Denmark in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

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Denmark in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Denmark
Participating broadcasterDanish Broadcasting Corporation (DR)
Participation summary
Appearances3
First appearance2003
Last appearance2005
Highest placement4th: 2005
Host2003
Participation history
Related articles
MGP Junior
External links
Denmark's page at JuniorEurovision.tv Edit this at Wikidata
For the most recent participation see
Denmark in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Denmark has competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest three times. Danish broadcaster DR hosted the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, having developed the contest's predecessor MGP Nordic.[1]

History[edit]

In spring 2000, Danmarks Radio launched a song contest for aspiring singers aged 8 to 15, for which the format proved to be a success and caught the attention of Norway and Sweden two years later, making a pre-Scandinavian song contest known as MGP Nordic, first held in 2002.[2] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) later picked up on the idea of said format and created a pan-European version, known as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[3]

Having come in the top five in the first three contests, DR decided not to participate in the contest from 2006 onwards to continue with MGP Nordic alongside Sweden's SVT and Norway's NRK.[4] In 2007, DR revealed that they had no intention to return to the contest, choosing to stick with the MGP Nordic competition.[5] The EBU had previously been negotiating with commercial broadcasters to replace the absent Nordic broadcasters at Junior Eurovision. TV 2 has however ruled out Junior Eurovision participation.[6]

Shortly before the 2015 edition, DR announced that they would "no longer" participate in further editions of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Jan Lagermand Lundme, the Entertainment President of DR, stated that the reason behind this decision was because the competition had become too much of a copy of the main Eurovision Song Contest and that the contest had strayed from its core idea—"the joy, the humor and the play".[7] On 17 February 2018, it was reported that the EBU is calling on the Danish broadcaster to return to Junior Eurovision after a 12-year break.[8] In response to this, Lundme played down the likelihood of Denmark returning to the competition, saying "Now, never say never, but as long as the show is, as it is now, I’m definitely not going to compete again. The values that we put in Denmark in a program for children do not match the values of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest… It seems that the children are on stage and play adults instead of acting as children, and we think that is fundamentally wrong. Children must be children, they should not try to strive to be something they are not. It’s super bad for us, because we really wanted to be part of the show. Participating in a concept like Junior Eurovision would be a natural step for us after MGP, but it does not work when we do not feel the show fits the Danish values."[9] In December 2022 Marlene Boel, Head of Children’s Television at DR, stated that Junior Eurovision is "neither a priority for us or something we are interested in participating in" but has "developed over the years" and also addressed some of the criticism that DR had regarding the show when the broadcaster withdrew in 2006.[10]

In October 2023, the EBU launched a child safety and protection protocol that aims to remove pressure on the participants, in hopes of bringing back the Nordic countries in 2024 and beyond.[11]

Participation overview[edit]

Year Artist Song Language Place Points
2003 Anne Gadegaard "Arabiens drøm" Danish 5 93
2004 Cool Kids "Pigen er min" Danish 5 116
2005 Nicolai Kielstrup "Shake Shake Shake" Danish, English 4 121

Commentators and spokespersons[edit]

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.[12] The Danish broadcaster, DR, sent their own commentators to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Danish language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Denmark. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year(s) Commentator Spokesperson
2003 Nicolai Molbech Unknown
2004 Anne Gadegaard
2005 Caroline Forsberg Thybo
2006–2023 No broadcast Did not participate

Hostings[edit]

Year Location Venue Presenters
2003 Copenhagen Forum Copenhagen Camilla Ottesen and Remee

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Copenhagen 2003". junioreurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 2008-07-09. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  2. ^ "MGP Nordic 2002". esconnet.dk (in Danish). 27 April 2002. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  3. ^ "First EBU press release on JESC 2003". European Broadcasting Union. 22 November 2002. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Scandinavian JESC pull-out". ESCToday. 18 April 2006. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  5. ^ Viniker, Barry (2006-12-07). "Denmark: No return to JESC in 2007". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  6. ^ Bakker, Sietse (2006-04-20). "Junior: 'Commercial channels to take part'". ESCToday. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  7. ^ Granger, Anthony (22 November 2015). "Denmark: DR Explains Why They Do Not Participate In Junior Eurovision". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  8. ^ Ellegaard, Christian (16 February 2018). "Grand Prix-boss vil have Danmark tilbage i omdiskuteret børneshow" [Grand Prix boss wants Denmark back in disputed children's show] (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. ^ Granger, Anthony (17 February 2018). "Denmark: EBU Wants To See Country's Return to Junior Eurovision". Eurovoix.
  10. ^ "DR afviser comeback i omdiskuteret børneshow: 'Det er ikke noget, vi er interesseret i at deltage i'" [DR rejects comeback in controversial children's show: 'It is not something we are interested in participating in']. dr.dk (in Danish). DR. 2022-12-12. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  11. ^ 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).
  12. ^ Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
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