The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 19th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held on 19 December 2021 at La Seine Musicale in Paris, France, and presented by Carla, Élodie Gossuin, and Olivier Minne. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster , who staged the event after winning the for with the song "J'imagine" by Valentina. This was the first time the contest was held in France, as well as the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since Eurovision Young Dancers 1999 in Lyon and the first to be held in Paris since Eurovision Young Dancers 1989.
Broadcasters from nineteen countries participated in the contest, with , , , , , and all returning after their absence from the previous edition. and returned after two and four-year absences respectively. For the first time in 19 editions, did not participate, as the country's broadcaster is indefinitely suspended from the EBU, making the the only country to have participated every year since the contest's first edition in .
The winner was with the song "" by Maléna. This was Armenia's second victory in the contest, having last won in . , host country , , and completed the top five, with Azerbaijan recording its highest placement to date. The finished in last place for the first time, while and also achieved their lowest placings to date, the latter finishing outside the top five for the first time.
Location
On 9 December 2020, it was announced that the contest would take place in France in 2021. The contest was held on 19December, which to date remains the latest it has ever occurred in any year; prior to this, the last instance of the contest being held in December was . The selected venue for the contest was the 6,000-seat , which serves as concert hall and performing arts center. The centre is located on Île Seguin in Boulogne-Billancourt, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris.
Bidding phase and host city selection
Unlike the adult Eurovision Song Contest, the winning country originally did not receive the automatic rights to host the next edition. However, for the contests since 2011 (with the exceptions of 2012 and 2018), the winning country has had first refusal on hosting the next competition. Italy used this clause in 2015 to decline to host the contest after their victory in 2014. On 15 October 2017, the EBU announced a return to the original system in 2018, to help provide broadcasters with a greater amount of time to prepare, and to ensure the continuation of the contest into the future.
On 9 December 2020, it was confirmed by the EBU that France, having won the , would host the 2021 contest. The French Head of Delegation Alexandra Redde-Amiel had previously stated that was keen to host the contest. Spanish broadcaster (RTVE) had also expressed interest in hosting had it won in 2020.
On 20 May 2021, during a press conference held by and the EBU, it was confirmed that the contest would be held in La Seine Musicale in Paris. It was the second consecutive time the contest was held in a capital city. reported in September 2021 that the broadcaster had looked into the possibility of organising the contest in Cannes or Nice before settling on the metropolitan area of Paris as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Paris La Défense Arena was considered a potential venue in a 8,000-seat configuration before La Seine Musicale was named the chosen venue.
Participants On 2 September 2021, 19 countries were confirmed to be participating in the contest, equaling the number of participating countries from 2019. , , , , and all returned after one-year absences, while and returned after two and four-year absences respectively. For the first time since the contest's inception, did not participate, as the country's broadcaster BTRC is in the midst of an indefinite suspension from the EBU. This made it the first edition since the 2004 contest to not see any of the previous year's participating countries withdraw voluntarily, as well as the first since 2018 to see the number of participating countries actively increase from the year before.
The Russian representative, Tanya Mezhentseva, had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest before; she represented Russia in along with Denberel Oorzhak, finishing in 13th place with the song "A Time for Us". This is only the third case (all of whom have been from Russia) in the competition to feature a returning artist from previous editions after Katya Ryabova (Russia 2009 and 2011) and Lerika (Moldova 2011 and Russia 2012). The Armenian representative, Maléna, was set to participate in 2020 with the song "Why" before Armenia withdrew from the competition.
Prior to the event, a digital compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2021 contest was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group on 3 December 2021.
+ Participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter(s)RTSHAnna Gjebrea"Stand by You"Albanian, EnglishAMPTVMaléna"" Armenian, EnglishİTVSona Azizova"One of Those Days"Azerbaijani, EnglishBNTDenislava and Martin"Voice of Love"Bulgarian, EnglishEnzo"Tic Tac"FrenchGPBNiko Kajaia"Let's Count the Smiles"Georgian, French, EnglishGiga KukhianidzeKikaPauline"Imagine Us"German, EnglishTG4Maiú Levi Lawlor" (Disappear)"IrishRAIElisabetta Lizza" (Mirror on the Wall)"Italian, EnglishKAAlinur Khamzin and Beknur Zhanibekuly" (Fairy World)" Kazakh, FrenchPBSIke and Kaya"My Home"EnglishAVROTROSAyana"" Dutch, EnglishFerry LagendijkMRTDajte Muzika"Green Forces"Macedonian, EnglishTVPSara James"Somebody"Polish, EnglishRTPSimão Oliveira""PortugueseVGTRK Tanya Mezhentseva""Russian, EnglishRTSJovana and Dunja" (Children's Eyes)" SerbianAna FrlinRTVELevi Díaz""SpanishDavid RomaOlena Usenko"" Ukrainian
Production
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Several measures were taken by the organisers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the spread of the Omicron variant. Although the live show was held with a full capacity audience wearing masks, the jury show, which took place on 18 December, was held without an audience. The opening ceremony, which took place on 13 December, was held without delegations attending.
In preparation for the event, the EBU had been considering three scenarios in which the contest could be held, which were announced on 24 August. The three scenarios include: The event is held with no restrictions, as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began (scenario A). The event is held with social distancing measures in place (scenario B). The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was held in this scenario. Providing the option for acts to compete with their music video if they are unable to travel to Paris (scenario C, which was the option used by Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021) or to compete with a rehearsal recording if they are unable to compete in the televised show (this was the option used by Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021).
Presenters
Carla, Élodie Gossuin and Olivier Minne were the presenters of the show. Carla was also the French entrant in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The hosts were revealed during a press conference on 17 November.
Visual design
The slogan for the contest, Imagine, was revealed on 20 May 2021 during a press conference prior to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The slogan was chosen as a reference to the previous year's winning song "J'imagine", as well as a way to encourage children to be creative and pursue their dreams.
The official logo and theme artwork for the contest was unveiled on 24 August 2021. The artwork was inspired by three themes: imagination, Christmas and the Eiffel Tower.
Postcards Contestants were featured in "postcard" video introductions, set in a different location in Paris, or surrounding areas in France. Each began with a short clip of the upcoming performer flying over the skies of Paris via green screen, followed by an extended sequence involving dance troupes dancing in a specific Parisian location. Following that, a stream of light in the colours of the upcoming country's flag entered La Seine Musicale, and the upcoming participant's face was projected onto the exterior of the venue, signalling the beginning of the upcoming performance.
Palais Garnier Galerie Vivienne Musée Grévin La Samaritaine Louvre Pont de Bir-Hakeim Musée des Arts Forains Eiffel Tower Panthéon Palace of Versailles Institut du Monde Arabe L'Espace Niemeyer Galeries Lafayette Pont des Arts Folies Bergère Château de Chantilly Musée Condé Sacré-Cœur, Paris Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
Contest overview The event took place on 19 December 2021 at 16:00 CET. Nineteen countries participated, with the running order published on 13 December 2021. 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. Armenia won with 224 points, also winning the online vote. Poland came second with 218 points, with France (who won the jury vote), Georgia, and Azerbaijan completing the top five. Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands occupied the bottom five positions.
The opening of the show featured the traditional flag parade, accompanied by French DJ duo Ofenbach performing a medley of their discography. During the interval, Valentina performed a Christmas version of her winning song "". All participants then joined on stage for a rendition of the common song, "Imagine". Barbara Pravi closed the interval with "", her entry for in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Country Artist Song Points Place 1 Pauline "Imagine Us" 61 17 2 Niko Kajaia "Let's Count the Smiles" 163 4 3 Sara James "Somebody" 218 2 4 Ike and Kaya "My Home" 97 12 5 Elisabetta Lizza " (Mirror on the Wall)" 107 10 6 Denislava and Martin "Voice of Love" 77 16 7 Tanya Mezhentseva "" 124 7 8 Maiú Levi Lawlor " (Disappear)" 44 18 9 Maléna "" 224 1 10 Alinur Khamzin and Beknur Zhanibekuly " (Fairy World)" 121 8 11 Anna Gjebrea "Stand By You" 84 14 12 Olena Usenko "" 125 6 13 Enzo "Tic Tac" 187 3 14 Sona Azizova "One of Those Days" 151 5 15 Ayana "" 43 19 16 Levi Díaz "" 77 15 17 Jovana and Dunja " (Children's Eyes)" 86 13 18 Dajte Muzika "Green Forces" 114 9 19 Simão Oliveira "" 101 11
Spokespersons The 12 points from the juries were announced live by a spokesperson from each country. Countries that did not provide their own spokesperson had their 12 points announced by a local student from Paris.
Venetia Sandra Gadelia Matylda Eden Céleste Arianne Liza Gureeva Rueben Levi Hackett Karina Ignatyan Zere Alex Oleksandr Balabanov Angélina Suleyman Matheu Lucía Arcos Katie Fendi Manon
Detailed voting results + Place Combined Jury Online vote Country Points Country Points Country Points 1 224 120 109 2 218 116 102 3 187 115 92 4 163 109 67 5 151 104 63 6 125 74 62 7 124 64 59 8 121 62 9 114 60 57 10 107 55 50 11 101 47 12 97 45 47 13 86 39 14 84 30 46 15 77 24 42 16 77 15 39 17 61 9 18 44 9 38 19 43 5 34