JESC 2012: We have a Winner!
A dozen young singers from a dozen nations (including a trio of newcomers) faced off in Amsterdam, all vying to take home the title of “Junior Eurovision Champion”. We had ballads, hyperactive pop, Beatle-mania, and numbers that could have been taken straight out of a youth edition of “Glee” (I’m looking at you, Israel!). After all of the tension, and an often-dramatic, yet ultimately decisive vote, who claimed the victory?
Congratulations go out to Ukraine’s Anastasiya Petryk and her powerful, almost dark performance of “Nebo”, which took home a whopping 138 points (an incredible 88% of the maximum amount of points available, when you include the automatic 12 given to all countries). Georgia’s “Funky Lemonade” took home the silver, with Armenia’s “Sweetie Baby” nabbing a somewhat surprising bronze. Pre-contest favorite Lerika, performing for Russia, is going home with a 4th place finish. Let’s take a look at Miss Petryk’s winning performance:
Remember: this girl is only ten years old, and she can likely sing circles around anyone that you or I know. Whatever your feelings may be about Junior Eurovision, it’s pretty difficult to deny that this young lady has an immense amount of talent (and considering how tiny she is, that talent is highly concentrated!)
With Executive Supervisor Sietse Bakker leaving the JESC in order to focus on his duties with the ESC proper, Junior will be going through a bit of a transition over the next year. Some nations have already confirmed their entry into the 2013 contest, and chatter has already been floating around regarding next year’s host (unlike the ESC, the winner does not automatically host the subsequent event). Hopefully, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will weather the storm of both transition and economic crisis and continue providing a wonderful experience for audiences and young performers alike.
Posted on December 4, '12, in 2012, JESC, Ukraine. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
The ESC Insider 
Despite some opposition, I really like JESC. I think that the countries are willing to take some risks in the song selection which can either be great (like Ukraine) or not so great (like Albania). Also, it’s a nice proving ground for the big show, in the case of real-time voting, which was implemented first the JESC.
I was thoroughly surprised with Ukraine’s victory, but she totally deserved it. I had the same reaction to Israel’s 8th place, which totally shocked me, as they seemed like contenders for victory. However, my favorite was Sweden. That song could’ve gone to Baku this year and finished top 10, in my opinion. Which was your favorite? Also, nice to see you blogging again! I’m excited for the new season. There seems to be some good stuff out there. 🙂
Honestly, I was of two minds when it came to picking a favorite at this year’s JESC. If I thought of it in terms of a musical competition for *kids*, I supported Russia. However, when I thought about it simply as a competition of “who brought the best song to the table and performed it the most capably”, Ukraine was basically unparalleled.
I am *so* ready for Eurovision preseason to finally ramp up…I’ll be in Switzerland in two weeks to cover their NF (with Insight), and I couldn’t be more excited! And just because there’s been a lull of activity here on Insider, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing! 😉 I’ve put up a few pieces on Insight over the past few months (another one is scheduled to come up this week, actually). It keeps me busy, and out of trouble. 😉
Hmm, if I distinguished categories like that, I’d have to say that the best song “for kids” might have been Georgia, considering its exuberance and fun. As for the best “song and performance,” I’d seriously say it was a tie between Sweden, Ukraine and Russia. All of them were great songs and great performances. I’d say that Ukraine pipped the other two in terms of originality and impact, as Russia was competent but somewhat generic and Sweden was unique but too mellow. Anastasiya just hit the balance perfectly.
Woohoo for Switzerland! Have a wonderful time! Who’s your favorite in that selection? I’d say mine is Carrousel, then Melissa. All the rest is pretty samey-same.
Oh, I’m so bad! I need to update by “Blogs” bookmark in Chrome, as it’s lacking ESCInsight at this moment. I promise to do that and check out your stuff. 🙂
I’m with you on Carrousel and Melissa, although I think that it’ll come down to either Melissa or Heilsarmee in the end. We’ll find out in less than 2 weeks, won’t we? 🙂
Another great resource to add to your favorites might be http://www.escbuzz.com. It’s an aggregator of over a dozen ESC sites that Ewan form Insight has set up, so you can see all of the headlines in one place. 😀
It’s so exciting! Heilsarmee and Melissa seem to be the two favorites at this point, with the “monkey business” bringing up the rear. Despite the possibility of withdrawals, this is shaping up to be a pretty good NF season, at least in every country aside from Lithuania, where quality music has apparently gone to die at the hands of a jury.
I will. I really enjoy Insight. Everything’s interesting, well-researched and in fully competent English, which might not matter to a lay person, but is the bane of my grammar nazi-esque existence. 😉
Learning English hasn’t been easy for me…I *am* an American, after all! 😉