JESC 2018 | Jon Ola Sand invites Denmark to return to Junior Eurovision

Made in Denmark in 2003 - that’s what the Junior Eurovision Song Contest itself was; yet the Scandinavian country hasn’t participated since 2005, when they decided to withdraw from the competition due to Danish Broadcaster Corporation DR’s principles. Jan Lagermand Lundme, the head of Entertainment at DR had this to say:

"The values that we put in Denmark in a program for children do not match the values of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest…It seems that the children are on stage and play adults instead of acting as children, and we think that is fundamentally wrong. Children must be children, they should not try to strive to be something they are not. It’s super bad for us, because we really wanted to be part of the show. Participating in a concept like Junior Eurovision would be a natural step for us after MGP, (the Danish “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix”’s children’s edition), but it does not work when we do not feel the show fits the Danish values.”

Jon Ola Sand, European Broadcasting Union's Executive Supervisor of both Eurovision and Junior Eurovision, encourages DR to return to the competition:

“I think it’s a shame that DR looks at how the show looked 10 years ago, because much has happened since. I would like to invite DR to attend this year’s competition so that they can see how Junior Eurovision looks like today. Denmark has a strong national final, and I really want the country back in the competition”.

Sand isn’t the only one encouraging Denmark to be part of the JESC once again:

“We really would like to see Denmark back in the competition, and we hope to see you later this year in Minsk” says Olga Salamankha, (BTRC Channel 1 Deputy Director) from the 2018 host country, Belarus.

Here at Eurovoxx, we’re excited to see whether or not Denmark decides to see how Junior Eurovision looks today by attending the 2018 contest themselves. Despite the criticism from the Danish broadcaster, we have found something quite interesting:

Picture from the Junior Eurovision Song Contest’s official Wikipedia page.

The picture above has been updated several times, whenever a country decides if they will be participating or not. But the one thing that hasn’t been changed is that Denmark remains grey instead of yellow - looks like Denmark has put on their thinking cap with a half-open door.

If Denmark is going to be back in the game, it will be with their 4th entry since their 3rd and final entry from Junior Eurovision 2005 in Hasselt, Belgium.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and look at Denmark's Junior Eurovision history:

2003: Anne Gadegaard - “Arabiens Drøm” (Arabia’s Dream)

At the very first Junior Eurovision held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 11 year old Anne Gadegaard represented Denmark on home soil, where she finished in 5th place out of 16 participating countries.

After her success at Junior Eurovision, she went on to have a successful singing career in Denmark, releasing 4 albums. She entered the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (DMGP) for Eurovision in 2015 with the song “Suitcase”, where she finished in 2nd place behind Anti Social Media.

2004: Cool Kids - “Pigen Er Min” (The Girl Is Mine)

It was another 5th place for Denmark, this time in Lillehammer, Norway, with the song “Pigen Er Min”. The group was made up of Ibrahim Chouqeir, Niki Popovic, and Caroline Forsberg Thybo.

After Junior Eurovision, they had a successful yet short-lived career until 2006, when they parted ways.

2005: Nicolai Kielstrup - “Shake Shake Shake!”

Denmark’s most recent Junior Eurovision act was Nicolai Kielstrup, who came 4th, achieving Denmark's highest placing, and score, with a total of 121 points. After Junior Eurovision, he went on to release 3 albums.