The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is set to be the 20th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Yerevan, Armenia on 11 December 2022, following the country's victory at the 2021 contest with the song "Qami Qami" by Maléna.[1] Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV), the contest will be held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. This will be the second time that Armenia hosts the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the first being in 2011.[2]

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Spin the Magic
Dates
Final	11 December 2022
Host
Venue	Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex, Yerevan, Armenia
Executive supervisor	Martin Österdahl
Host broadcaster	Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV)
Website	junioreurovision.tv/event/yerevan-2022
Participants
Number of entries	16
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	United Kingdom
Non-returning countries	Azerbaijan  Bulgaria  Germany  Russia
Participation map      Confirmed countries that have selected their song and/or performer     Confirmed countries that have not yet selected their song and/or performer     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2022
2021 ← Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Sixteen countries will participate in the contest. The United Kingdom will return after a sixteen-year absence, while Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany and Russia will not take part, with the latter's broadcasters having been indefinitely suspended from the EBU due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[3]

Location

Yerevan

Location of the selected host city (in blue)

The contest is set to take place at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia.[4][5] The venue previously hosted the 2011 contest.[6] It will also be the third consecutive time the contest is held in a capital city.[7]

Bidding phase and host city selection

Armenia's hosting had been confirmed by the EBU on 21 December 2021, following their win at the 2021 contest two days before.[8] Originally, unlike in the Eurovision Song Contest, the winning country did not receive the automatic rights to host the next contest. However, since 2019, each contest has been hosted by the previous year's winning country. The venue was revealed on 17 February 2022 during a cabinet meeting of the Armenian government, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made the announcement. Pashinyan also mentioned that the government had allocated funds to the venue to prepare for the event.[4] It was already reported earlier in that week that Yerevan would be the host city.[9]

Format

Visual design

The theme art and slogan for the contest, "Spin the Magic", was revealed on 26 September 2022. The artwork features an Armenian-styled spinning top as the main motif.[10]

AMPTV clarified that the theme art reveal was delayed due to the border situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In a press release, AMPTV stated that "preparations for the contest are ongoing, and according to the schedule, it was no longer possible to change the deadlines", while expressing hope that the contest will be held in peaceful conditions.[11]

Participating countries

On 26 September 2022, the EBU announced that 16 countries would participate in the contest. After a 16-year hiatus, the United Kingdom will return to the contest, with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) replacing ITV, who previously organised the country’s participation in the contest between 2003 and 2005. Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany and Russia will not return after having participated in 2021, with the latter's broadcasters having been indefinitely suspended from the EBU.[3]

Country[12]	Artist	Song	Language
Albania	TBD September 2022[13]
Armenia
France
Georgia	Mariam Bigvava
Ireland	TBD 23 October 2022[14]
Italy
Kazakhstan	David Charlin
Malta	TBD 2 October 2022[15]
Netherlands	Luna	"La festa"	Dutch, English[lower-alpha 1]
North Macedonia	Lara and Irina
Poland	Laura Bączkiewicz	"To the Moon"	Polish, English
Portugal	Nicolas Alves
Serbia
Spain
Ukraine	Zlata Dziunka	"Nezlamna" (Незламна)	Ukrainian, English
United Kingdom

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 EBU.[16]

Active EBU members

•  Azerbaijan – In January 2022, Eldar Rasulov, a member of Azerbaijani delegation, stated that the country must participate regardless where the contest is held in response to rumours that they would withdraw due to the upcoming contest being held in Armenia.[17] However, the country ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants.[3]
•  Bulgaria – While Bulgaria's participation was initially confirmed, they did not appear on the final list of participants.[3]
•  Estonia – In May 2022, Estonian broadcaster ERR announced that Estonia would not debut in the 2022 contest due to financial limitations, but did not close the door to future participation.[18]
•  Finland – In May 2022, Finnish broadcaster Yle announced that Finland would not debut at the 2022 contest because they "do not want to create new child stars or feel comfortable with children competing in these types of shows".[19]
•  Germany – In August 2022, German broadcaster NDR confirmed that they will not be participating in 2022 due to a "creative break" and partial travel warnings for Armenia issued by the Federal Foreign Office. They will, however, still broadcast the contest, with a view of returning in 2023.[20]
•  Israel – In June 2022, Israeli broadcaster KAN confirmed that they would not be participating in 2022 due to focusing their efforts on the Eurovision Song Contest.[21] Israel last participated in 2018.
•  Montenegro – In May 2022, Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG announced that Montenegro would not return to the contest in 2022, due to lack of funds and focus on the Eurovision Song Contest.[22] Montenegro last participated in 2015.
•  Slovenia – In May 2022, Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO initially stated that they were considering a return to the contest.[23] However, the country did not end up participating.[24] Slovenia last participated in 2015.

Non-EBU members

•  Russia – Despite having initially confirmed their participation on 13 February 2022,[25] all EBU members from Russia announced their withdrawal from the union on 26 February, in response to their exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[26][27] On 1 March, a further statement from the EBU announced that it had suspended its Russian members from its governance structures.[28] On 26 May, the EBU made effective the suspension of its Russian members, causing Russia to indefinitely lose broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events, including Junior Eurovision.[29][30] The Russian selection process for the 2022 contest was therefore cancelled, with an alternative competition similar in format to Junior Eurovision, called Nashe pokoleniye (English: Our Generation), to be held in the autumn in Moscow.[31][32]

Broadcasts

Broadcasts in participating countries

Country	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Italy	Rai 1	TBA	[33]
United Kingdom	BBC One, CBBC	TBA	[34]

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Germany	KiKa	TBA	[20]

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2022
• Eurovision Young Musicians 2022

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

• Official website

На других языках

[ru] Детское Евровидение — 2022