Junior Eurovision 2011 came around, and we had a number of new firsts. In every previous contest, the host has never been the winner of the previous year. This time, and not for the first time, Armenia hosted the contest after winning. It was their first time hosting any Eurovision show, so aimed to make the most of it. Unfortunately, the numbers dropped back down to 13. Malta and Serbia both decided to sit it out – both would return. On the plus side, Bulgaria came back.

The next first is the participation of Katya Ryabova. As you may have read from these retrospectives, she took part for Russia in 2009 and came second. Would this happen again? Keep an eye on Moldova’s Lerika. Several of the class of 2011 are also still in the music business, but none so far have made it to the senior contest – yet.

Talking of senior ESCs, here’s Sirusho performing in Yerevan.

One act of note was the home entry. Dalita dressed as cabin crew? Well thankfully her entry was no Scooch. We also saw sparkly scaffolding, an act involving a dancing cane, and a motorised scooter!

Another important change was in the voting. Preciously, the viewing public could vote during the presentation of the songs. from 2011, this was restricted, so we only had a small voting window after the final song in which to register a vote.

Russia – Katya Ryabova – Romeo & Juliet

Latvia – Amanda Bašmakova – Moondog

Moldova – Lerika – No, no

Armenia – Dalita – Welcome to Armenia

Bulgaria – Ivan Ivanov – Superhero

Lithuania – Pauline Skrabytė – Debesys (Clouds)

Ukraine – Kristall – Europe

Macedonia – Dorijan Dlaka – Žimi ovoj frak (I swear by this tailcoat)

Netherlands – Rachel – Teenager

Belarus – Lidiya Zablotskaya – Angely dobra (Angel of goodness)

Sweden – Erik Rapp – Faller (Crazy)

Georgia – Candy – Candy music

Belgium – Femke – Een kusje meer (One more kiss)

The voting was a very close affair, expecially between the top four countries. Seven countries received at least one set of 12 points. It was eventually a second win for Georgia, quite apt in the Caucasus. The Netherlands achieved their second top-three finish, and Belarus got their fourth top-three position. But only just – they finished on 99 points along with Russia – as they scored points off more countries than the fourth-placed song.

Which songs did you like best?

Author: John Stanton