As we approach this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest, we now know who will be participating and excitingly, there will be some returning nations as well as some debuts!
The EBU have just released the complete list for this year’s contest which will be held in Minsk, Belarus, and although we had been keeping you updated with confirmations over the last few months, we didn’t expect to see a record breaking 19 nations participating!
Here is the complete list of competitors:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- France
- FYR Macedonia
- Georgia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Malta
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Serbia
- The Netherlands
- Wales
There are three returning countries in this year’s line-up including Azerbaijan who last participated in 2013, France who last participated in 2004 and also Israel who we last saw in 2016.
There are also two debuts in this year’s contest including Wales as well as Kazakhstan, marking the first time that the nation will be participating in an event part of the Eurovision Family of Events.
Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand commented on the final participant list, saying, ‘We are delighted to have a record-breaking 19 countries taking part in the 16th Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Since the contest began in 2003 we have been thrilled to see a wealth of young talented performers take to the stage, some of whom have gone on to represent their countries in the Eurovision Song Contest. We are looking forward to seeing the next generation of young musical talent shine in the 2018 contest at the Minsk Arena in Belarus.’