Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007


The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the fifth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held on 8 December 2007 at the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and presented by Sipke Jan Bousema and Kim-Lian van der Meij. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster AVRO, which was chosen by the EBU over Croatia's Hrvatska radiotelevizija and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. The host broadcaster was announced on 13 July 2006 and the host city was announced on 11 September 2006. The budget for the contest was stated to be more than €2,000,000. Profits made from the televoting were donated to UNICEF.
The winner was with the song "S druz'yami" by Alexey Zhigalkovich, by a single point over. This was Belarus' second win; they won for the first time in 2005.

Location

Bidding phase and host selection

Three countries bid for the rights to host the fifth Junior Eurovision Song Contest: Hrvatska radiotelevizija for ; Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation for ; and Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep for the. AVRO were awarded the rights to host the contest in September 2006, with a budget of more than €2,000,000 being spent to stage the event.

Participants

Patricia Goldsmith, Communications Adviser of the Eurovision TV department, stated that nineteen countries would participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, though Spanish broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española later announced its withdrawal from the contest. Croatian broadcaster Hrvatska Radiotelevizija also withdrew due to expense and difficulties in broadcasting the contest live.
Débutante countries included, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Lithuania. Originally Bosnia and Herzegovina as well was going to be one of the four débutants but Georgia took this place when Radiotelevizija Bosne i Hercegovine decided to withdraw from participation. The minimum age of contestants was raised from 8 to 10 years this year.
An official double CD of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was intended to go on sale on 23 December 2007, however it was later cancelled due to a lack of interest.
CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter
AMPTVArevik"Erazanq" Armenian
BTRCAlexey Zhigalkovich"S druz'yami" RussianAlexey Zhigalkovich
VRTTrust"Anders"Dutch
BNTBon-Bon"Bonbolandiya" BulgarianBon-Bon
CyBCYiorgos Ioannides"I mousiki dinei ftera" GreekYiorgos Ioannides
GPBMariam Romelashvili"Odelia Ranuni" GeorgianMariam Romelashvili
ERTMade in Greece"Kapou berdeftika" Greek
LRTLina Joy"Kai miestas snaudžia"LithuanianLina Joy
MRTRosica Kulakova and Dimitar Stojmenovski"Ding Ding Dong" Macedonian
PBSCute"Music"EnglishCute
AVROLisa, Amy and Shelley"Adem in, adem uit"Dutch
RTPJorge Leiria"Só quero é cantar"PortugueseJorge Leiria
TVR4Kids"Sha-la-la"RomanianMircea Eremia
VGTRKAlexandra Golovchenko"Otlichnitsa" RussianAlexandra Golovchenko
RTSNevena Božović"Piši mi" SerbianNevena Božović
TV4Frida Sandén"Nu eller aldrig"SwedishFrida Sandén
NTUIlona Halytska"Urok hlamuru" UkrainianIlona Halytska

Returning artists

Even though rules of Junior Eurovision do not allow participation of returning artists, Sweden's Frida Sandén previously provided backing vocals for Molly Sandén in 2006.

Format

Visual design

On 22 October 2007, the contest was officially presented to the media at a press conference where the first details regarding the show were confirmed. The theme for the contest was water and the motto was Make a big splash!. Five water curtains decorated the stage designed by Ronald van Bersselaar, which explained why this year’s logo featured the "singing girl" wearing boots.

Presenters

At the same press conference, Kim-Lian van der Meij was revealed to be the female host of the show, alongside Sipke Jan Bousema who was the previously announced as the male host.

Contest overview

The event took place on 8 December 2007 at 20:15 CET. Seventeen countries participated, with the running order published in October 2007. All the countries competing were eligible to vote with the televote. Belarus won with 137 points, with Armenia, Serbia, Georgia, and Macedonia, completing the top five. Lithuania, Cyprus, Belgium, Portugal, and Greece occupied the bottom five positions.
The show was opened by all participants alongside dancers from the Dance Academy Lucia Marthas performing the specially-commissioned UNICEF song "One World", written by  and, on stage in the arena followed by the traditional flag parade introducing the 17 participating countries. The interval act included Dutch group Ch!pz and a performance by singer Katie Melua.
CountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1Mariam Romelashvili"Odelia Ranuni"1164
2Trust"Anders"1915
3Arevik"Erazanq"1362
4Yiorgos Ioannides"I mousiki dinei ftera"2914
5Jorge Leiria"Só quero é cantar"1516
6Alexandra Golovchenko"Otlichnitsa"1056
74Kids"Sha-la-la"5410
8Bon-Bon"Bonbolandiya"867
9Nevena Božović"Piši mi"1203
10Lisa, Amy and Shelley"Adem in, adem uit"3911
11Rosica Kulakova and Dimitar Stojmenovski"Ding Ding Dong"1115
12Ilona Halytska"Urok hlamuru"569
13Frida Sandén"Nu eller aldrig"838
14Cute"Music"3712
15Made in Greece"Kapou berdeftika"1417
16Lina Joy"Kai miestas snaudžia"3313
17Alexey Zhigalkovich"S druz'yami"1371

Spokespersons

Viewers from each participating country voted by telephone and SMS. Each country's awards points to their top-10 favourites based on these public voting results. The following spokespersons announced the point 1 to 8, 10, and the maximum 12 points.
  • – Nino Epremidze
  • – Bab Buelens
  • – Ani Sahakyan
  • – Natalie Michael
  • – Clara Pedro
  • – Marina Knyazeva
  • – Iulia Ciobanu
  • – Lyubomir Hadjiyski
  • – Anđelija Erić
  • – Kimberly Nieuwenhuizen
  • – Mila Zafirović
  • Assol
  • Molly Sandén
  • – Sophie DeBattista
  • Chloe Sofia Boleti
  • – Indre Grikstelyte
  • – Alexander Rogachevskiy

Detailed voting results

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received. All countries were given 12 points at the start of voting to ensure that no country finished with nul points.
N.ContestantNation giving 12 points
7,,,,,,
3,,
2,
2,
1
1
1

Broadcasts

Most countries sent commentators to Rotterdam or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information. A live webcast was also streamed via the Junior Eurovision official website.
CountryBroadcasterCommentator
Armenia