He’s back! After a year of online schooling, social distancing and being a child during a global pandemic, Eurovision Ireland’s youngest contributor returns to give us his thoughts on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 – it’s our Junior Juror, Jack!

James’ nephew is now 9, his favourite colour is green and he likes Jurassic World, Minecraft and of course, the Eurovision Song Contest! His Top 3 favourite Eurovision songs are Moja Štikla (Croatia 2006), Dancing Lasha Tumbai (Ukraine 2007) and Shum (Ukraine 2021) – and he was really excited to review all 19 songs heading to Paris for this year’s edition of Junior Eurovision!

Over a few days, Jack watched the official video for each entry with James in a random order provided by YouTube. James wrote down Jack’s unfiltered observations about each song as they went along and this is what he came up with! Who did Jack like? You’ll have to read on to find out!

ARMENIA – QAMI QAMI

It’s good, I like the way she’s singing it, it’s not too loud or too quiet… I’m not sure about the video though, it’s very dark… but it’s quite good… out of 10, I’d probably give it a 7.

RUSSIA – MON AMI

This one looks quite romantic with all the dancing (!!) There’s a lot happening in the video and lots of dancing, which is good! She sings very loud, but I like it. I’d probably give it a 9 out of 10.

POLAND – SOMEBODY

I quite like it… I think it’s a song about love. There’s a lot to watch in the video and it shows how different people can learn to like each other (Uncle James smiles) I think I’ll give it an 8 or 9 …. (thinks about it for a moment) no wait… definitely 9!

BULGARIA – VOICE OF LOVE

Hmmm… it’s not bad… I’d prefer it if their voices were a little… I’m not sure how to say it… higher? I liked the video though, they looked like they were having fun. Out of 10, I’d give in an 8.

NETHERLANDS – MATA SUGU AŌ NE

I think it’s a song about family and she’s showing us that family are important. The music is quite nice, so out of 10, I’m thinking… a 7… if the music hadn’t been as pretty, I’d probably only give it a 5.

PORTUGAL – O RAPAZ

He has a nice voice… but I don’t like it… it’s quite slow… but I think the music would be quite nice if it wasn’t so slow as he sounds good when he sings… I’m going to give it a 6 out of 10.

ITALY – SPECCHIO

It’s good, but it’s quite rough… (Uncle James wonders if Jack means the music sounds aggressive?) Reminds me of a song called Century… (Jack can’t remember who sang it though!) It sounds like a rock song, but her voice is good. I’ll give it a 7 out of 10.

FRANCE – TIC TAC

I quite like it… the only thing down about it is that it sounds like quite old music (Uncle James wonders if it’s the swing/jazz sound he’s referring to?) It makes me want to dance though, and I’m still giving it an 8 out of 10.

NORTH MACEDONIA – GREEN FORCES

He kind of looks like my dad! (Uncle James looks at the singer and doesn’t see any resemblance to his brother… like, at all!!) I like the beat of the music and I like their voices too! Out of 10, I’d give it a 9!

ALBANIA – STAND BY YOU

I really really like it, it makes me want to dance along to it! I don’t know what to give it out of 10… I want to give it a 9 or a 10… can I have 9.5? I think it’s my favourite so far!

GERMANY – IMAGINE US

I like the tune, but I don’t think I really like the song if that makes sense… I think it’s a bit slow compared to some of the other songs that I like more. It’s sort of in the middle. Out of 10, I think I’d probably give it a 6 or 7.

GEORGIA – LET’S COUNT THE SMILES

I like it! It’s slow, but I think it’s something you’d sing in the olden days. The shiny person looks like the other one! (Uncle James asks who Jack means, and eventually works out he means Verka Serduchka!) I think I’ll give it a 7 out of 10.

UKRAINE – VAZHIL

I think it sounds like quite a sad and angry song… it’s not my favourite, but I quite like it… out of 10 I’m going to give it a 6. I like Ukraine at the adult contest much more! (Uncle James knows that well… 2 of Jack’s all time Top 3 Eurovision entries come from Ukraine!)

IRELAND – SAOR (DISAPPEAR)

(Uncle James spots that Jack’s foot is bouncing along in time to the music) I think it’s quite a lonely story… I like it, it’s quite upbeat. I think I’d give it 7.5… that’s 7 and a half.

SPAIN – REÍR

This one is upbeat and sounds more like the kind of music I would listen to – I like it! I think I’m going to give it an 8! It’s very colourful!

SERBIA – CHILDREN’S EYES

I’m giving this one 7 out of 10. It’s not really the kind of music I like… I like music that’s more like rock or DJ… this is too slow for me. I like the video at the beach though.

AZERBAIJAN – ONE OF THOSE DAYS

It sounds like a sad song… it’s all black and white and she sounds sad. 6 out of 10, not one of my favourites.

KAZAKHSTAN – ERTEGI ÄLEMI

It sounds really relaxing… I like it, but it’s not the kind of music I usually listen to… they look like they’re having fun! Out of 10, I’m going to give it a 6.5

MALTA – MY HOME

I feel like it’s very calm music, but really uplifting at the same time. (rap verse starts) On second thoughts… it’s quite DJ too! I’d probably give it a 9 out of 10 – I really liked it!

After watching all the videos, James showed Jack the official recap of all 19 songs so that he could choose his Top 10 – interestingly, it was at this point that Jack noted some of the songs seemed “much better” in the recap, while others he’d previously enjoyed “didn’t seem as good”!! Interesting, the effect a recap can have on the voter’s choices, no?

Without further ado, here are the points of Eurovision Ireland’s Junior Juror for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021!

1 point – ITALY
2 points – GERMANY
3 points – POLAND
4 points – BULGARIA
5 points – THE NETHERLANDS
6 points – NORTH MACEDONIA
7 points – RUSSIA

8 points – MALTA

10 points – FRANCE

12 points – ALBANIA

EDIT: Roughly 24 hours after completing his top, Jack’s Mum asks if anyone knows why he keeps singing “tic-tac-tic-tac” over and over again and is driving everyone mad with it… oops… sounds like France definitely got into his mind!!

Remember, if you’ve disagreed with anything our Junior Juror said about your favourites, remember he is 9 years old and that we all like different things – it’s all part of the fun!

Do you think our Junior Jurer is on to something? Tune in on Sunday 19th December for the final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest coming to us live from Paris, France – who will our winner be? We’ll have to wait and see!

Author: James Scanlan, Jack
Source: Eurovision Ireland
Banner Image Source: u-buy.co.uk