Junior Eurovision will be welcoming a new nation this year, with Germany set to participate in the contest for the first time. Public broadcasters NDR and ZDF have announced that the search has begun for talented young artists between the ages of 9 and 14.
The show will be broadcast on German kids channel, KiKA. Broadcaster ZDF already produces a highly successful competition for young songwriters called ‘Dein Song’ for KiKA, which is currently in its 13th season. KiKA’s Director of Programming, Dr. Astrid Plenk commented on the upcoming participation at Junior Eurovision, saying,
‘I’m absolutely delighted to have succeeded in getting Germany involved in this wonderful European Song Contest, and to be broadcasting it on (dedicated kids channel) KiKA. Together with NDR and ZDF, we found a wonderful approach to creative collaboration which plays to all of our respective strengths. It will be a major event for our KiKA audience and for the whole family’
It has been announced that Levent Geiger, a finalist in last year’s ‘Dein Song’ will compose the German entry. He will also be involved with the casting, and will accompany this year’s participant on the journey to Warsaw. The broadcaster also plans on filming the process for a two-part documentary.
“Since 1996, the NDR has been the leading broadcaster for German involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s fantastic that we’ll be delivering the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time together with KiKA and ZDF. This year’s slogan, ‘Move the World’, is highly symbolic, encouraging children to take an active part in shaping their world. That’s why it will also play a role in the music video we are producing”, said Ole Kampowski, director of children’s and youth content at NDR.
This year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest will take place on Sunday 29th of November in Warsaw, Poland. You can read more about what we know about this year’s contest here.