The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the thirteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT was the host broadcaster for the event. The final took place on 21 November 2015 and was held at the Arena Armeec in Sofia. Poli Genova, a Bulgarian singer and former representative of Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 (and later the Eurovision Song Contest 2016), hosted the show. A total of seventeen countries participated, with Australia and Ireland making their debuts. Albania and Macedonia returned after being absent since the 2012 and 2013 contests, respectively. Croatia and Cyprus withdrew after returning in the 2014 edition, while Sweden withdrew for the first time since 2008.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015
#Discover
Dates
Final	21 November 2015
Host
Venue	Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria
Presenter(s)	Poli Genova
Directed by	Christian Biondani Gordon Bonello
Executive supervisor	Vladislav Yakovlev
Executive producer	Joana Levieva-Sawyer
Host broadcaster	Bulgarian National Television (BNT)
Interval act	Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim Vincenzo Cantiello All participants performing "Discover"
Website	junioreurovision.tv/event/sofia-2015
Participants
Number of entries	17
Debuting countries	Australia  Ireland
Returning countries	Albania  Macedonia
Non-returning countries	Croatia  Cyprus  Sweden
Participation map      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2015
Vote
Voting system	Each country/jury awards 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Winning song	Malta "Not My Soul"
2014 ← Junior Eurovision Song Contest → 2016

The winner of the contest was Destiny Chukunyere, who represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul". Armenia and Slovenia finished in second and third place, respectively. This was Malta's second victory in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, having won previously in 2013. This contest marked the second time a country won twice in a three-year period (following Belarus winning twice in a period of three years between 2005 and 2007). Malta's 185 points were also the highest number of points ever received at the time, beating Spain's record of 171 points set during the 2004 edition.

Location

Valletta

Sofia

Locations of the bidding countries. The eliminated countries are marked in red. The chosen host country is marked in blue.

Bidding phase

Following Italy's win at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, the European Broadcasting Union had given the Italian broadcaster RAI the first refusal to host the 2015 contest.[1] However, on 15 January 2015, RAI declined the right to host the contest. The Executive Supervisor for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Vladislav Yakovlev, praised the Italian broadcaster RAI for their time looking into the possibilities of hosting, even though they made their debut appearance in 2014, and further explained how the EBU were in a lucky position to have received bids from two countries.[2]

The EBU announced later that day that they had received bids from two countries to host the contest; those countries being Bulgaria and last year host Malta,[3] who finished in second and fourth places respectively in 2014.[4] Bulgarian broadcaster BNT confirmed on 15 January they had submitted a bid to host the 2015 contest.[5] The national broadcaster for Malta, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), stated prior to the 2014 contest that they would host again if they won.[6]

On 26 January 2015, it was announced that Bulgaria had been chosen to host the 2015 edition, which took place on 21 November 2015.[7] It was the first time that the nation organised any Eurovision event.[8] In March 2015, it was confirmed that Sofia would be the host city, with the Arena Armeec being the host venue.[7]

Format

Graphic design

On 22 May 2015, a press conference devoted to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held in Vienna during the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. At the press conference, the slogan for the 2015 Junior contest was revealed to be #Discover. The slogan was selected to signify how the Junior Eurovision Song Contest endeavours to find new melodies, explore new people and create links between individuals.[9]

On 23 June 2015, the EBU in conjunction with the host broadcaster BNT, presented the official logo for the 2015 edition, during the Steering Group meeting held in Sofia.[10] Viara Ankova, the Director General of the host broadcaster explained that the logo's concept was inspired behind the idea of a seeded head of a dandelion being blown, "something that everyone has done as a child".[10]

The logo shows how Bulgaria’s young people are the seeds of the future; venturing out from the safety of tradition to explore and discover a new future for themselves and for us all.

— Viara Ankova, General Director of BNT[10]

The postcards used to introduce each competing nation during the show were built around the concept of selfies.[11] The postcards featured the competing artists sending their selfie to a group of three teenagers in Bulgaria, which would then inspire their adventures. Different sights and cities were showcased with the teenagers documenting their journey through their own selfies and sending them to the competing artist.[11]

Host

Bulgarian singer Poli Genova was announced as the host of the competition on 21 October 2015.[12] Genova had previously represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011. In addition, the running order draw and opening ceremonies were hosted by Bulgarian singer Joanna Dragneva, who had also previously represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 as part of Deep Zone Project.[13]

Participating countries

On 7 October 2015, it was confirmed that seventeen countries would take part in the contest. Australia and Ireland made their debut, Albania returned after a two-year absence and Macedonia returned after a one-year absence. Croatia and Cyprus withdrew after returning in the 2014 edition, while Sweden withdrew for the first time since 2008. It was the first time since 2007, that 17 countries would take part.[14]

Participants and results

R/O[15]	Country[16]	Artist[16]	Song[16]	Language	Points[17]	Place[17]
1	Serbia	Lena Stamenković	"Lenina pesma" (Ленина песма)	Serbian	79	7
2	Georgia	The Virus	"Gabede" (გაბედე)	Georgian	51	10
3	Slovenia	Lina Kuduzović	"Prva ljubezen"	Slovene, English[lower-alpha 1]	112	3
4	Italy	Chiara and Martina	"Viva"	Italian[lower-alpha 2]	34	16
5	Netherlands	Shalisa	"Million Lights"	Dutch, English	35	15
6	Australia	Bella Paige	"My Girls"	English	64	8
7	Ireland	Aimee Banks	"Réalta na Mara"	Irish[lower-alpha 3]	36	12
8	Russia	Mikhail Smirnov	"Mechta (Dream)" (Мечта)	Russian, English	80	6
9	Macedonia	Ivana Petkovska and Magdalena Aleksovska	"Pletenka – Braid of Love" (Плетенка)	Macedonian[lower-alpha 2]	26	17
10	Belarus	Ruslan Aslanov	"Volshebstvo (Magic)" (Волшебство)	Russian, English[18]	105	4
11	Armenia	Mika	"Love"	Armenian, English	176	2
12	Ukraine	Anna Trincher	"Pochny z sebe" (Почни з себе)	Ukrainian, English	38	11
13	Bulgaria	Gabriela Yordanova and Ivan Stoyanov	"Colour of Hope"	Bulgarian	62	9
14	San Marino	Kamilla Ismailova	"Mirror"	Italian, English	36	14
15	Malta	Destiny Chukunyere	"Not My Soul"	English	185	1
16	Albania	Mishela Rapo	"Dambaje"	Albanian, English[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5]	93	5
17	Montenegro	Jana Mirković	"Oluja" (Олуја)	Montenegrin	36	13

Detailed voting results

Destiny Chukunyere who represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul", was declared the winner after all the votes had been cast from all of the seventeen participating countries and the kids' jury.[20] Below is a full breakdown of how the votes were cast.[21]

Split results[22]

Place	Combined		Jury		Televoting
	Country	Points	Country	Points	Country	Points
1	Malta	185	Malta	157	Malta	143
2	Armenia	176	Armenia	149	Armenia	134
3	Slovenia	112	Belarus	101	Slovenia	98
4	Belarus	105	Slovenia	77	Albania	86
5	Albania	93	Serbia	73	Bulgaria	77
6	Russia	80	Albania	69	Russia	65
7	Serbia	79	Australia	67	Belarus	61
8	Australia	64	Russia	57	Serbia	53
9	Bulgaria	62	Netherlands	53	San Marino	51
10	Georgia	51	Italy	43	Ireland	43
11	Ukraine	38	Georgia	40	Georgia	41
12	Ireland	36	Montenegro	21	Ukraine	35
13	Montenegro	36	Ukraine	19	Australia	32
14	San Marino	36	Ireland	19	Montenegro	23
15	Netherlands	35	San Marino	15	Macedonia	22
16	Italy	34	Bulgaria	14	Italy	13
17	Macedonia	26	Macedonia	12	Netherlands	9

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.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	Malta	Albania,  Armenia,  Australia,  Bulgaria, Kids Jury,  San Marino,  Serbia,  Slovenia
4	Armenia	Belarus,  Georgia,  Netherlands,  Russia
2	Serbia	Macedonia,  Montenegro
1	Albania	Italy
	Bulgaria	Ireland
	Italy	Malta
	San Marino	Ukraine

Spokespersons

The order in which each country announced their votes was the same as the running order of the performances. Details of the running order were published by the EBU on 15 November 2015.[15] The spokespersons are shown below alongside each participating country.[24]

Other countries

For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, it needs to be an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).[25] It is unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Eurovision Song Contest.[25] The EBU Active Members listed below have made the announcements regards their decisions.[16]

Active EBU members

•  Cyprus – On 29 June 2015, the national broadcaster of Cyprus, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), revealed that they would not participate in the 2015 contest due to lack of funds.[26]
•  France – France 2 announced on 24 June 2015 that they had no plans to return to the contest, however the broadcaster sent a delegation to Bulgaria in order to observe the 2015 edition.[27][28]
•  Germany – Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) were observers at last year's contest.[29] On 2 June 2015, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) stated that they had not ruled out a début in the 2015 contest.[29] On 1 July 2015, ARD consortium member NDR launched an online poll to decide whether or not Germany should participate in Junior Eurovision, which would be broadcast on their children's station, KiKa (which is a joint venture of ARD and ZDF).[30] Germany was originally on the list of participants for the inaugural contest[31] and again in 2004 but later withdrew.[32] The debut of the country in the competition didn't materialize. However, on 4 November 2015, it was announced that NDR would broadcast a livestream of the contest on their Eurovision website for the first time.[33]
•  Greece – Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) stated on 11 June 2015 that they were undecided about returning to the Junior contest but are "willing to examine interesting projects".[34] However, the country was not among the 2015 edition's list of participants.
•  Romania – On 4 June 2015, Televisiunea Românâ (TVR) revealed that due to lack of interest, Romania's participation in the 2015 contest would be unlikely.[35]
•  Spain – Several media outlets reported that Televisión Española (TVE) was working on returning to the contest in 2015. However, these claims were not confirmed by the broadcaster.[36][37] Ultimately the country was not among the 2015 edition's list of participants.
•  Sweden – Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 29 June 2015 that the broadcaster would withdraw from the contest for one year to focus on new youth-focused projects and hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.[38]

Broadcasts

The contest was broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website and YouTube. The online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[39]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Albania	TVSH, RTSH Muzikë, Radio Tirana	Andri Xhahu	[40]
Armenia	Armenia 1	Avet Barseghyan	[41]
Australia	SBS One	Ash London and Toby Truslove	[42]
Belarus	Belarus 1, Belarus 24	Anatoly Lipetski	[43]
Bulgaria	BNT 1, BNT HD, BNT World	Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev
Georgia	GPB 1TV	Tuta Chkheidze	[44]
Ireland	TG4	Stiofán Ó Fearail and Caitlín Nic Aoidh	[45]
Italy	Rai Gulp	Simone Lijoi	[46]
Macedonia	MRT 1	Tina Tautovic and Spasija Veljanoska
Malta	TVM2 (live), TVM (delayed)	Corazon Mizzi	[47]
Montenegro	TVCG 2	Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
Netherlands	NPO 3	Jan Smit	[48]
Russia	Karousel	Olga Shelest
San Marino	SMRTV	Lia Fiorio and Gilberto Gattei	[49]
Serbia	RTS2	Silvana Grujić	[50]
Slovenia	TV SLO 1	Andrej Hofer	[51]
Ukraine	UA:Pershyi	Timur Miroshnychenko

The following non-participating countries also sent commentators to Bulgaria for radio, television and online broadcasts of the contest.

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Germany	NDR website	Thomas Mohr	[52]
New Zealand	World FM	Ewan Spence	[53]
Singapore	247 Music Radio
United Kingdom	Cotswold FM, Fun Kids, Oystermouth Radio, Radio Six International, Shore Radio
United States	WUSB

Other awards

Press vote

At the press center during the contest, members of the press were allowed to vote for their favourite acts. Below is the top five overall results, after all the votes had been cast.

Country	Song	Performer(s)	Result
Malta	"Not My Soul"	Destiny Chukunyere	759
Australia	"My Girls"	Bella Paige	642
Armenia	"Love"	Michael Varosyan	543
Russia	"Mechta (Dream)"	Mikhail Smirnov	520
Serbia	"Lenina pesma"	Lena Stamenković	499

Official album

Junior Eurovision Song Contest Bulgaria 2015 is a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and was released by Universal Music Group on 13 November 2015. The album features all the songs from the 2015 contest.[54][55] This is the first since the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 not to include karaoke versions of all the songs.

See also

• ABU Radio Song Festival 2015
• ABU TV Song Festival 2015
• Bala Turkvision Song Contest 2015
• Eurovision Song Contest 2015
• Eurovision Young Dancers 2015
• Turkvision Song Contest 2015

Notes

References

External links

Media related to Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website

На других языках

[ru] Детское Евровидение — 2015