Israel. As Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) had revealed to a portal Euromix they won’t return to this years edition of Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Israel took part at JESC three times (2012, 2016 and 2018) achieving their best result at their debut in 2012 with Kids.il.
Slovakia, Czech Republic and Estonia have ruled out their debut at Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020!
Head of the Department of International Relations of Slovak Radio and Television (RTVS), Slavomira Kubickova, has stated in an interview that Slovakia will not participate at the Junior Eurovision 2020.“Due to the uncertainty associated with the situation caused by COVID-19 in Europe, Slovak Radio and Television does not consider participating in Junior Eurovision 2020”. Slovakia has never participated in the show even though their debut was planned for 2003 edition, but they withdrew in the last moment. RTVS hasn’t shown interest in the show until last year when a RTVS spokesperson said the network was evaluating the possibilities for cooperation at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. But Slovakia is still not going to make their debut at JESC.
Czech television has also ruled out their debut as they announced they would like to focus all of their energy and resources on participating in the Eurovision Song Contest and said that they won’t take part in JESC.
The Head of ETV Programs, Marje Tõemäe, has confirmed in an interview that ERR / ETV will not debut in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 because of financial reasons, which prevent Estonia to participate in the contest.
Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria won’t be returning to the show!
Even though some speculations about Greece returning to the Junior Eurovision could have been seen the management of ERT discussed their possible return and made a final decision not to come back to this year’s Junior Eurovision while there is still the possibility for Greece to take part in the show next year. This was the first time after their withdrawal back in 2008 that discussions about returning to the show took place. The best result Greece achieved at JESC was in 2005 when reached 6th place with 88 points.
The Swiss Society for Radio and Television Broadcasting (SRG SSR) has agreed not to take part at Junior Eurovision 2020 as there isn’t consensus among the members of the SRG SSR to do so. Of the three public broadcasters, the Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI) has historically shown the most interest in Swiss participation in the contest, unlike Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), which has no interest in participating. Switzerland has only participated once in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest thanks to the RSI, who was in charge of Switzerland’s participation in the contest in 2004 when Demis Mirarchi represented them with his song “Birichino”, which ended in the penultimate place with only 4 points. In 2005, the country had to withdraw due to financing problems.
In addition to the statement SRF made regarding Swiss participation a fan asked them about it on their official twitter account and they replied: “That is not currently planned. We would like to focus on the original ESC. We would be glad to promote young Swiss musicians through our platforms.“
In April 2020 Denmark announced they won’t be returning to the competition Jan Lagermand Lundme stated: “The values that we put in Danish kids’ program do not coincide with the values of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It seems that children are on stage and playing adults instead of acting like children … Children must be children, they should not try to strive to be something they are not. “ and they won’t be returning to the contest. Denmark participated in the JESC from 2003 to 2005. A year later Denmark withdrew due to pressure placed on children who were participating at the show, among other reasons. Although it has not won any edition of the show, Denmark organized the first edition of Junior Eurovision Song Contest and Copenhagen hosted the show.
Sweden was among the first countries which ruled out their return at Junior Eurovision when Safa Safiyari, channel manager for SVT Barn stated in an interview: “After the break that was taken in 2014, we have raised the question on several occasions and tested whether the break should continue or not, it has basically happened every two years . But as the offer is constantly growing, we came to the conclusion that JESC does not fit the content we are broadcasting.” adding that the door for their future participation has not been completely closed.
In December 2019, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) stated that they had no plans to return to the contest at the time, as it was consolidating with their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The last time Bulgaria took part in the show was 2016.
The list of countries which won’t be making their return at Junior Eurovision stage also include: Belgium, Croatia, Latvia, Norway, Romania, San Marino and Slovenia. While Scotland ruled out their debut. On the other hand the confirmed participants of Junior Eurovision 2020 are: Kazakhstan, Poland, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and Germany who will be making their debut.
The numbers will change for sure as it is expected for more countries to confirm their participation. What are your thoughts about so many countries not returning to the show? Which of these would you like to see again at the stage of Junior Eurovision Song Contest? Let us know in the comments below!
