Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the second edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 20 November 2004, in Håkons Hall, Lillehammer, Norway and lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. It was presented by Stian Barsnes Simonsen and Nadia Hasnaoui, broadcast in twenty countries and viewed by 100 million people. Eighteen countries participated, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty participated for the first time.

The contest was won by 9-year-old María Isabel who represented Template:Esccnty with her song "Antes muerta que sencilla" (Better Dead Than Plain) from her debut album ¡No me toques las palmas que me conozco! which was released before the contest. Dino Jelusić, who won the 2003 contest for Template:Esccnty, presented the award to María. Since then, Isabel has entered the charts in not only Spain but France, Italy, Scandinavia, Latin America and has gone on to release further albums in her home country.

Template:Esccnty, who came ninth received more sets of twelve points than the Template:Esccnty, who came second. Template:Esccnty, who came sixth, were voted by all the other countries that took part, which is more than the number of countries that voted for Template:Esccnty, who came fourth and Template:Esccnty, who came third.

Incidentally, the same three countries occupied the top three places as last year, just in a different order. These three countries were Spain, the United Kingdom, and Croatia.

Origins and history

Template:See also The origins of the contest date back to 2000 when Danmarks Radio held a song contest for Danish children that year and the following year.<ref name="IMDBMGP2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="IMDBMGP2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The idea was extended to a Scandinavian song competition in 2002, known as MGP Nordic, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden as participants.<ref name="IMDBMGP2002">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="esconnet1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In November 2002, the EBU picked up the idea for a song contest featuring children and opened the competition to all EBU member broadcasters making it a pan-European event. The working title of the programme was "Eurovision Song Contest for Children",<ref name="press2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> branded with the name of the EBU's already long-running and popular song competition, the Eurovision Song Contest. Denmark was asked to host the first programme that took place the following year after their experience with their own contests and the MGP Nordic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Location

Host city selection

Norway was the third country of choice for this contest as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had, in May 2003, originally chosen broadcaster ITV of the United Kingdom to host the event.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Shortly after the first contest in Copenhagen, it was confirmed that the next edition would be held in Manchester on 20 November 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, ITV pulled out in May 2004 due to finance and scheduling problems.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In August 2004, it was revealed that Granada Television, who would have co-produced the show with Carlton Television, had decided to pull out of the deal claiming the allocated budget of €1,500,000 was too small. The EBU offered funding of €900,000 to produce the event, but the ITV company said it would have cost almost €2,500,000 so asked them to find a new host broadcaster.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also thought that another factor to their decision was the previous years' audience ratings for ITV which were below the expected amount.<ref name="ukrates">Template:Cite news</ref>

The venue was therefore moved to Croatia, the winning country of 2003,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the Croatian broadcaster HRT reportedly forgot that the prospective venue for the event was already booked for the period the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was to take place.<ref name="NRK">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was at this point that in June 2004, with five months remaining until the event would be held, that Norwegian broadcaster NRK offered to organise the next contest.<ref name="NRK"/> Hosting duties were confirmed by the broadcaster itself a few days later, adding that the competition would take place at Håkons Hall in Lillehammer on the same date as originally planned.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Venue

File:Håkons hall Lillehammer.jpg

Håkons Hall in Lillehammer was the eventual venue for the contest.

Håkons Hall, sometimes anglicized as Håkon Hall and Haakons Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway, built for the 1994 Winter Olympics. With a spectator capacity of 11,500 people, it is the largest handball and ice hockey venue in the country.

Håkons Hall is regularly used for handball and ice hockey tournaments, concerts, exhibitions, conferences and banquets. The venue is owned by Lillehammer Municipality via the subsidiary Lillehammer Olympiapark, which owns all the Olympic venues in Lillehammer. The Norwegian Olympic Museum is located in the arena, which is located next to the smaller Kristins Hall. The hall was opened on 1 February 1993 having cost 238 million Norwegian krone (NOK).Template:Fact

Participants

File:JESC 2004 album cover.jpg

Cover art of the official album

The EBU released the initial list of participants with 20 competing countries. France and Switzerland made their debut in the contest. Although initially confirmed as a participating countries, both Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty ended up pulling out before the contest.<ref name="Germany">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There were also early reports that Template:Esccnty had planned to enter in the contest, but did not appear on the final list of participants.<ref name="Twenty">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Prior to the event, a compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2004 contest, along with karaoke versions, was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group in November 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)
Template:Esc	BTRC	Egor Volchek	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Belarusian	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	RTBF	Free Spirits	lang}}"	French	Free Spirits
Template:Esc	HRT	Nika Turković	lang}}"	Croatian	Nika Turković
Template:Esc	CyBC	Marios Tofi	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Marios Tofi
Template:Esc	DR	Template:Ill	lang}}"	Danish	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	lang}}	Thomas Pontier	lang}}"	French	Thomas Pontier
Template:Esc	ERT	Secret Band	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Andreas Kefalas
Template:Esc	LTV	Mārtiņš Tālbergs and C-Stones Juniors	lang}}"	Latvian	Mārtiņš Tālbergs
Template:Esc	MRT	Martina Siljanovska	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Macedonian	Martina Siljanovska
Template:Esc	PBS	Young Talent Team	"Power of a Song"	English	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	AVRO	Template:Ill	lang}}"	Dutch	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	NRK	Template:Ill	lang}}"	Norwegian	Aleksander Moberg
Template:Esc	TVP	KWADro	lang}}"	Polish	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	TVR	Noni Răzvan Ene	lang}}"	Romanian	Noni Răzvan Ene
Template:Esc	TVE	María Isabel	lang}}"	Spanish	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	SVT	Template:Ill	lang}}"	Swedish	Template:Hlist
Template:Esc	RTSI	Demis Mirarchi	lang}}"	Italian	Alessandro Maraniello
Template:Esc	ITV	Cory Spedding	"The Best Is Yet to Come"	English	Cory Spedding

Format

Visual design

On 2 September 2004, host broadcaster NRK presented the official logo of the contest.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The theme of the show was later confirmed as bright Nordic winter nights, sparkling stars and snow crystals, set in a hip-hop atmosphere.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Presenters

On 23 September 2004, it was announced that Nadia Hasnaoui and Stian Barsnes Simonsen would host the contest. The hosting couple also led the final of national qualifying rounds to the competition, Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2004 on 12 June.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Voting

All countries used televoting to decide on their top ten. In normal Eurovision fashion, each country's favourite song was given 12 points, their second favourite 10, and their third to tenth favourites were given 8–1 points.

Contest overview

The event took place on 20 November 2004 at 20:15 CET. Eighteen countries participated, with the running order published on 14 October 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All the countries competing were eligible to vote by televote. Spain won with 171 points, with the United Kingdom, Croatia, Romania, Denmark, completing the top five. Belarus, Sweden, Switzerland, Latvia, and Poland, both of whom came last, occupied the bottom five positions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The show was opened by the flag parade showing all participating countries. The interval act included Irish boy band Westlife performed "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" live on stage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Secret Band	lang}}"	48	9
2	Template:Esc	Young Talent Team	"Power of a Song"	14	12
3	Template:Esc	Template:Ill	lang}}"	27	11
4	Template:Esc	Demis Mirarchi	lang}}"	4	16
5	Template:Esc	Template:Ill	lang}}"	12	13
6	Template:Esc	Thomas Pontier	lang}}"	78	6
7	Template:Esc	Martina Siljanovska	lang}}"	64	7
8	Template:Esc	KWADro	lang}}"	3	17
9	Template:Esc	Marios Tofi	lang}}"	61	8
10	Template:Esc	Egor Volchek	lang}}"	9	14
11	Template:Esc	Nika Turković	lang}}"	126	3
12	Template:Esc	Mārtiņš Tālbergs and C-Stones Juniors	lang}}"	3	17
13	Template:Esc	Cory Spedding	"The Best Is Yet to Come"	140	2
14	Template:Esc	Template:Ill	lang}}"	116	5
15	Template:Esc	María Isabel	lang}}"	171	1
16	Template:Esc	Template:Ill	lang}}"	8	15
17	Template:Esc	Free Spirits	lang}}"	37	10
18	Template:Esc	Noni Răzvan Ene	lang}}"	123	4

Spokespersons

1. Template:EscTemplate:SndKalli Georgelli
2. Template:EscTemplate:SndThea Saliba
3. Template:EscTemplate:SndDanny Hoekstra
4. Template:EscTemplate:SndAlessia Milani
5. Template:EscTemplate:SndIda Ursin-Holm
6. Template:EscTemplate:SndGabrielle
7. Template:EscTemplate:SndFilip
8. Template:EscTemplate:SndJadwiga Jaskulski
9. Template:EscTemplate:SndStella María Koukkidi
10. Template:EscTemplate:SndDarya
11. Template:EscTemplate:SndBuga
12. Template:EscTemplate:SndSabīne Berezina
13. Template:EscTemplate:SndCharlie Allan
14. Template:EscTemplate:SndAnne Gadegaard
15. Template:EscTemplate:SndLucho
16. Template:EscTemplate:SndQueenie Marksdotter
17. Template:EscTemplate:SndAlexander Schönfelder
18. Template:EscTemplate:SndEmy

Detailed voting results

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header
scope="rowgroup" rowspan="18" Template:Vert header	Greece	48		12	1	2	1	3			12		3		5		1		2	6
Malta	14			2				3						4	4				1
Netherlands	27		3			3	1	1			3	1	5			2	1	7
Switzerland	4		4
Norway	12														7		5
France	78	6	1	5	6	2		2	4	4	6	4	7	2	6	8	4	8	3
Macedonia	64		6	6	5	5	4		5	3		8	3	3	5	3	3	3	2
Poland	3						2				1
Cyprus	61	12	8	3	1			6			4	5	2	8	1	5		1	5
Belarus	9	1							3				1						4
Croatia	126	4		8	8	10	8	12	7	6	8		8	12	8	6	8	6	7
Latvia	3	2							1
United Kingdom	140	5	10	12	7	6	6	5	10	5	10	7	10		10	10	7	10	10
Denmark	116	7	5	7	3	12	5	8	8	7	5	6	4	10		7	10	4	8
Spain	171	10	7	10	12	8	12	10	12	10	7	12	6	7	12		12	12	12
Sweden	8					4				1					3
Belgium	37	3		4	4		7	4	2	2	2	2		1		4	2
Romania	123	8	2		10	7	10	7	6	8	12	10	12	6	2	12	6	5

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
3	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
2	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
1	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc

Other countries

For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, it needs to be an active member of the EBU. It is currently unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Eurovision Song Contest.

• Template:EscTemplate:SndAfter failing to participate in the previous year, German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) was announced as a debutant at the 2004 contest. However, the country later ended up pulling out before the contest. No reason for the withdrawal was given.<ref name="Germany"/> Germany would only debut sixteen years later at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
• Template:EscTemplate:SndIrish television was reported to have received an invitation to participate in the 2004 contest and were among the 20 countries expected to take part in Lillehammer. However, in the end Ireland did not debut and would stay out of the competition until Template:Escyr.<ref name="Twenty"/>
• Template:EscTemplate:SndThe Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) initially planned to debut at this year's contest but the debut never happened. Israel and the IBA would not debut until Template:Escyr.<ref name="Twenty"/>

Broadcasts

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	BTRC	Belarus 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	VRT	TV1	Template:N/A	<ref name="Leidse" />
	RTBF	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	HRT	HRT 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	CyBC	RIK 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	DR	DR1	Template:N/A	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	lang}}	France 3	Elsa Fayer and Template:Ill	<ref name="TV8" />
Template:Flagu	LTV	LTV1	Template:Ill	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	NPO	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref name="Leidse">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NRK	NRK1Template:Efn	Template:Ill and Jonna Støme	<ref name="Scandi">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVP	TVP1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVR	TVR 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	lang}}	Fernando Argenta	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SVT	SVT1	Pekka Heino	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TSR 2	Philippe Robin	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TSI 2	Template:N/A	<ref name="TV8">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	ITV	ITV2, ITV1Template:Efn	Matt Brown	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	SBS	SBS TV (delayed)	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	BHRT	BHT1 (delayed)Template:Efn	Template:Unknown	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	ETV (delayed)		Template:Unknown	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Official album

Junior Eurovision Song Contest Lillehammer '04, is a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and was released by Universal Music Group in November 2004. The album features all the songs from the 2004 contest.

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Eurovision Young Musicians 2004

External links

• Template:Official website