Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018

On 21 November 2017, Belarus' Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Zharko confirmed that the contest was scheduled to be held at Minsk-Arena in November 2018.[3] The arena previously hosted the 2010 contest. However, on 26 November 2017, it was confirmed by the host broadcaster that the exact location of the contest is still unknown, stating that Minsk Arena was one of the possible options.[4] On 18 March 2018, the 15,000-capacity Minsk-Arena was confirmed as the venue by the contest organisers.[1]

The stage during rehearsals for the opening act and flag parade.

The slogan was the hashtag #LightUp. The logo of the contest was based around a morning star made of vertically inverted soundwaves. The source of inspiration was the artistic potential and creative aspiration of the young participants who fill the scene like a star.[1]

The hosts during a dress rehearsal

On 26 October 2018, it was announced that Eugene Perlin and Zinaida Kupriyanovich would be the main hosts of the contest, together with Helena Meraai in the green room.[10] Meraai is the fourth person under the age of sixteen to ever host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, after Ioana Ivan in 2006, Dmytro Borodin in 2009 and Lizi Japaridze in 2017, and is also the second former participant to host an edition of the contest. Meraai previously represented Belarus in the 2017 contest, where she placed fifth with the song "I Am the One". Perlin is one of the main country's television presenters and was the Eurovision commentator between 2013 and 2019, whilst Kupriyanovich is a singer and artist who has participated in Belarus' national selections for the 2015 and 2016 Junior Eurovision Song Contests and latter represented the country at the 2019 adult contest. It was also announced that Denis Dudinsky and Anna Kviloria would host the opening ceremony.[11]

The results were determined by national juries and an online audience vote. Every country used a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represent. The first phase of the online voting started on 23 November 2018 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances were shown on the official website before the viewers could vote. Following this recap, voters had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on 25 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and started after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers could vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five, including their own country.[12]

The number of points were determined by the percentage of votes received. The public vote counted for 50% of the final result, while the other 50% came from the professional juries.[13]

The trophy was designed by Kjell Engman of the Swedish glass company Kosta Boda, using the same design as was first introduced in the 2017 contest.[14] The main trophy is a glass microphone with colored lines inside the upper part, which symbolize the flow of sound.[15]

Each postcard took place in a different location in Belarus. They all consisted of the upcoming participant putting on a virtual reality headset and, through it, experiencing a location in Belarus while doing various activities. At the conclusion of the postcard, the upcoming participant would take their headset off, and the performance would commence.[16]

Below is a summary of all 12 points received from each country's professional juries.

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
6	Australia	Belarus,  Italy,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Ukraine,  Wales
3	Georgia	Ireland,  Israel,  Russia
2	France	Albania,  Malta
	Macedonia	Kazakhstan,  Serbia
	Malta	Australia,  Georgia
1	Belarus	Armenia
	Italy	Macedonia
	Poland	France
	Russia	Azerbaijan
	Ukraine	Poland

A total of 1,283,921 valid votes were received during the voting windows.[29][30]

Online voting results[30]

Contestant	Votes	Points
Poland	~150,529	136
France	~129,499	117
Kazakhstan	~114,003	103
Ukraine	~86,333	78
Armenia	~77,478	70
Netherlands	~75,264	68
Russia	~68,623	62
Italy	~63,089	57
Australia	~58,662	53
Belarus	~58,662	53
Israel	~52,021	47
Malta	~47,594	43
Portugal	~46,487	42
Georgia	~43,166	39
Ireland	~39,846	36
Macedonia	~38,739	35
Albania	~37,632	34
Azerbaijan	~33,205	30
Wales	~32,098	29
Serbia	~30,991	28
Total	1,283,921

•  Bosnia and Herzegovina – On 25 May 2018, the Bosnian broadcaster Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) stated that they would not be allowed to debut at the contest in the near future until the debt-related sanctions placed on them by the EBU were lifted.[32]
•  Denmark – On 16 February 2018, it was reported that the EBU was calling on Danish broadcaster Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) to return to the contest after an 11-year break.[33] However, Jan Lagermand Lundme, the head of Entertainment at the Danish broadcaster, 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."[34]
•  Lithuania – On 28 February 2018, the Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) declared that they would not return to contest in the near future. LRT executive producer Audrius Giržadas stated that "this contest has become a clone of the main Eurovision Song Contest and has nothing to do with childhood, little girls go on stage with clipped hairs, glued eyelashes and bare belly, copying Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera – this is not an event that we would like to participate in."[35] Lithuania last took part in 2011.
•  United Kingdom – On 2 January 2018, the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC) announced that a representative from an unknown British broadcaster would be attending the supervisory meeting for the 2018 contest.[36] Two days later it was confirmed that the United Kingdom would not take part in the Steering Group meetings. United Kingdom last took part in 2005.[37] Wales, a country that is part of the United Kingdom, competed.