Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021


The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 19th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held on 19 December 2021 at La Seine Musicale in Paris, France, and presented by Carla, Élodie Gossuin, and Olivier Minne. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster France Télévisions, who staged the event after winning the for with the song "J'imagine" by Valentina. This was the first time the contest was held in France, as well as the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since Eurovision Young Dancers 1999 in Lyon and the first to be held in Paris since Eurovision Young Dancers 1989.
Broadcasters from nineteen countries participated in the contest, with,,,, and all returning after their absence from the previous edition. and returned after two and four-year absences respectively. For the first time in 19 editions, did not participate, as the country's broadcaster is under a three-year suspension from the EBU, making the the only country to have participated every year since the contest's first edition in 2003.
The winner was with the song "Qami Qami" by Maléna. This was Armenia's second victory in the contest, following their win in., host country, and completed the top five, with this being the highest placement for Azerbaijan to date. Meanwhile, the finished in last place for the first time in the contest's history. and also achieved their lowest placings to date, the latter finishing outside the top five for the first time.
WWW junioreurovision.tv/event...

Location

On 9 December 2020, it was announced that the contest would take place in France in 2021. It was hosted in Paris. The contest was held on 19December, which, as of 2025, remains the latest it has ever occurred in any year; prior to this, the last instance of the contest being held in December was in. The selected venue for the contest was the 6,000-seat La Seine Musicale, which serves as concert hall and performing arts center. The arena is located on Île Seguin in Boulogne-Billancourt, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris.

Bidding phase and host city selection

Unlike Eurovision's adult version, the winning country originally did not receive the automatic rights to host the next contest. However, for the contests since 2011, the winning country has had first refusal on hosting the next competition. Italy used this clause in 2015 to decline to host the contest after their victory in 2014. On 15 October 2017, the EBU announced a return to the original system in 2018, to help provide broadcasters with a greater amount of time to prepare, and to ensure the continuation of the contest into the future.
On 9 December 2020, it was confirmed by the EBU that France, having won the, would host the 2021 contest. The French Head of Delegation Alexandra Redde-Amiel had previously stated that France Télévisions was keen to host the contest. Spanish broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española had also expressed an interest in hosting the contest if they had won the 2020 contest.
On 20 May 2021, during a press conference held by France Télévisions and the EBU, it was confirmed that the contest would be held in La Seine Musicale in Paris. It was the second consecutive time the contest was held in a capital city. Le Parisien reported in September 2021 that the broadcaster had looked into the possibility of organising the contest in Cannes or Nice before settling on the metropolitan area of Paris as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Paris La Défense Arena was considered a potential venue in a 8,000-seat configuration before La Seine Musicale was named the chosen venue.

Participants

On 2 September 2021, 19 countries were confirmed to be participating in the contest, equaling the number of participating countries from 2019.,,,, and all returned after a one-year absence, while and returned after two and four-year absences respectively. For the first time since the contest's inception, did not participate, as the country's broadcaster BTRC is in the midst of a three-year suspension from the EBU. This made it the first edition since the 2004 contest to not see any of the previous year's participating countries withdraw voluntarily, as well as the first since 2018 to see the number of participating countries actively increase from the year before.
The contest featured two returning artists; The Russian representative, Tanya Mezhentseva, has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest before; she represented Russia in along with Denberel Oorzhak, finishing in 13th place with the song "A Time for Us". This is only the third case in the competition to feature a returning artist from previous editions after Katya Ryabova and Lerika. The Armenian representative, Maléna, was set to participate in 2020 with the song "Why" before Armenia withdrew from the competition.
Prior to the event, a digital compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2021 contest was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group on 3 December 2021.
CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter
RTSHAnna Gjebrea"Stand by You"Albanian, English
AMPTVMaléna"Qami Qami" Armenian, English
İTVSona Azizova"One of Those Days"Azerbaijani, English
BNTDenislava and Martin"Voice of Love"Bulgarian, English
France TélévisionsEnzo"Tic Tac"French
GPBNiko Kajaia"Let's Count the Smiles"Georgian, French, EnglishGiga Kukhianidze
KikaPauline"Imagine Us"German, English
TG4Maiú Levi Lawlor"Saor "Irish
RAIElisabetta Lizza"Specchio "Italian, English
KAAlinur Khamzin and Beknur Zhanibekuly"Ertegı älemı " Kazakh, French
PBSIke and Kaya"My Home"English
AVROTROSAyana"Mata sugu aō ne" Dutch, EnglishFerry Lagendijk
MRTDajte Muzika"Green Forces"Macedonian, English
TVPSara James"Somebody"Polish, English
RTPSimão Oliveira"O rapaz"Portuguese
VGTRKTanya Mezhentseva"Mon ami"Russian, English
RTSJovana and Dunja"Oči deteta " SerbianAna Frlin
RTVELevi Díaz"Reír"SpanishDavid Roma
SuspilneOlena Usenko"Vazhil" Ukrainian

Production

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Several measures were taken by the organisers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the spread of the Omicron variant. Although the live show was held with a full capacity audience wearing masks, the jury show, which took place on 18 December, was held without an audience. The opening ceremony, which took place on 13 December, was held without delegations attending.
In preparation for the event, the EBU had been considering three scenarios in which the contest could be held, which were announced on 24 August. The three scenarios include:

Presenters

Carla, Élodie Gossuin and Olivier Minne were the presenters of the show. Carla was also the French entrant in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The hosts were revealed during a press conference on 17 November.

Visual design

The slogan for the contest, Imagine, was revealed on 20 May 2021 during a press conference prior to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The slogan was chosen as a reference to the previous year's winning song "J'imagine", as well as a way to encourage children to be creative and pursue their dreams.
The official logo and theme artwork for the contest was unveiled on 24 August 2021. The artwork was inspired by three themes: imagination, Christmas and the Eiffel Tower.

Postcards

Contestants were featured in "postcard" video introductions, set in a different location in Paris, or surrounding areas in France. Each began with a short clip of the upcoming performer flying over the skies of Paris via green screen, followed by an extended sequence involving dance troupes dancing in a specific Parisian location. Following that, a stream of light in the colours of the upcoming country's flag entered La Seine Musicale, and the upcoming participant's face was projected onto the exterior of the venue, signalling the beginning of the upcoming performance.

Contest overview

The event took place on 19 December 2021 at 16:00 CET. Nineteen countries participated, with the running order published on 13 December 2021. All the countries competing were eligible to vote with the jury vote, as well as participating and non-participating countries under an aggregated international online vote, eligible to vote. Armenia won with 224 points, also winning the online vote. Poland came second with 218 points, with France, Georgia, and Azerbaijan completing the top five. Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands occupied the bottom five positions.
The opening of the show featured the traditional flag parade, accompanied by French DJ duo Ofenbach performing a medley of their discography. During the interval, Valentina performed a Christmas version of her winning song "J'imagine". All participants then joined on stage for a rendition of the common song, "Imagine". Barbara Pravi closed the interval with a performance of her song "Voilà ", with which she represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
CountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1Pauline"Imagine Us"6117
2Niko Kajaia"Let's Count the Smiles"1634
3Sara James"Somebody"2182
4Ike and Kaya"My Home"9712
5Elisabetta Lizza"Specchio "10710
6Denislava and Martin"Voice of Love"7716
7Tanya Mezhentseva"Mon ami"1247
8Maiú Levi Lawlor"Saor "4418
9Maléna"Qami Qami"2241
10Alinur Khamzin and Beknur Zhanibekuly"Ertegı älemı "1218
11Anna Gjebrea"Stand By You"8414
12Olena Usenko"Vazhil"1256
13Enzo"Tic Tac"1873
14Sona Azizova"One of Those Days"1515
15Ayana"Mata sugu aō ne"4319
16Levi Díaz"Reír"7715
17Jovana and Dunja"Oči deteta "8613
18Dajte Muzika"Green Forces"1149
19Simão Oliveira"O rapaz"10111

Spokespersons

The 12 points from the juries were announced live by a spokesperson from each country. Countries that did not provide their own spokesperson had their 12 points announced by a local student from Paris.
  1. – Venetia
  2. – Sandra Gadelia
  3. – Matylda
  4. – Eden
  5. – Céleste
  6. – Arianne
  7. – Liza Gureeva
  8. – Rueben Levi Hackett
  9. – Karina Ignatyan
  10. – Zere
  11. – Alex
  12. – Oleksandr Balabanov
  13. – Angélina
  14. – Suleyman
  15. – Matheu
  16. – Lucía Arcos
  17. – Katie
  18. – Fendi
  19. – Manon

Detailed voting results

Below is a summary of all 12 points received from each country's professional juries.
N.ContestantNation giving 12 points
3,,
3,,
3,,
2,
2,
2,
2,
1
1

Online voting

According to the EBU, a total of over 4.3 million valid votes were received during the voting windows.
CountryPointsEstimated votes based on points
109~425,000
102~398,000
92~359,000
67~261,000
63~246,000
62~242,000
59~230,000
59~230,000
57~222,000
50~195,000
50~195,000
47~183,000
47~183,000
46~179,000
42~164,000
39~152,000
39~152,000
38~148,000
34~133,000

Broadcasts

CountryBroadcasterChannelCommentator
Icelandefn|The show was broadcast on RÚV on a 2-hour and 45-minute delay