France is the winner of the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest!

“J’imagine” by Valentina took a clear victory in the 18th running of the EBU’s song competition for under-16s, as its narrow lead after the jury phase was amplified by a huge win in the public online vote. Just like in the 2019 edition, the podium was completed by Kazakhstan in second place and Spain in third place.

JESC 2020 was something of a dry run for how the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam might look: Most (though not all) of the performances were recorded in the performers’ home countries on a predefined stage setup, and the “green room” was also virtual. While it obviously wasn’t a perfect situation and there remain some concerns about ensuring a level playing field in terms of vocals being performed live, it’s to the credit of the EBU and the broadcasters involved that the show had a remarkably seamless feel to it. Although the recent vaccine news gives rise to hopes that ESC 2021 can take place as close to “normal” as possible, at least we now have evidence that the various backup options outlined by the EBU – read about them here and here – can still result in a decent show, and that’s good news for all of us.

JESC 2020 also served as a warm-up for the new season for our #esc chat, and of course we voted along with the show. Not for the first time, our taste was a little out of touch with everyone else’s: Our chat favourite was Russia with an average score of 7.91 out of 10, followed by Belarus with 7.44 and the Netherlands with 7.22 (although the French winner was our fourth favourite, at least!).

The next major chat event will, of course, be the Albanian national final in the second half of December, so make sure to join us for the multiple night extravaganza that is Festivali i Këngës 59 – this year apparently taking place in the open air!

In the meantime, here’s the French JESC winner for you one more time. Félicitations!