Junior Eurovision 2020 | Confirmations and potential withdrawals
Earlier this year, it was officially announced that Poland would once again play host to Junior Eurovision. Following on from Viki Gabor's victory on home soil in Gliwice in 2019, there was some speculation as to whether or not Poland would be hosting Junior Eurovision for a second year running. But at the beginning of March, it was confirmed that Junior Eurovision 2020 will be coming to Krakow.
At present, a number of countries have confirmed their participation in Junior Eurovision 2020, with a handful of other countries either saying no or remaining undecided.
Georgia were one of the first countries to confirm their 2020 participation, and along with this, they also confirmed that they would be selecting their singer through their national final Ranina for a second year running. A total of ten children have already been selected for the show, but at the present time, due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, it is not known when the live shows will be taking place.
Ireland have confirmed that they will be holding a national final again, similar to 2019, to find their representative for Junior Eurovision 2020, after announcing a call for participants in January.
The Italian broadcaster RAI have confirmed that Italy will be participating in Junior Eurovision 2020, but that at the present time, they are unable to give any further details on their participation.
As host country, Poland will be back to Junior Eurovision 2020, making it their seventh appearance overall at the contest. Details on their participation, hosting and selection method have yet to be announced.
The Netherlands confirmed their Junior Eurovision 2020 participation last year and they also confirmed that they will hold a national final again. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, these plans may need to be changed or altered.
Russia confirmed their 2020 participation earlier this year, with plans to hold a national final again. All interested singers have until August 25th to submit their songs. Auditions will take place on September 7th where a jury will decide which acts will advance to the national final which is due to take place on September 16th. The winner will be decide by 50% online vote and 50% jury vote.
Following on from their return to Junior Eurovision in 2019 after a 13 year hiatus, with yet another top 5 finish, Spain have announced that they would like to return to the contest in 2020, but as of yet, haven't given any more details about their participation.
Ukraine announced their desire to participate in Junior Eurovision 2020 after the 2019 final in Gliwice, but as of yet, no further details have been announced.
Will any countries be withdrawing from Junior Eurovision 2020?
At the present time, no currently competing country (as of 2019) has withdrawn from Junior Eurovision; however, the Welsh broadcaster S4C and production company Rondo Media have confirmed that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, plans for Wales in Junior Eurovision 2020 have been put on hold and they have yet to make a decision on whether or not they will be participating.
Will any countries be making their debut at Junior Eurovision 2020?
Following on from their participation in Eurovision Choir 2019, Scotland's broadcaster BBC Alba confirmed that they had been in contact with the EBU about the possibility of them making their Junior Eurovision debut in 2020. Since then, they have confirmed that Scotland has no plans to participate in Junior Eurovision 2020.
Icelandic broadcaster RUV confirmed to Spanish blog Eurofestivales that Iceland could be making a Junior Eurovision debut in the near future: "I can say that RUV is constantly reviewing our participation in the Eurovision project and it is very likely that it could participate in any of these events in the future. It all depends on budgets and politics." However, there have been no further comments from the Icelandic broadcaster regarding Junior Eurovision, and so at this stage, it seems unlikely that we will be seeing them in Krakow in 2020.
With regards to the remaining countries that took part in Junior Eurovision 2019 - Albania, Armenia, Australia Belarus, France, Kazakhstan, Malta, North Macedonia, Portugal and Serbia, we have yet to hear any announcements from them regarding Junior Eurovision 2020 participation.
Previous Junior Eurovision participants Belgium and Bulgaria have both confirmed that they will not be returning to Junior Eurovision in 2020.
