With seven months to go until the 2022 edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in Yerevan, Armenia, let’s take a look at which countries we can expect to see there, and which coutries will not be participating.
As of May 30th, 2022, a total of eight countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
- Armenia (host country)
- Bulgaria
- France
- Georgia
- Ireland
- Poland
- Spain
- The Netherlands
Both Georgia and The Netherlands have already begun the process of finding their Junior Eurovision representative. National Final Rainina is well underway in Georgia, whilst 23 acts are left in Junior Songfestival in The Netherlands.
"No, No" - these countries will not be returning to Junior Eurovision
Belgian Broadcaster VRT confirmed they would not returning to the contest, and instead, they would be focusing more on local competitions on children’s television channel KENET. The French-language broadcaster RTBF has not ruled out participation.
Montenegro, who have taken part in Junior Eurovision only twice, in 2014 and 2015, have confirmed to Eurofestivales that they will not be returning. The reasons being lack of funds, and the broadcaster focusing on Eurovision.
Despite speculation earlier on in May that they would be considering a return to the contest, Slovenia have now confirmed that they will not be returning this year: “RTV Slovenia will not participate in the selection of the Eurovision Song Contest for Children 2022, as the show is not provided in the Program-Production Plan for 2022.”
Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway and Wales all confirmed that they would not be returning to Junior Eurovision, but did not provide any further information on the matter.
What's Another Year?
Austria, Estonia, Finland and Iceland have all confirmed that they will not be making their Junior Eurovision debut in 2022. Austria have not given any reason as to why they will not be joining Junior Eurovision this year.
Estonia will not debut in 2022 due to financial limitations, but do not rule out future participation. YLE of Finland have ruled out participation in 2022 because they “do not want to create new child stars or feel comfortable with children competing in these types of shows”. Despite sending a delegation to observe the 2021 contest in Paris, and having a 96% viewing share for the contest, Head of Press for RÚV, Rúnar Freyr, has said it is “too early to tell” if Iceland will debut in the 2022 contest.
Should I stay or should I go?
Daniyar Tussupbekov, who works for Khabar TV in Kazakhstan, has stated that the country wants to participate in Junior Eurovision 2022, but due to Kazakhstan not being a full member of the EBU, (they are only an associate member), they need to be invited by the Steering Group of the contest and the EBU in order to participate.
Junior Eurovision 2021 participating countries Albania; Azerbaijan; Germany; Italy; Malta; North Macedonia; Poland; Portugal; Serbia; Spain and Ukraine have all yet to announce a decision on participation in Armenia. Russia will not be participating due to its broadcasters being formally suspended from the EBU.
Australia, who last participated in 2019, have not confirmed anything regarding this years contest. The country was absent from the 2020 and 2021 contests due to travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. If they were to return to the 2022 contest, they would need to be invited to participate (just like Kazakhstan) as they are only an associate member of the EBU.
Are you looking forward to Junior Eurovision 2022? Which countries would you like to see participating? Let us know in the comments below!
