Junior Eurovision: Check out the Entrants

/ hulluna

junior eurovision 2014Junior Eurovision – It’s only a matter of weeks now until this year’s Junior Eurovision Contest which is to be held in Malta on November 15th. Fourteen of the sixteen participants have presented their songs so far, so have a listen now and let us know what you think…

Participants:

  • Armenia – 11-year-old Betty (Elizabeth Danielyan) with ‘People of the sun‘.
  • Belarus – 14-year-old Nadezhda Misyakova with ‘Sokal‘ (falcon).
  • Bulgaria – 10-year-old Krisia with piano playing brothers Hasan and Ibrahim on ‘Planet of the children‘.
  • Croatia – Josie with ‘Game over’.
  • Cyprus 13-year-old Sophia Patsalides singing ‘I pio omorfi mera‘ (The most beautiful day).
  • Georgia – Lizi Japaridze (Lizi Pop) with ‘Happy day‘.
  • Italy – 14-year-old Vincenzo Cantiello singing ‘Tu primo grande amore‘.
  • Malta – 11-year-old Federica Falzon with ‘Diamonds‘.
  • Montenegro – 14-year-old Maša Vujadinovic & Lejla Vulić with ‘Budi dijete na jedan dan‘.
  • Russia – Alisa Kozhikina with ‘Dreamer‘.
  • San Marino – The Peppermints (all 14 or 15 years old) singing ‘Breaking My Heart‘.
  • Serbia – 14-year-old Emilija Djonin singing ‘Svet u mojim očima‘ (World In my eyes)‘.
  • Slovenia – Ula Ložar with ‘Nisi sam (Your light)‘.
  • Sweden – 14-year-old Julia Kedhammar singing ‘Du är inte ensam‘.
  • The Netherlands – Julia singing ‘Around‘.
  • Ukraine – Sympho-Nick with ‘Spring will come‘.

To check out each entry click on the song titles above. There are some classy little entries this year, and some very strong vocals and mature entries. Checkout Bulgaria working the wind machine in their video:

Julia from the Netherlands is going for Eurovision glitter instead:

Nadezhda Misyakova of Belarus tells us about her song here:

The Malta Shipbuilding, situated in Marsa, will host this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday 15th November 2014 at 19.00 (CET). Tickets for the final have now sold out, but jury final tickets can still be purchased here.

The official Junior Eurovision website can be found at http://www.junioreurovision.tv, their Facebook is here and their Twitter is @JuniorESCPress.

31 thoughts on “Junior Eurovision: Check out the Entrants”

  1. So far it’s Bulgaria and Slovenia for me by quite some distance.Both may be quite mature for JESC (especially Slovenia) but both these songs are memorable, some effort and creativity has been put in them. And if these girls can deliver vocally live I can see them fighting for the trophy even, if something more uptempo does not come between them (which is often the case in JESC).
    The Netherlands have a catchy,more jesc appropriate entry probably, well performed.
    The other favourite to win this imo is Armenia, very energetic, not very strong vocals though at points.
    Belarus also has a strong entry, elevated by her great voice.
    Cyprus seems to receive a very good feedback but I just can’t hear anything special there, very forgettable imo.
    Georgia is creepy and weird in JESC as always, although in a more toned down way this time around.
    Italy does JESC as Italy I expected to do it. Brings the only boy, big voice, big italian ballad. Only for the usual italian charm this may get in the top 5.
    Montenegro on the other hand is heading straight for the last place I am afraid or I may be negatively influenced by the hideous clip, who knows (why is there a random man of colour in there acting awkard in a children’s song ?). But the song and the girls singing are not much better either imo.
    San Marino’s entry had the potential to be good but it’s made and performed in a very sloppy way. These girls are not the best singers and their voices do not mix well together either. I would be surprised if it finishes in the top 10.
    Serbia’s entry is too understated for its own good. It has the charm of a serbian ballad and I really like Serbia’s approach to jesc (my favourite jesc entry from them is still the 2008 entry which did really bad in the contest). Again very mature for JESC probably and won’t do much in the contest (or do very good if the juries love it who knows) compared to Slovenia or Bulgaria.
    Sweden as well has the usual more mature, teen approach to jesc.The song is good and she sings it nicely enough. It gets a tad underwhelming in the chorus but overall a solid “lower top 10” effort.
    Ukraine on the other hand went weird and nationalistic. I sympathize with them on what they are going through and feel sorry they won’t be in esc but I can’t stand nationalistic nonsense in the contest, sorry. Musically it’s interesting and different and find its way in the top 5 but I am not a fan sorry.

    This year in general is quite strong for jesc in general though and given the very balanced regional powers (5 eastern countries, 5 balkan and 5 western with Cyprus as a joker who could vote for anyone) I cannot make any safe predictions.
    Without Croatia and Malta, my first prediction for a top 5 would be : Bulgaria, Slovenia, Armenia, Netherlands and either Italy or Belarus.

  8. Since everyone agrees on Bulgaria, I made an exception and checked their JESC entry. I agree that it is a very good song, definitely the best JESC song I have ever listened to and far better than all Bulgarian entries except 2007. However, I still find it terribly embarrassing/disturbing to watch that small girl performing for an anonymous internet audience all dressed up and striking poses. That’s wrong imo.

  9. I agree with what Togravus wrote above. Bulgaria and Russia in particular veer uncomfortably close to child pageant territory.

    Belarus and Slovenia are probably the two songs I like the most, as they don’t push an image that doesn’t fit their singers. Also, “Sokal” reminds me of Kate’s 90’s Eurolaul efforts (Niclas will know what I’m talking about…)

  10. Most of songs don’t sound childish IMO. And have no clue how people will judge comparing little Russian representative with Cypriot teenager and their songs. Bulgaria is fine winner for JESC! I like Serbia, Russia aswell!

    Off topic: Aram Mp3’s blind jock-audition on Armenian Voice. So ESCish with Hayko, Eva Rivas, Armen MArtirosyan (composer of Armenian entries 2006, 2010):

  11. Still waiting on Croatia and Malta. :-)

    Bulgaria (amazing), Belarus (I am a sucker ethnic folk) and Italy (grand 90s nostalgia ballad with a hint of a Disney feel) are the best IMO. Slovenia is good and her voice is great.

    Georgia is nice and sounds like she has a great voice but it sounds too familiar and at times unoriginal. :-( but it is a nice effort!

    Ukraine’s music composition is an interesting structure and has a Disney sound to it but the vocals are messy and lyrics are, as guitaristbl stated, too nationalistic. Come on, “Lyuba Ukrainya?”

    Armenia has potential (the energy is there) but I still have doubts due to the live performance. :-/

    Serbia is boring and Montenegro is awful. But they are amongst friends so I fear they will do well and receive unfair positions in the top or middle of the scoreboard.

    The rest are dull copies of the typical, American-style teen pop songs you hear on the radio every day. San Marino being the worst of this group.

  13. Totally off-topic: Do you know the album version of Christine Guldbrandsen’s ‘Alvedansen’. This is a perfect example of how the Eurovisionizing of songs can severely damage the song’s artistic substance. The instrumentation is much more subtle and intriguing compared to the very in-your-face instrumentation used in Athens:

  14. Don’t know if anyone has posted it before since the video is about 3 months old but here are Gaia Cauchi (2013 JESC winner) and Federica Falzon (2014 maltese JESC entrant) singing “Rise like a phoenix” :

    Federica is a very impressive operatic singer I have to say..

  17. Pingback: JESC Travellers Held Up at Frankfurt! | The Eurovision Times

  18. Pingback: Junior Eurovision: Final Tonight! | The Eurovision Times

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