Kazakhstan participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Kazakh entrant for the 2020 contest in Warsaw, Poland was selected through a national selection, organised by the Kazakh broadcaster

Khabar Agency The Khabar Agency (KA) ( kk, "Хабар" Агенттігі, translit="Xabar" Agenttıgı; russian: Агентство «Хабар») is a major media outlet in Kazakhstan. It was established in 1995, known originally as the National Television ...

(KA). The semi-final took place online between 24 and 31 August 2020, while the final took place on 26 September 2020. " Forever" performed by Karakat Bashanova was as the winner.

Background

Prior to the 2020 contest, Kazakhstan's highest placing in the contest was in 2019, when the song " Armanyńnan qalma" performed by Yerzhan Maxim placed 2nd with 227 points. As

(KA) is not an active member of 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), the broadcaster requires a special invitation from the EBU to participate in Eurovision events. Khabar was first invited to participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in . Channel 31 had previously expressed their ambitions to debut in the 2018 contest, and had sent a delegation to the contest.

Before Junior Eurovision

National final

Kazakhstan's participation in the 2020 contest was confirmed in June 2020, having been invited to participate by the

(EBU). Khabar announced on 10 August 2020 that artists will be able to submit their applications for the national final until 20 August 2020. From 684 applications submitted, a nine-member jury panel selected 30 acts for the online semi-final. The jury panel consisted of Zhenis Seidullaevich (composer), Dinara Bisembina (Chairman of the Board of Khabar), Bagym Mukhitdenova (music producer), Kairat Baekenov (singer and composer), Erlan Bekchurin (music producer), Zhanar Dugalova (singer), Amre (singer), Dinaya (singer) and Madi Syzdykov (singer).

Semi-final

The online semi-final took place between 24 and 31 August 2020 where users were able vote for their favorite artists on Khabar's official website. The top twelve acts with the most votes proceeded to the televised national final and were announced on 1 September 2020.

Final

The final took place on 26 September 2020 where twelve competing acts performed their candidate Junior Eurovision songs written for them by composers directly invited by Khabar in a televised production. The winner, "Forever" performed by Karakat Bashanova, was determined by a 50/50 combination of both public telephone vote and the votes of jury members made up of music professionals. "Forever" is composed by Khamit Shangaliyev, who had also composed "", the for the 2019 contest, and written by Ardak Yeleusiz and Abulkhair Adam. The song is dedicated to her deceased father.

At Junior Eurovision

After the opening ceremony, which took place on 23 November 2020, it was announced that Kazakhstan will perform second on 29 November 2020, following Germany and preceding the Netherlands.

Voting

Detailed voting results

References

{{Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...