Armenia is set to take part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Madrid, Spain, with "Cosmic Friend" performed by Leo. The Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV) internally selected the country's entry for the contest.
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Armenia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) |
| |||
| Selected artist(s) | Leo | |||
| Selected song | "Cosmic Friend" | |||
| Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Background
editPrior to the 2024 contest, Armenia had participated in the contest sixteen times since its first entry in the 2007 contest. Since then, it had placed inside of the top three on ten occasions – more than any other country to have ever competed – and won the contest on two occasions: in 2010 with the song "Mama" performed by Vladimir Arzumanyan and in 2021 with "Qami Qami" performed by Maléna.[1] The nation opted not to take part in the contest in 2020 (due to the martial law imposed on the country as a result of the then-ongoing Second Nagorno-Karabakh War);[2] it was then set to be represented by the eventual 2021 winner, Maléna.[3] In 2023, Yan Girls competed for Armenia with the song "Do It My Way", which ended up in 3rd place out of 16 entries with 180 points.[4]
Before Junior Eurovision
editUpon confirming its participation in the 2024 contest, AMPTV declared it would internally select its entrant and entry, and opened a submission process for interested artists aged between nine and fourteen, lasting until 21 July 2024;[5] the deadline was later extended to 28 July 2024.[6][7] All submissions required participants to enter covers of two songs, with the Junior Eurovision entry to be written for the selected entrant at a later date.[8] Upon closing the submission period, over 100 applications had been submitted.[9][10]
Following two rounds of auditions, an expert focus group consisting of both local and international industry professionals and appointed by AMPTV (presented in the table below) determined the eventual representative for the country. On 28 September 2024, AMPTV announced that it had internally selected ten-year-old Leo Mkrtchyan, known mononymously as Leo, as the Armenian entrant for the 2024 contest.[11][12][13]
| Member | Country | Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Redde-Amiel |  France
|
French head of delegation, executive producer of the 2021 and 2023 contests |
| Aramayis Hayrapetyan | Armenia
|
Director, founder of Gravity Production |
| Carla Bugalho |  Portugal
|
Portuguese head of delegation, executive producer of Festival da Canção |
| Garik Papoyan | Armenia
|
Actor, musician, presenter, writer and comedian, presenter of the 2022 contest |
| Iveta Mukuchyan | Armenia
|
Singer, represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, presenter of the 2022 contest |
| Lee Smithurst |  United Kingdom
|
British head of delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest, head of show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 |
| Marta Piekarska |  Poland
|
Polish head of delegation, executive producer of the 2020 contest |
At Junior Eurovision
editThe Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is set to take place at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain on 16 November 2024. Armenia will perform 4th, following Albania and preceding Cyprus.[14]
Voting
editThe same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition will be used, where the results will be determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country has a national jury that consists of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. The rankings of those jurors are combined to make an overall top ten.[15]
The online voting consists of two phases. The first phase of the online voting will begin on 15 November 2024 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances is shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting will end on 16 November at 17:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and begin right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers will be able vote for three songs.[16] They will also be able to vote for their own country's song. These votes will then be turned into points which will be determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 10% of the votes, it will receive 10% of the available points.
References
edit- ^ "Armenia". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Armenia withdraws from Junior Eurovision 2020". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Gallagher, Robyn (29 November 2020). "Armenia: Maléna releases "Why", the song that would have been her Junior Eurovision 2020 entry". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Final of Nice 2023". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Farren, Neil (5 July 2024). "🇦🇲 Armenia: Junior Eurovision 2024 Participation Confirmed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (28 July 2024). "Today: 🇦🇲 Armenia's Junior Eurovision 2024 Application Window Closes". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Առաջին ալիքը հայտարարում է մրցույթ՝ ընտրելու «Մանկական Եվրատեսիլի» պատվիրակին" [The First Channel announces a competition to choose the representative for Junior Eurovision]. News.am (in Armenian). 9 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ "Բարի գալուստ «Մանկական Եվրատեսիլ 2024» մրցույթի լսումների գրանցման էջ" [Welcome to the audition registration page for "Junior Eurovision 2024"]. Eurovision.am (in Armenian). AMPTV. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
- ^ Farren, Neil (28 September 2024). "🇦🇲 Armenia: Leo to Junior Eurovision 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Հայաստանը «Մանկական Եվրատեսիլ 2024» երգի մրցույթում կներկայացնի Լեո Մկրտչյանը" [Leo Mkrtchyan will represent Armenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024]. Tert.am (in Armenian). 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Leo will represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision in Madrid". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ a b "«Մանկական Եվրատեսիլ 2024»-ում Հայաստանը կներկայացնի Լեոն" [Leo will represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2024]. Eurovision.am (in Armenian). AMPTV. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ a b Mancheño, José Miguel (28 September 2024). "Leo Mkrtchyan representará a Armenia en Eurovisión Junior 2024" [Leo Mkrtchyan will represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2024]. ESCplus España (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "Junior Eurovision 2024 Running Order revealed". Junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (15 November 2018). "Junior Eurovision 2018 – How Does The Voting Work?". Eurovoix.
- ^ "How to vote". Junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union.