MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) – Sixteen countries will take part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 due in Tbilisi, Georgia in late November, BelTA learned from the European Broadcasting Union.
The 15th edition of the junior song contest will feature Albania, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Cyprus, Macedonia, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Netherlands, Ukraine. Portugal returned to the children's competition after a 10-year absence.
In a brand new change to the voting system this year, the audience online voting will be available and will initially open from Friday, 24 November, to Sunday, 26 November. Viewers who would like to vote will be required to watch a recap of all songs before entering the voting platform on the JESC official website. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer 1-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting will stop on Sunday, 26 November.
During the live show, online voting will start again after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. The final audience result will be a combination of both pre-show and live voting rounds, accounting for 50% of the total vote.
The event showcasing talented artists aged 9-14 will take place at the 4,000-seater Olympic Palace which was considered more suitable than the previously announced Sports Palace for its numerous facilities for delegations, media and fans.
Georgia's Mariam Mamadashvili won the contest in 2016 with the song Mzeo (The Sun).
Georgia is one of the most successful countries in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The country won the competition three times: in 2008, 2011, and 2016. Georgia hosts the contest for the first time.
