Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Sweden has participated at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its inception in 2003. Two broadcasters have been responsible for Sweden's entries at Junior Eurovision – from 2003 to 2005, Sveriges Television (SVT) was responsible, before withdrawing with other Nordic broadcasters. From 2006 to 2009, commercial broadcaster TV4 was responsible for Sweden's entry at the Junior Eurovision.

Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Sweden
Participating broadcasterSveriges Television (SVT; 2003–2005, 2010–2014)
Former members
  • TV4 (2006–2007, 2009)
Participation summary
Appearances11
First appearance2003
Last appearance2014
Highest placement3rd: 2006
Participation history
Related articles
Lilla Melodifestivalen
External links
Sweden's page at JuniorEurovision.tv Edit this at Wikidata
For the most recent participation see
Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014

TV4 withdrew from the 2008 contest after two entries due to other plans being made during the time of the contest, however they returned to the contest in 2009. On 29 June 2015, it was announced that SVT would withdraw for one year. However, as of 2024, Sweden are yet to return to the contest.

History

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Sweden are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1]

Much like it did for the Eurovision, Sveriges Television managed the national selection for the Junior Eurovision from 2003 to 2005. SVT used a spin-off of Melodifestivalen, Lilla Melodifestivalen, which debuted in 2002 to select an entry for MGP Nordic, a then one-off junior song contest between Sweden and 2 other Nordic countries (which was temporarily put on hiatus when the JESC was established), to select its entry. However, after the 2005 contest, SVT, along with Norway's NRK and Denmark's DR, jointly pulled out of the JESC due to concerns about the treatment of the participants in the contest, and eventually reviving MGP Nordic afterwards.[2][3] Many of the Swedish participants have been girls except 2011, 2013, and the spokespersons from 2003 to 2009.

After SVT pulled out, commercial broadcaster TV4 decided to take over organizing the Swedish delegation for the JESC.[4] TV4 would organize its own competition to select its entry for the JESC, while in parallel, SVT's contest would still be active, but with its winner being sent to MGP Nordic instead.[3] In the 2006 contest, the first under TV4's control, Sweden would achieve their best result in the JESC, finishing in 3rd place with Molly Sandén's song "Det finaste någon kan få". In 2007 Sandéns younger sister Frida Sandén won the right to represent Sweden in the Junior Eurovision 2007. Before going to Rotterdam Frida had hopes built to score as high as her elder sister but only managed to get 8th place with 83 points. TV4 withdrew from the 2008 contest due to concerns about its viewership, and its plans for the 2008 season.[5] However, TV4 confirmed that it would return for the 2009 edition.[6]

On 9 April 2010, TV4 decided to withdraw again from Junior Eurovision in Minsk.[7] However, the European Broadcasting Union confirmed on 28 July 2010 that Sweden would participate in the contest, after SVT decided to return to the contest. On 24 January 2015, SVT announced the cancellation of Lilla Melodifestivalen as the national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and instead plans to come up with a new contest. No details about this have been unveiled.[8] On 29 June 2015, it was announced that SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster, would withdraw for one year and thus not compete for Sweden in the forthcoming contest in Bulgaria.[9] TV4 was not prepared for a withdrawal and therefore ruled out participating.

In December 2021, it was reported that SVT sent a delegation to observe that year's contest in Paris although this was not verified. Representatives from Norway's NRK and Iceland's RÚV were confirmed to be in attendance.[10] In May 2023, the EBU talked about how they can work to remove pressure on the participants from Junior Eurovision for the first time since 2005 in hopes that the Nordic broadcasters, including SVT, would approve.[11] Later that year in October, the EBU launched a child safety and protection protocol that aims to remove pressure, in hopes of bringing back the Nordic countries in 2024 and beyond.[12] Despite this, on 5 January 2024, SVT confirmed that Sweden would not return in 2024.[13]

Participation overview

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Table key
3 Third place
Year Artist Song Language Place Points
2003 The Honeypies [sv] "Stoppa mig" Swedish 15 12
2004 Limelights [sv] "Varför jag?" Swedish 15 8
2005 M+ "Gränslös kärlek" Swedish 15 22
2006 Molly Sandén "Det finaste någon kan få" Swedish 3 116
2007 Frida Sandén "Nu eller aldrig" Swedish 8 83
2009 Mimmi Sandén "Du" Swedish 6 68
2010 Josefine Ridell "Allt jag vill ha" Swedish 11 48
2011 Erik Rapp [sv] "Faller" Swedish 9 57
2012 Lova Sönnerbo [sv] "Mitt mod" Swedish 6 70
2013 Eliias "Det är dit vi ska" Swedish 9 46
2014 Julia Kedhammar "Du är inte ensam" Swedish, English 13 28

Photogallery

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Commentators and spokespersons

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The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[14] The Swedish broadcaster sent their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Swedish language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Sweden. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year(s) Channel Commentator(s) Spokesperson
2003 SVT1 Victoria Dyring Siri Lindgren
2004 Pekka Heino Vännerna Queenie
2005 Josefine Sundström Halahen Zajden
2006 TV4 Adam Alsing Amy Diamond
2007 Molly Sandén
2008 No broadcast Did not participate
2009 TV4 (aired the morning after) Johanna Karlsson Elise Mattison
2010 SVT24 Edward af Sillén and Malin Olsson Robin Ridell
2011 SVT Barnkanalen Edward af Sillén and Ylva Hällen Ina-Jane von Herff
2012 Leya Gullström
2013 Lova Sönnerbo
2014 Elias Elffors Elfström
20152024 No broadcast Did not participate

See also

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References

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  1. ^ García, Belén (7 September 2015). "#BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003". esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  2. ^ West-Soley, Richard (2006-04-16). "Scandinavian JESC pull-out". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  3. ^ a b West-Soley, Richard (2006-09-01). "Double trouble: Swedish JESC confusion". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  4. ^ Bakker, Sietse (2006-04-21). "Junior: TV4 takes over from SVT". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  5. ^ Floras, Stella (2008-04-18). "TV4 pulls out of Junior Eurovision". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  6. ^ Bakkar, Sietse (2009-06-08). "Exclusive: 13 countries to be represented at Junior 2009!". EBU. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  7. ^ "Sweden to not participate in Minsk". Oikotimes. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  8. ^ Granger, Anthony (2015-01-24). "Sweden: Lilla Melodifestivalen gets axed". EuroVoix. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
  9. ^ Granger, Anthony (29 June 2015). "Sweden: To Take A Year Off From Junior Eurovision". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  10. ^ Herbert, Emily (21 December 2021). "Junior Eurovision: NRK Sent A Delegation To Paris, Possible Return in 2022?". Eurovoix.
  11. ^ Granger, Anthony (10 May 2023). "Junior Eurovision 2023 Slogan Announced". Eurovoix.
  12. ^ Mancheño, José Miguel (3 October 2023). "La UER pondrá en marcha un nuevo protocolo de protección a la infancia en Eurovisión Junior" [The EBU will launch a new child protection protocol at Junior Eurovision]. ESCplus España (in Spanish).
  13. ^ Cília, João (5 January 2024). "Sweden: SVT Will Not Return to Junior Eurovision in 2024". Eurovoix.
  14. ^ Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.