The United Kingdom will not be competing in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
The United Kingdom will be withdrawing from Junior Eurovision 2024, as reported by Adrian Bradley on X. Whilst no specific reason has been given at this stage, it is likely that viewing figures and scheduling clashes would be the main reasons for withdrawal. Adrian has made these statements on his official X account:
“After a couple of sucessful years, the BBC has told me they won’t be taking part in this years Junior competition in Madrid. They came 5th in Yerevan and 4th in Nice, but possible viewing figures didn’t quite reach the heights they’d hoped for.”
They told me: “We sometimes have to make difficult decisions and the BBC will not participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest this year. We would like to thank the artists and creative teams who represented the UK for the last two years.”
This years contest will be taking place on Saturday 16th November, the first time the contest will be held on a Saturday since 2015. It is likely that this change of day will cause a schedule clash for the BBC, as one of the most popular shows on the channel, Strictly Come Dancing, takes place every Saturday evening between September and December.
In addition to this, CBBC, the kids / teenage BBC Channel that broadcast Junior Eurovision live in 2022 and 2023 (alongside BBC One), stops broadcasting at 7pm every evening, so it is not certain if the contest would or could be broadcast live on the channel.
Low viewing figures from BBC One and CBBC for the 2022 and 2023 contests could have also played a part in the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the contest, which would mark the second time the country has withdrawn due to low viewing figures.
It has not yet been confirmed by the BBC themselves exactly why the United Kingdom are withdrawing from Junior Eurovision, nor how long they will be absent from the contest.
The United Kingdom made their Junior Eurovision debut in 2003, and had three participations before they withdrew. In 2003 and 2004, they achieved great success, finishing in 3rd and 2nd place respectively with Tom Morley and Cory Spedding. In 2005, Joni Fuller finished in 14th place. In 2006, they withdrew from the contest, with the main reason being low viewing figures.
In August 2022, it was confirmed that the United Kingdom would be returning Junior Eurovision after a 17 year absence. Unlike their previous participations, the United Kingdom decided to go for an internal selection, which brought us Freya Skye and “Lose My Head”. She went on to win the online vote, and finish in 5th place overall. In 2023, girlgroup STAND UNIQU3 achieved fourth place with their song “Back To Life”.
What are your thoughts on the United Kingdom withdrawing from Junior Eurovision this year? Was it something that you were expecting? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below!
Photo credit: Corrine Cummings / EBU
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