Stronger team, Summer School and televised finals – organizers discuss innovations for this year’s Junior Eurovision National Selection

For the third time, preparations for the National Selection for Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place amidst the war. Yet, this year’s selection process will feature new activities, and the team will be strengthened by a production director and another songwriter. In addition, for the first time since 2017, the National Selection finals will be televised.

These topics were raised at the discussion of the preparation for Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.

During the event, it became known that production director Yevhen Kot and songwriter Yevhen Triplov joined the team this year.

This year, the National Selection’s criteria have been made more accessible for young performers. They don’t need to write their own songs; it is enough to make two covers of popular songs and a video presentation about themselves.

Oksana Skybinska, Head of Delegation for Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest, noted that this year’s National Selection will feature a new innovation: the second stage called the Summer School. This will take place in the third week of July with 15 participants chosen after reviewing the applications submitted during the first stage.

In addition, for the first time since 2017, the finals of the Junior Eurovision National Selection, held in September, will be televised. The winner will be chosen by the jury and online viewers.

Junior Eurovision Diaries, which this year will take place in a reality TV format, will cover the National Selection process, including all its stages and behind-the-scenes moments.

Since this is the third time the National Selection is taking place amidst the full-scale war, it is crucial to consider the mental health of the children. Therefore, this year the team has enlisted the support of the GoGlobal educational foundation and the Voices of Children charitable foundation, which, with the help of psychologists, will assist in taking care of the participants’ mental health.

It should be noted that the 22nd Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Spain for the first time in the history of the contest, the finals will take place on November 16 at the Caja Mágica arena in Madrid.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news