Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest explained

Spain
Contest:JESC
Broadcaster:Spanish; Castilian: [[RTVE|Radiotelevisión Española]]|i=unset (RTVE)
Apps:9
Highest:1st:
Current:2023
Host:

The participation of Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Televisión Española (TVE), a division of Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. Spain used a national selection format, broadcasting a show entitled Eurojunior, for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Sergio with the song "Desde el cielo", which finished in second place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of 125 points. Spain did not participate from 2007 to 2018, but returned to the contest in .[1]

History

Spain is one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[2] Child singer Sergio was the first participant to represent Spain with the song "Spanish; Castilian: Desde el cielo|i=unset",[3] which finished in second place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of 137 points.[4] Spain is one of the most successful countries in the contest, with its first six entrants all finishing in the top 5. The country won in, represented by María Isabel with "Spanish; Castilian: [[Antes muerta que sencilla]]|i=unset", as well as coming second place twice, in both and . Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) did not return after the contest, stating "the Junior Eurovision promotes stereotypes we do not share".[5]

Since 2013, there were several attempts to manage the return of Spain to the contest. During the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, the head of the Spanish delegation, Federico Llano said that TVE was not planning to participate in the 2014 contest.[6] [7] In 2014, it was stated that European Broadcasting Union TV Committee would discuss the possibility of allowing commercial television channels to participate, in order to negotiate with Spanish private broadcasters to manage the return of Spain to the contest. These attempts did not come to fruition.[8] [9] [10] [11] In 2015, several media outlets reported that TVE was working on returning to the contest, but, these claims were not confirmed by the broadcaster.[12] [13]

On 13 May 2016, EBU Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand announced at a press conference that the EBU were in contact with broadcasters from several countries including Spain, so that they would participate in the .[14] On 28 September 2016, however, Spain was not listed as one of the seventeen participating countries in the contest.[15] RTVE returned to the contest in after a 13-year absence.[1] Their return proved to be successful, with Melani García in and Soleá in both reaching third place. Their success, however, could not be repeated by Levi Díaz, who placed 15th, the first time Spain had finished outside the top 10. In 2022, it's representative Carlos Higes placed 6th, bringing Spain back to the top 10 for the first time since 2020. In 2023, it's representative Sandra Valero finished 2nd with her song "Loviu", giving Spain their best result since 2005.

On 14 February 2024, the EBU & RTVE announced that Spain will host the contest after previous winners France opted against hosting. It will be the first time that Spain has hosted the contest and the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid.[16] On 10 May 2024, the EBU and RTVE selected Madrid as the host city for the event.[17]

Participation overview

+ Table key
1First place
2Second place
3Third place
Last place
XEntry selected but did not compete-->
Upcoming event
YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
Sergio"Spanish; Castilian: Desde el cielo|i=unset"Spanish2125
María Isabel"Spanish; Castilian: [[Antes muerta que sencilla]]|i=unset"Spanish1171
Antonio José"Spanish; Castilian: Te traigo flores|i=unset"Spanish2146
Dani Fernández"Spanish; Castilian: Te doy mi voz|i=unset"Spanish490
Melani García"Spanish; Castilian: Marte|i=unset"Spanish3212
Soleá"Spanish; Castilian: Palante|i=unset"Spanish3133
Levi Díaz"Spanish; Castilian: [[Reír]]|i=unset"Spanish1577
Carlos Higes"Spanish; Castilian: Señorita|i=unset"Spanish, English6137
Sandra Valero"Loviu"Spanish2201
Chloe DelaRosa[18]

Gallery

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[19] The Spanish broadcaster, Televisión Española, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the Spanish language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Spain. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year(s)ChannelCommentatorSpokesperson
La 1Fernando ArgentaJimmy Castro
Lucho
Beatriz Pécker and LuchoGonzalo Gutiérrez Blanco
Fernando Argenta and LuchoLucía
La 1, TVE InternacionalTony Aguilar, Julia Varela and Víctor EscuderoVioleta Leal
Tony Aguilar, Eva Mora and Víctor EscuderoMelani García
Tony Aguilar and Julia VarelaLucía Arcos
Juan Diego Álvarez

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Spain: Junior Eurovision 2019 Participation Confirmed. Eurovoix. 25 June 2019.
  2. Web site: García. Belén.
    1. BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003
    . esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. 26 August 2016. 7 September 2015.
  3. Web site: Escudero. Victor M.. Remember the first ever Junior Eurovision Song Contest?. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 26 August 2016. 9 November 2012.
  4. News: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 Scoreboard. 26 August 2016. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 15 November 2003.
  5. Web site: Spain withdraws from JESC 2007. Hondal. Victor. 2007-08-08. ESCToday. 2009-06-10.
  6. Web site: Junior Eurovision:Spain no plans to return this year (exclusive). García. Belén. esc-plus. 22 May 2014. 21 May 2014.
  7. Web site: Granger. Anthony. Spain: No Plans To Return To Junior Eurovision. Eurovoix.com. 22 May 2014. 21 May 2014.
  8. Web site: EBU negotiating with private TV channels.. @JuniorESCPress Twitter account. 5 September 2014. 30 August 2014.
  9. Web site: Yakovlev. Vladislav. #AskVlad : About the participating countries of JESC 2014. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/4MeGkm0SFes . 2021-12-19 . live. Youtube.com. 5 September 2014. 30 August 2014.
  10. Web site: Granger. Anthony. Spain: Private Channel For JESC 2014 Not Possible. Eurovoix. eurovoix.com. 28 September 2014. 28 September 2014.
  11. Web site: Pérez. Lluis. ¿Volverá España al Festival de Eurojunior en 2015?. Ahoramundotv.es. 17 November 2014. es. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141220202707/http://www.ahoramundotv.es/espana-festival-eurojunior-regreso-2015/131700/. 20 December 2014.
  12. Web site: Granger. Anthony. Spain TVE to return to Junior Eurovision?. eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. 5 June 2015. 5 June 2015.
  13. Web site: Morales. Víctor. TVE estudia su vuelta al Festival de Eurovisión Junior. formulatV.com. FormulaTV. 6 June 2015. es. 6 June 2015.
  14. Web site: Granger. Anthony. JESC'16 big change to the contest announced. eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. 17 May 2016. 13 May 2016.
  15. Web site: Jordan. Paul. 17 Countries Confirmed For Junior Eurovision 2016!. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 September 2016. 28 September 2016.
  16. Web site: 2024-02-14 . Spain will host Junior Eurovision 2024 . 2024-02-14 . Junioreurovision.tv . EBU.
  17. Web site: 2024-05-20 . Madrid named as Host City of Junior Eurovision 2024 . 2024-05-10 . Junioreurovision.tv . EBU.
  18. Web site: Chloe DelaRosa representará a España en Eurovisión Junior 2024. es. Chloe DelaRosa will represent Spain in Junior Eurovision 2024. David López. José. ESCPlus España. 18 July 2024.
  19. Web site: Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!. Fisher. Luke James. Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. 21 November 2015. 21 November 2015.