International song competition for youth
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was the 18th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by Telewizja Polska (TVP) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest took place on 29 November 2020, and was held in Warsaw, Poland, following the country's victory at the 2019 contest with the song "Superhero" by Viki Gabor. This was the first time the contest was held in the same country for two consecutive years.
Twelve countries participated in the contest, having the smallest number of participants since the 2013 contest (with some countries pointing the COVID-19 pandemic situation and the resulting travel restrictions as the reasons for their withdrawal), with Germany participating for the first time.
France's Valentina was the winner of the contest with the song "J'imagine". This was France's first victory in the contest, as well as its first win at a Eurovision event since Eurovision Young Dancers 1989. Kazakhstan and Spain finished second and third, respectively, for the second year in a row. The Netherlands and Belarus completed the top five, with the Netherlands finishing fourth also for the second year in a row. Debuting country Germany finished last.
Location.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 took place in Studio 5 in the TVP Headquarters located in Warsaw, Poland, after the country won the 2019 edition on home soil in Gliwice with the song "Superhero" by Viki Gabor. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, all the competing songs were performed in a studio in each participating country.
It was the third time Warsaw hosted a Eurovision event (after the Eurovision Young Musicians 1994 and the Eurovision Young Dancers 2005), and the first time the contest is held in the same country in two consecutive years.
Bidding phase and host city selection.
After Poland's victory in the 2019 contest, the director-general of Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP), Jacek Kurski, stated that the country would apply to host the event again in 2020. However, Kurski stated that the possibility of two consecutive editions of the event in Poland could be frowned upon by the EBU. After a period of uncertainty, in the last week of December 2019, it was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza that some Kraków City Councillors were expressing interest in taking the proposal that the contest be held in the city, focused on Tauron Arena. A few days later on 8 January 2020, the proposal was discussed at the City Council and accepted by the majority of its members. Poland was confirmed as the host country in March 2020 and Kraków was seed as the main possibility to be host city.
Following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work on the event was suspended indefinitely. On 16 May 2020, during the airing of "", it was confirmed that the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 would be held in a minor scale inside a television studio in Warsaw on 29 November. Gabor also revealed the competition's logo and slogan during the broadcast.
On 7 October, Rafał Brzozowski revealed in an interview for TVP that the contest would take place in Studio 5 at the TVP Headquarters in Warsaw. In that studio, TVP1 has produced the game show "Jaka to melodia?" since 2019. Previously, the venue had organised the national finals (in 2003–04 as "Krajowe Eliminacje" and from 2006 to 2008 as "Piosenka dla Europy") for the adult and children's (until 2004) versions of the contest.
Participating countries.
On 8 September 2020, the EBU released the initial list of participants with 13 competing countries. Germany would make their debut appearance, while Albania, Australia, Ireland, Italy, North Macedonia, Portugal and Wales would not return, having participated in 2019. All of these countries cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for their withdrawal. Although initially confirmed as a participating country, Armenia withdrew from the contest on 5 November 2020 due to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, reducing the number of participating countries to 12. This was the lowest number of participating countries since 2013, which also had twelve participating countries.
Official album.
Prior to the event, a digital compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2020 contest was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group on 13 November 2020. It was the first time since 2012 that the compilation was released physically.
Production.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was, like the previous year, a joint project held by TVP and the EBU. In January 2020, the EBU announced that after the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Martin Österdahl would become the new executive supervisor of both the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and the Eurovision Song Contest, succeeding Jon Ola Sand. Österdahl stated during the press conference before the contest final that this year's event "faced more challenges than perhaps ever before", and that some worked double or triple the normal amount.
For the first time in the contest's history, most of the participants performed their songs remotely, in a series of performances on their country of origin. The EBU stated "to ensure continuity and the fairness of the competition, EBU Members in the [then] 13 participating countries have agreed to use a similar stage layout and technical set up to capture the performance of their artist(s)." Due to logistical reasons, aside from Poland, the only three countries to record their performances in Warsaw were Malta, Serbia and Ukraine.
The opening ceremonies, the draw and the interval acts were also broadcast live from Warsaw, with, according to the EBU, "all presenters and necessary crew socially distancing." There was a small audience present.
Format.
Presenters.
On 7 October 2020, it was announced that Ida Nowakowska, Rafał Brzozowski, and Małgorzata Tomaszewska would host the contest. Nowakowska was the first person to host either the junior or adult contest two times in a row. Brzozowski is a Polish singer and TV presenter, and later represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Tomaszewska is a co-host of "The Voice of Poland".
On 14 November 2020, journalist and TV host Mateusz Szymkowiak was confirmed as the host for the Opening Ceremony, which took place on 23 November in Warsaw. Szymkowiak was the first person to host the Opening Ceremony of either the junior or adult contest two times in a row.
Visual design.
The theme for the contest, "#MoveTheWorld!", was revealed on 16 May 2020, during the broadcast of "" by Junior Eurovision 2019 winner Viki Gabor. The creative concept behind the slogan is the belief in children that "all important things are done by renowned people: scientists, astronauts, athletes and actors", celebrating the millions of people around the world perform their day-to-day duties with capability and care and the "collective power we hold together."
The main stage in Warsaw was designed by Anna Brodnicka. It was "inspired by the rich symbolism of a circle and its connection to our lives." The participating broadcasters were presented two versions of the stage to film their performances in their own countries. One version of the stage featured LED screens, while the other more simplified stage used projections instead.
The trophy was designed by Kjell Engman of the Swedish glass company Kosta Boda, using the same design as was first introduced in the 2017 contest. The main trophy is a glass microphone with coloured lines inside the upper part, which symbolize the flow of sound.
Postcards.
Each postcard took place in a different location in Poland. They all began with a short clip of the upcoming performer creating a heart with their hands or otherwise gesturing to the camera, followed by an extended sequence involving dance troupes dancing around cardboard models related to a certain profession. Each postcard ended with the upcoming performer giving a gift to a worker in that profession.
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Contest overview.
The event took place on 29 November 2020 at 17:00 CET. Twelve countries participated, with the running order published on 23 November 2020. All the countries competing were eligible to vote with the jury vote, as well as participating and non-participating countries under an aggregated international online vote, eligible to vote. France won with 200 points, winning both the jury and online vote. Kazakhstan came second with 152 points, with Spain completing the top three. Russia, Serbia and Germany occupied the bottom three positions.
Opening the show, Viki Gabor performed her winning song "Superhero". She later returned during the interval to perform the 2019 adult Eurovision winning song "Arcade" with Roksana Węgiel and Duncan Laurence, the latter having his appearance inserted via chroma keying. Alicja Szemplińska then performed "Empires", the intended Polish entry for the cancelled Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The show's co-host, Ida Nowakowska, performed as a backup dancer for Szemplińska. Closing the interval, all participants performed the common song, "Move the World", with their appearance also inserted via augmented reality and chroma key.
Following the final, multiple delegations, including winner France, were accused of having used playback and pre-recorded vocals in the recordings of their performances. A formal request to respond to the allegations was denied by the EBU, which responded, "all countries were subject to the same controls and that the playback allegations were not true."
Spokespersons.
Breaking a tradition introduced in recent years, in which spokespeople from each participating country were part of their respective delegations and giving the results at the contest's venue, for this year the spokespersons announced the jury 12 points from their respective countries and were connected to Warsaw via satellite, in the same way as the adult contest. The following announced the jury 12 points for their respective country:
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Detailed voting results.
12 points.
Below is a summary of all 12 points received from each country's professional juries.
Online voting.
According to the EBU, a total of over 4.5 million valid votes were received during the voting windows.
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.
Notes and references.
References.
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