By: eurovisionunion
Junior Eurovision, Reviews, Top 5, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 5 Junior Eurovision Entries of 2009!

In the lead up to this year’s Junior Eurovision, we are looking back on the previous editions of the contest to rediscover the songs we love! Our Top 5 will likely be different to yours, but that’s part of the joy! We encourage you to join the discussion by sharing your Top 5 too!

Today we are heading to Ukraine, Kyiv to be exact! A total of 13 nations took part in this edition of the contest with no debuting nations, however Sweden did return to the contest. Unfortunately we saw Bulgaria, Greece and Lithuania withdraw from this edition of the contest. Without further ado, here’s our Top 5!

5. Malenkiy Prints – Kayta Ryabova (Russia)

There’s no better way to kick off this Top 5 list than with an upbeat song like Malenkiy Prints! The energy in this song is constant from the first few seconds, and Katya is great at keeping the energy up through the performance. The song is very kid friendly and definitely an earworm, especially the chorus! Despite being early in the running order, the chorus melody is one that you will remember after the performance which is backed up by the fact that they finished in 2nd place on the results table! This is yet another strong entry from Russia at Junior Eurovision!

4. Try Topoli, Try Surmy – Andranik Alexanyan (Ukraine)

This is certainly one of the more unique Junior Eurovision entries, but there’s no better time to experiment than at Junior Eurovision. If you’re in the market for an eccentric ethnic bop, this is certainly the song for you, and to be fair, it’s quite a good one at that. Like most of the songs in this specific Top 5, this song is quite intense over the 3 minute span, but what’s impressive is that we get perfect vocals through the performance. The stage performance is also very energetic, and the cheer squad in the audience also adds to the atmosphere which is eye-catching from the perspective of the television viewer.

3. Zo Verliefd (Yodelo) – Laura Omloop (Belgium)

Who would have thought that yodelling would make its way into Junior Eurovision, but yet it works so well. This is such a charming entry from Belgium which combines a charming melody with yodelling of which Laura totally nails. The song begins in such a ‘Eurovision’ way with a ballad style intro which then turns into a total bop of a song. Some of the charm of this performance definitely comes from Laura’s stage performance which was energetic from the backing dancers, but understated from Laura herself who was definitely concentrating on the job at hand!

2. Barcelona – Luara Hayrapetyan (Armenia)

There were quite a few upbeat entries at this edition of the contest, but I’d argue that this is one of the most energetic entries of this specific year. What really adds to the energy of this song is the addition of the cheers throughout the song as it adds to the atmosphere of the song. Since there was a standing crowd with the cheer squad to dance to the entries, it really lifts the energy of this performance, not to mention the choreography from the backing dancers. Even Luara gets her dancing shoes on in the instrumental break. Admittedly it’s a nice break for the song to feature due to the fact it’s such an intense song – intense but super catchy!

  1. Click Clack – Ralf Mackenbach (The Netherlands)

Even though the previously mentioned songs are a joy to listen to, nothing will beat the actual winner of the contest Ralf Mackenbach. There weren’t too many points between first place Netherlands and second place Russia, but judging by the cheers from the audience, it sounds like this grabbed the teen girl vote! Aside from being a teen heartthrob, Ralf definitely nailed the vocals in what is an incredibly catchy song. The chorus melody is one that is easy to remember and sing along to even after hearing the first chorus as it mainly focuses around the universal ‘whoah’s’. The performance was well choreographed, even down to the break dance which Ralf miraculously manages to sing through. Easily one of the best from the Netherlands over the years!

Check out the previous posts in this series here: