Australia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest explained

Australia
Contest:JESC
Apps:5
Highest:3rd:,
Current:2019

Australia participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest five times between and . Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), an associate member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), was responsible for the selection process of their participants at the and contests, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) taking over the country's participation from . SBS previously broadcast every edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on a delay.

The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2015 contest was Bella Paige with the song "My Girls", which finished in eighth place out of seventeen participating entries, achieving a score of sixty-four points. Australia continued their participation at the 2016 contest, having internally selected Alexa Curtis with her song "We Are", which finished in fifth place, scoring 202 points. Isabella Clarke in 2017 and Jael Wena in 2018 both placed 3rd, Australia's best results to date. After finishing eighth with Jordan Anthony in 2019, Australia announced their withdrawal from the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has not returned to the contest since.

History

On 7 October 2015, the Australian national broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) announced that they would be making their Junior Eurovision debut at the contest, in Sofia, Bulgaria,[1] [2] following on from their success at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.[3] SBS internally selected Bella Paige as their debut representative, with the song "My Girls".[4] At the running order draw which took place on 15 November 2015, Australia were drawn to perform sixth on 21 November 2015, following and preceding,[5] where she finished in eighth place scoring 64 points.[6] This is Australia's worst result in their contest history.[6] It was achieved again at the 2019 contest in Gliwice, Poland.

Australian broadcaster SBS, announced on 12 September 2016 that they would be continuing their participation at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and would once again internally select their entrant for the, which took place on 20 November 2016, in Valletta, Malta.[7] Alexa Curtis was announced on 29 September 2016 as being their participant, and would represent Australia with the song "We Are".[8] During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 14 November 2016, Australia was drawn to perform fourteenth on 20 November 2016, following Israel and preceding the Netherlands,[9] where she finished in fifth place achieving 202 points, their best result at the time until Isabella Clarke's participation of the 2017 edition and Jael (2018 Junior Eurovision Song Contest) both being placed 3rd place overall.[10]

In July 2020, Australian broadcaster SBS announced that they would not participate in the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] The country has not returned to the contest since.

Participation overview

+ Table key
1First place
2Second place-->
3Third place
Last place
XEntry selected but did not compete
Upcoming event-->
YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
Bella Paige"My Girls"English864
Alexa Curtis"We Are"English5202
Isabella Clarke"Speak Up"English3172
Jael"Champion"English3201
Jordan Anthony"We Will Rise"English8121

Commentators and spokespersons

The contest 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.[12] The Australian broadcaster send their own commentary team to each contest in order to provide commentary in the English language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Australia. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

YearChannelCommentatorSpokesperson
SBS TV
SBS TwoAndre Nookadu and Georgia McCarthy
SBS OneAsh London and Toby TrusloveEllie Blackwell
Sebastian Hill
ABC MePip Rasmussen, Tim Mathews and Grace KohLiam Clarke
Grace Koh, Pip Rasmussen and Lawrence GunatilakaKsenia Galetskaya
Pip Rasmussen, Drew Parker and Ava MadonSzymon

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: JESC’15: Australia Debuts, 17 Countries To Compete. eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Granger. Anthony. 8 October 2015. 8 October 2015.
  2. Web site: Australia joins to make it 'Super 17' at Junior Eurovision in Sofia!. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Fisher. Luke James. 7 October 2015. 7 October 2015.
  3. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final. eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 22 December 2015.
  4. Web site: Fisher. Luke James. Bella Paige represents Australia with "My Girls". eurovision.tv. Eurovision. 9 October 2015. 9 October 2015.
  5. Web site: James-Fisher. Luke. Running order for Junior Eurovision 2015. junioreurovision,tv. European Broadcasting Union. 15 November 2015. 15 November 2015.
  6. Web site: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - complete scoreboard. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 23 November 2015. 21 November 2015.
  7. Web site: Dwyer. Genevieve. Australia to compete in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016. sbs.com.au. Special Broadcasting Service. 12 September 2016. 12 September 2016.
  8. Web site: Jordan. Paul. Premiere of "We Are" - Australia's song for Junior Eurovision!. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 6 October 2016. 6 October 2016.
  9. Web site: Jordan. Paul. Final running order revealed!. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 19 November 2016. 15 November 2016.
  10. Web site: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Complete scoreboard. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 March 2017. 20 November 2016.
  11. Web site: 2020-07-15. Australia withdraws from Junior Eurovision 2020 due to travel restrictions. 2020-07-15. wiwibloggs. en-US.
  12. Web site: Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!. Fisher. Luke James. Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. 21 November 2015. 21 November 2015.