By: eurovisionunion
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A Total of 16 for Junior Eurovision 2017!

The deadline has passed, and the final list is set. Junior Eurovision 2017 will host a total of 16 countries in Tbilisi, Georgia on the 26th of November later this year. More news has come out about the structure of the show, plus some interesting changes to the contest.

One of the changes that has been made is the venue for the event, which has been changed from the Sports Palace to the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi. The reason for this change was out of practical reasons, with the new venue modern, and able to hold 4000 and better accommodate the delegations, media and fans expected to attend the event.

There will also be an interesting change to the voting. As you may recall, the voting procedure changed in 2016, essentially eliminating all public vote, with the winner chosen by various forms of jury. This year, online voting will be introduced for the audience. The voting will actually open on the 24th of November and close on the 26th, and it will prompt voters to watch a recap of the acts, and then voting through the official Junior Eurovision website. Clips from the rehearsals will also be available as part of the voting process. This is the first round of voting, which will close on Sunday the 26th at 15:59 CET, a minute before the show starts at 16:00 CET (finishing at 18:00 CET).

During the live show, there will be a second round of online voting which will begin after the last of the 16 performances. This voting round will be open for 15 minutes in total. The audience result will be a combination of these two rounds of voting, and will account for 50% of the vote.

This is an interesting approach by the EBU, but hopefully a positive change. Without the huge numbers of viewers compared to Eurovision, televoting was always a challenge for the Junior edition of the Eurovision family, as the votes may have been too few to be valid. Giving viewers a longer period to vote, and more chances to vote may encourage more votes, especially considering that some countries may not broadcast the show live, as well as the fact that if they were broadcast live, the time may not suit the target audience of kids. This approach gives everyone a shot of voting, so it will be interesting to see how well this approach works come November!

Now, I’m sure you want to know who is actually participating, so here’s the list. Any links down below will take you to corresponding news about national selections from that country.

Portugal will be returning to the contest after a 10 year absence, but unfortunately we won’t be seeing some of the recent competitors, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, San Marino, Israel or Azerbaijan.

Are you excited for Junior Eurovision 2017? Stay tuned for more news!