The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the fifteenth edition of the annual

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...

, organised by the

Georgian Public Broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster ( ka, საქართველოს საზოგადოებრივი მაუწყებელი, ) is the national public broadcaster of Georgia. History It started broadcasting radio in 1925, and ...

(GPB) and the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU). It took place on 26 November 2017 at the

Olympic Palace Olympic Palace ( ka, ოლიმპიური სასახლე) is an indoor sports arena situated in Tbilisi, Georgia, which was built to be used as one of the venues for the 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival. Construction and ...

, in the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n capital,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. This was the fifth time that the contest was hosted by the winning country. The visual design and contest slogan, "Shine Bright", were revealed in May 2017. Sixteen countries participated in the contest, which saw the return of for the first time since and the withdrawals of and . The winner was

Polina Bogusevich Polina Sergeyevna Bogusevich (russian: Полина Сергеевна Богусевич; born 4 July 2003) is a Russian singer. She represented Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Wings", and went on to win the com ...

, who represented with the song "

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

", marking the second time that Russia has won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and the first time since

The Tolmachevy Twins Anastasiya Andreyevna Tolmacheva and Maria Andreyevna Tolmacheva (born 14 January 1997, Kursk), known as the Tolmachevy Sisters (), are identical twin singers and actresses from Kursk, Russia. Aged nine, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Conte ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and the third overall victory for the country in any Eurovision-related events. The last victory in any Eurovision event for Russia was when

Dima Bilan Dima Nikolayevich Bilan (russian: Ди́ма Никола́евич Била́н; born Viktor Nikolayevich Belan, russian: Ви́ктор Никола́евич Бела́н, links=no; 24 December 1981) is a Russian singer, songwriter and acto ...

won the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

in Belgrade. and finished in second and third place, respectively.

Location

During the Winner's Press Conference of the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the fourteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, Malta. This was the second time that Malta have hosted the Jun ...

Jon Ola Sand Jon Ola Sand (; born 21 December 1961) is a Norwegian television executive. He was the European Broadcasting Union's Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest from 2011 to 2020. Personal life He is the son of revue writer and actor Bj ...

- Head of Live Events, announced that the EBU would invite broadcasting members to submit applications to host the 2017 contest, which would take place on 26 November 2017.

(GPB) announced on 22 November 2016 that they had begun talks with the EBU in connection to hosting the 2017 contest. The

first refusal Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transactio ...

of hosting rights to the winning country of the previous is something that was introduced by the EBU since the . The EBU confirmed in February 2017 that the contest would be hosted by Georgia. This was the first Eurovision event hosted by the country, despite them winning a record three times. It was confirmed on 26 February 2017 that Tbilisi would host the contest.

Venue

On 16 March 2017, it was announced that the

Tbilisi Sports Palace Tbilisi Sport Palace ( ka, თბილისის სპორტის სასახლე) is an indoor sports arena situated in Tbilisi, Georgia. The arena usually hosts basketball, handball, judo, tennis, boxing and other games and to ...

would be the host venue for the contest. However, on 9 August 2017, the venue was changed to the 4,000-capacity

in Tbilisi which was considered more suitable for hosting the contest. Officially opened on 13 July 2015 by Georgian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and a former business executive who serves as the prime minister of Georgia since 22 ...

, the venue was built to host the

2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, between 26 July and 1 August 2015. Sports Venues Schedule The competition schedule for the 2017 European Youth Olympic Summer Festival is as follows: Partici ...

. The complex features two halls that are capable of hosting several sporting events.

Format

Visual design

The theme for the contest, ''Shine Bright'', was unveiled on 12 May 2017 during a press conference prior to the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv. The emblem is a multi-coloured, stylized sun, representing a "burst" of expression;

explained that the theme reflected the goal of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest to give youth "a moment to shine and an opportunity to showcase their full potential as young artists".

Language

The original rules of the competition were changed, allowing up to 40% of each song to be in a language other than the national language of the representative's country, instead of 25% as in previous years. This allowed countries, such as the winner,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, to have both a verse and a chorus in English, rather than just a chorus.

Hosts

On 3 October 2017, it was announced that

Helen Kalandadze Helen Kalandadze ( ka, ელენე კალანდაძე) is a Georgian television presenter and singer. She co-hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Tbilisi alongside Lizi Pop. Life and career Early life Kalandadze was bor ...

and Lizi Japaridze would host the contest. Japaridze is the third person under the age of sixteen to ever host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, after Ioana Ivan in

and Dmytro Borodin in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, and also the first former participant to host an edition of the contest. Japaridze previously represented Georgia in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 12th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Malta. This was the third time that the contest was hosted by the winning country. Maltese nationa ...

, where she placed eleventh with the song " Happy Day". Kalandadze is a television presenter and singer, who previously was a backing singer for Georgia's 2010 Eurovision entry " Shine" by

Sofia Nizharadze Sopho "Sofia" Nizharadze ( ka, სოფო ნიჟარაძე, ) is a Georgian singer, actress, and songwriter who represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song " Shine". Nizharadze was a judge on the TV shows ''G ...

Voting

The results were determined by national juries and an online audience vote. Every country used a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represent. The first phase of the online voting started on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances were shown on the official website before the viewers could vote. Following this recap, voters had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on 26 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and started after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers could vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five. For the first time, viewers could also vote for their own country's song. The number of points were determined by the percentage of votes received. The public vote counted for 50% of the final result, while the other 50% came from the professional juries.

Trophy

The trophy was designed by Kjell Engman of the Swedish glass company

Kosta Boda Kosta may refer to: * Kosta, Estonia, a village in Vihula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia * Kosta, Greece a community in Greece * Kosta, Sweden, a village in Sweden * Coastal Andhra, region in India * Kosta Glasbruk, a glassworks in Sweden ...

. Engman also designed the adult contest trophy. From this year, the design of the trophy was unified and awarded to the subsequent winners. The main trophy was a glass microphone with colored lines inside the upper part, which symbolize the flow of sound.

Opening

The show was opened by last year's winner

Mariam Mamadashvili Mariam Mamadashvili ( ka, მარიამ მამადაშვილი, born 16 November 2005) is a Georgian singer. She won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 where she represented Georgia with the song "Mzeo". She moved to the Un ...

performing her entry with a choir and was followed by the flag parade accompanied by the theme song "Shine Bright", composed by Giga Kukhianidze and Gordon Bonello.

Participating countries

On 9 August 2017, it was confirmed that sixteen countries would take part in the contest. Portugal marked their first appearance since , while Bulgaria and Israel withdrew.

Detailed voting results

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received from each country's professional juries.

Spokespersons

# Maria Christophorou # Dominika Ptak # Thijs Schlimback # Lilit Tokhatyan # Saba Karazanashvili # Duarte Valença # Walter McCabe # Kjara Blažev # Lizi Tavberidze # Sabjana Rizvanu # Sofia Rol # Mariam Andghuladze # Tonya Volodina # Mina Grujić # Liam Clarke # Sofia Bartoli

Other countries

For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the

, it needs to be an active member of the

(EBU). It is currently unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Active EBU members

* The Austrian national broadcaster,

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

, announced on 31 May 2017 that they would not debut in the contest in 2017, with no intention to participate for the next few years. * On 23 May 2017, the Bulgarian national broadcaster,

Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...

(BNT), provisionally confirmed their participation in the 2017 contest. However, on 7 June 2017, it was revealed that due to the election of the company's new Director-General, that the broadcaster had withdrawn its application. On 22 September 2017, it was announced that Bulgaria would not participate in the contest. * The Croatian national broadcaster,

Hrvatska radiotelevizija ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...

(HRT), had confirmed that the broadcaster was looking at the possibility of returning to the contest in 2017. However, Croatia was not on the final list of participants released by the EBU. * On 13 July 2017, Hungarian national broadcaster Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) stated that they were not ruling out a debut at the 2017 contest. However, on 25 July 2017, MTVA announced that they would not debut in 2017. * The

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station ''Kol Yisrael'', which made its first broadcast as an independent st ...

(IBA) shut down on 9 May 2017. The new broadcasting network

Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC; he, תאגיד השידור הישראלי, translit=Ta'agid HaShidur HaYisra'eli, lit=Israeli Broadcasting Corporation; ar, هيئة البث الإسرائيلي, translit=Hayyat al-Bathi al- ...

(IPBC, "KAN") was not a member of the EBU at the time, which was a requirement to participate in the contest. It was revealed on 6 July 2017 that an agreement had been signed between the EBU and IPBC, allowing the broadcaster to participate in EBU contests such as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, despite not having full membership. Israel was not on the final list of participants released by the EBU, however IPBC still broadcast the contest.

Broadcasts

Official album

''Junior Eurovision Song Contest Tbilisi 2017'' is a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and was released by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

on 10 November 2017. The album features all the songs from the 2017 contest.

References

External links

* {{Junior Eurovision Song Contest

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2017 song contests 2017 in Georgia (country) Events in Tbilisi November 2017 events in Europe