Junior Eurovision 2025 will start in more than a week’s time. Usually Junior Eurovision doesn’t have as big of frustrations as the main Eurovision Contest but this is the second straight year where the Contest had some major issues. This year, it’s the location. It was originally meant to be held at the 5,000-seat Olympic Palace, but a leak in the Palace’s roof noticed a month ago led to having the venue changed urgently. The new venue is the 1,300-seat Gymnastics Hall in Tbilisi’s Olympic City. That venue was built in 2015 for the gymnastics events for the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival held that year. The question is will they expand for more seating or more attendees? I hope so.
Interesting how it will be held on Saturday again but twelve days closer to Christmas. Also interesting is that it will begin an hour earlier than last year. It may be 8am for me but I shouldn’t be too tired to make my big breakfast.
Before I get to my Top 10 list, I want to talk about the songs. For me, I’m not like Marina and Leo where I can immediately create a list almost immediately after hearing the last song. As you can tell by my reviews, I do a bit of listening and listening over. First impressions aren’t the most trustworthy. It’s usually a little more than a week before the Contest that I feel I’m confident enough to have a list ready.
Commenting on the genres of this Contest’s songs, most of you who have heard all the songs may have noticed there are a lot of ballads this year. If you remember last year’s Contest, you’d know why. Last year’s Contest had possibly some of the best ballads in Junior Eurovision history. Three of the Top 5 songs were ballads. While ballads don’t often end up in top positions of online voting points, two of the Top 3 in online voting were ballads. As for Georgia’s ballad that won, many would call the performance a ‘work of art’ and it became the closest thing to a unanimous jury winner. Of the sixteen juries that could vote for it, Georgia got twelve giving it 12 points and the other four ranking giving it either 10 or 8 points. So you can’t really blame the countries for sending ballads this year. As for quality of the ballads, there are at least one or two ballads that are aiming to be like the ‘work of art’ Georgia’s winner was and there are at least two or three favored to win. The problem with ballads is that there are some good ones but also some boring ones that don’t stand out and even a few schmaltzy ones that you wonder if they even want to contend or not. Less than half the songs are upbeat but Song Contests are unpredictable. Even though we have some ballads hinting a ballad can win again this year, we also have a few bold songs or up-tempo songs that could just win the viewers over instead. Anything can happen. Besides you all saw how the favorites of the betting odds ended up at the main Eurovision, right?
On the topic of themes of the songs, it’s interesting there wasn’t a single love song last year. Did anyone else notice that? This year, Cyprus’ song may seem like a love song but I sense it’s more about a very close friendship and more about sharing their future goals together. You be the judge. The majority of songs in this year’s Contest has the topic or theme about dreams, ambitions and pursuing the future. It’s natural that those be the most common themes of Junior Eurovision songs. The young are the future. Thing is these last five years, we keep on hearing bad news. We’re told endlessly how this has become a more expensive world and how recent developments in AI threatens a lot of jobs or even whole industries. I remember when I was a young adult, a bad recession was happening and a lot of young adults like myself feared we wouldn’t have a future. Turns out we just had to be patient and we would find our way. It may have been different from what we hoped but we did achieve a future for ourselves in the end. Many of this year’s Junior Eurovision entries send messages of hope in uncertain times. Poland’s song is about finding the inner courage inside you, Armenia’s song will remind us that dreamers are brave souls, Cyprus’ song will remind you you’ll make it somehow and together, and Georgia’s song is about putting your dream in action and making the future yours.
Now it’s time for me to share my Top 10 of this year’s Junior Eurovision. You’ve all read my reviews. Now for my chart:
- ARMENIA: Normally I don’t like overly sweet songs but this song is something else. The music and Albert’s vocals captured the mystery of the song and turned it into something magical. In a year that has so man ballads, this ballad is one that definitely stands out. Expect to see a lot of yellow scarves in the crowd!
- GEORGIA: The host nation sends an amazing song. The music is bold from start to finish, the message is strong and the singer really delivers in what is a very demanding singing job. Just an astonishing song and its looks to be a highlight for the Contest.
- FRANCE: Normally you wouldn’t expect to hear a song at Junior Eurovision that’s very expressive. Lou delivers incredible vocals in a song with a positive message. As she sings she will remind you of many great French singers of the past. Just incredible.
- UKRAINE: One of the more upbeat songs of the Contest. Best of the songs with a danceable beat. The song goes from danceable to intense frequently and Sofia’s vocals really know how to deliver in this song. Makes you want to buy a Motanka doll.
- POLAND: The best quality of the songs are its message and its positive energy. Marianna delivers great vocals that mix innocence and enthusiasm and you can feel its energy. This song could finish higher than expected.
- SAN MARINO: I didn’t expect a song that sounds like country to win people over at first. The vibe of the song, the catchy music and Martina’s singing and attitude make it a great song to listen to. It’s easy to see why a song unlikely to win people over at first is winning people over.
- NORTH MACEDONIA: The song mixes a message of inner strength with a mysterious sound and Nela’s vocals capture the mood and the message of the song well. In a year where most songs are ballads, this song is one ballad that really stands out.
- NETHERLANDS: In a Contest where most songs are ballads, this is one upbeat song that stands out and can win you over. This is a good song on its own and the energy is infectious. Thing is 2025 one Junior Eurovision year full of strong songs.
- SPAIN: A song like this would be too easy to dismiss as too ‘sweet,’ but what makes this song is Gonzalo’s professionality. The song itself goes from a sweet ballad to sounding strong. It could finish higher than expected.
- ALBANIA: This is one song that I first thought was too cute to do well in the Contest. The amount of ballads being entered this Contest and Kroni’s energy in the song, which I didn’t pay attention to the first time, helped me change my mind.
One thing about my Top 10 list is that things can change during the Contest. It’s happened year after year before and I’m sure it’s that way for most other Eurofans. I know I mentioned how many people will think a ballad will win again this year as they make up the majority of entries in this Contest. Especially since last year’s winning ballad was not heavily favored at first, but the performance almost dominated the jury points in securing its win. It’s easy to think a ballad will win again since two or three ballads are heavy favorites, but we should remember the upbeat songs could pull a surprise at the Contest. It could be a case some viewers are so sick of all the ballads, they could make a song from Ukraine or Georgia the winner. Even for songs not expected to be serious contenders for the win, there have been times songs that have been underrated by the public finish higher than expected often because of qualities of the song missed the first time. Other times, it can again be a case of excellent staging and Eurovision bringing out the best in the song. I didn’t have too high of expectations for Albania’s song but after seeing a video of the team practice their dance moves, it’s possible it can end up in the Top 10. Even the addition of all those ballads in the Contest has made many more people like the song more. Also Azerbaijan is among the Top 10 songs of this Contest on Spotify. Anything can happen on the night of the Contest so we’ll have to wait and see.
And there you have it. That’s my Top 10 before the start of the Contest. It’s not only interesting to see how the Contest will go but how will our favorite go or will our favorites change on the night of the Contest. May the best song win.
Listen to all Junior Eurovision 2025 songs:
About Post Author
