The Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast for the first time on the BBC this weekend when the show comes live from Yerevan, Armenia, on Sunday, December 11.
The Contest can be seen on BBC One, CBBC and BBC iPlayer from 3pm this Sunday when the UK entry, 13-year-old Freya Skye, will be performing the song ‘Lose My Head’.
Unlike the main Eurovision Song Contest, people will be able to vote for their own country.
Voting is online only at JESC.TV and UK viewers require a BBC account to vote so will need to make sure they have registered beforehand – this shouldn’t prove too complicated as anyone who has a BBC iPlayer account will need to have already registered. They will then be directed to login in when casting their votes via JESC.TV.
Building up to the live show, there will be special programming from Friday on CBBC including a documentary featuring Skye’s journey to Junior Eurovision, screening on the channel and on BBC iPlayer at 5.30pm, Friday, December 9.
There will also be special news reports from the Newsround team on the ground in Yerevan from Friday, and Blue Peter will be featuring an interview with Skye in their live show.
UK commentators, Lauren Layfield and HRVY, will be live in CBBC HQ throughout Friday afternoon, giving viewers the lowdown on the contest and letting them know how they can vote.
The UK is taking part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since 2005. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the contest, with 16 countries competing.
The result of the 2022 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by a 50/50 vote split between online audience voting and a professional jury comprised of members from each of the countries taking part.
Viewers will be able to cast a maximum of SIX votes across two voting windows. The first voting window opens this Friday (December 9) from 7pm UK time and temporarily closes just before the live show starts at 2.59pm on Sunday, December 11th – viewers can vote in this window after watching the competing songs previewed on JESC.TV.
The second voting window will open after the last song has performed during the live broadcast. Viewers then have approximately 15 minutes to cast their vote before the window closes.
Director of BBC children’s & education Patricia Hidalgo, said: “CBBC will be bringing all the excitement of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest to our young viewers as we build up to the competition this weekend. The simulcast of the live show on the channel, along with BBC One and iPlayer, also gives viewers of any age the chance to enjoy the show and get involved. We’d like to encourage everyone to register for a BBC account now so they can vote as soon as the window opens this Friday.”
