Nearly half a year before the Eurovision Song Contest takes place, France is already preparing for another of the greatest musical competitions on the Old Continent. This coming weekend, Nice will host all the events related to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, an event that has gained a lot of media popularity over the years.

Spain will be represented by Valencian artist Sandra Valero. The performer who is trying to fight for the crystal microphone will sing his song ‘Loviu’ to open the party. Afterwards, candidates from the other fifteen countries present in the contest will appear: Malta, Ukraine, Ireland, England, North Macedonia, Estonia, Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Portugal, France, Albania, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

Junior Eurovision 2023 format

Although there are many similarities to the ‘senior’ version of the contest, Junior Eurovision presents some significant differences in its rules, such as the obligation to sing in your mother tongue the country represented by each singer. There are also no semifinals so the duration is limited to the grand final on Sunday.

Otherwise, the dynamics are pretty much the same. Each country assigns a score from 1 to 8, and 10 and 12, to the performance its judges liked most. The assessment comes from the exclusive tickets of the judges which will be held on Saturday. The remaining 50% of points will correspond to the famous televoting.

Viewers will be able to rate their favorite artists through official website from the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Voting will open on Friday, November 24, at 8 p.m., and can be cast up until the day of the contest. Internet users have to choose their three favorite songs.

Ultimate favourite

Sandra Valero will try to improve the performance of Carlos Higes who finished sixth in the 2022 edition. Final podium Spain in 2019, when Melani García finished third. To know Spain’s last victory we have to go back to 2004, when María Isabel won contest with his famous work ‘Better dead than simple’.

Looking at the number of views of the official videos of the songs on YouTube, Spain could be one of the biggest favorites, as Sandra Valero’s video is the most watched among all the candidates. ‘Loviu’ has more than 600,000 views and its only rival in terms of numbers is the proposal from Armenia, with 579,000 views.

Custom website’Wiwiblog‘ also pointed to Armenia’s candidacy as the main favourite, leaving Spain in fourth place. North Macedonia and Ukraine will occupy honorable positions according to their predictions.

Speakers from all fields

The gala will be hosted by Olivier Minne, Laury Thilleman and Ophenya. Minne is a television presenter and actor with dual Belgian and French citizenship; Laury is a model and journalist, as well as winner of the Miss France contest in 2011; and Ophenya represent the new generation of renowned digital profiles content creator on TikTok, where he has nearly five million followers.