Junior Eurovision song contest in Malta, which will also be moved to a more family-friendly time-slot and feature a revised age range.
During a press conference in Stockholm this evening on the fringes of the main event, PBS revealed its vision of sweeping changes for this year’s children's competition, being held in Malta in November following Destiny Chukunyere’s victory last year. The event also took place in Malta two years ago.
The changes are intended to boost the profile of the children’s competition, which is seen by observers as suffering due to low viewership figures and the absence of a number of large and influential countries.
For the first time, November’s event will see tele-voting replaced by juries comprising both children and professionals.
“Regular tele-voting doesn’t work for Junior Eurovision,” said Jon Ola Sand, the executive supervisor of the Eurovision for the European Broadcasting Union. “It has to do with the low number of viewers as well as the pricing structure for calls and SMS which we do not control. It’s also not a very engaging way to reach out to young audiences.”
The show will also be moved from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon in a bid to increase viewership in countries like Russia and Armenia where, due to time differences, the contest is broadcast too late in the day for children to watch.
The age range of the competition will also be shifted from 10-15 to 9-14, which the organisers believe will help more boys participate in the competition, as well as creating a better bridge to the main Eurovision Song Contest.
PBS CEO Anton Attard said that, for the first time, the show will be spread over multiple locations, with the main ‘hub’ at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, which will be linked to other indoor and outdoor locations in the city, including the Manoel Theatre, St George’s Square and the Valletta Waterfront.
Mr Attard said the contest would include an entire week of events created to give each participant the best experience possible. This year’s edition will see the introduction of master-classes for the participants, organised with three mentors, past and present Eurovision singers, to help them on their journey.
Last year’s winner Destiny, introduced as “one of the best voices to ever emerge from the Junior Eurovision” expressed her excitement at the contest being held in Malta once again, and entertained journalists with a rendition of this year’s theme song Embrace.