Lina Kuduzovic sang of first love, but it wasn’t love at first sight for Slovenia when the EBU revealed its planned changes for Junior Eurovision 2016. These included a new age limit, a Sunday afternoon broadcast slot and a 50:50 combination of the professional and kids’ jury votes, eliminating televoting completely.
As a result, broadcaster RTV Slovenija has confirmed Slovenia’s withdrawal from the contest. They broke the news on the official EMA Facebook page earlier today. Later that day, a statement on the RTVSLO website has stated the new broadcast slot and a lack of information prior to this year’s contest was the main reason they have made this decision.
Slovenia withdraws from Junior Eurovision 2016 – Statement
The statement reads:
Dear friends, it’s true that Ula Ložar and Lina Kuduzovic are staying our only two representatives at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. This year Slovenia will not participate in Junior Evrovision Song Contest because the project was not in the plan RTV Slovenia made for the year 2016.
Slovenia made their Junior Eurovision debut in 2014. Ula Ložar was internally selected with her entry “Nisi sam (Your Light)”. She eventually finished 12th. Last year, Lina Kuduzovic represented the country after winning Mini EMA, the country’s only junior national final to date. She delivered Slovenia’s best ever result, finishing third with “Prva ljubezen”.
Will you miss Slovenia? Will more countries follow suit? Should the EBU rethink the changes? Let us know in the comments below.
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Photo: Elena Volotova (EBU)
Televoting just makes the contest a little bit more exciting because it gives the viewers a chance of feeling part of the show without actually being there. But ESC was still a good show before 1997 when televoting started to be used so I can still see people watching it. The new time slot is more of a concern for me than the elimination of the televote. In Malta, Sunday afternoons are left for picnics or siestas so I can even predict lower viewers from the host country itself. Not to mention the fact that I am still very sceptical… Read more »
jr esc nl, this atumn I loved JESC, and wanted to see Sweden return. Now I want my country to boycott
can someone kindly explain it to me? why they cut tele voting (it still pays to send text, right?) and how kids would rate each other (they are kids after all, not music experts)?
why all of a sudden such drastic change and even cutting down profits?
Four (4) words: keep Junior Eurovision alive! 🙂
The EBU just needs to stop changing the rules. It’s such a shame, because Slovenia’s entries were both of my favorites in their respective years.
This is very disappointing news. For the last two years they had songs that were very popular with fans, and last year they got their best placing in any Eurovision contest ever. Prva ljubezen was one of my favorite songs in all of 2015.
But ultimately, I feel that withdrawing due to rule changes is not fair to the singers and songwriters who now do not have the chance to participate in the contest. This is not like adult ESC where you can just hop across the border and represent another country.
I hope I can be supervisior sometime of JESC and then I put the same voting ad in Eurovision. And I would allow 20 countries and children from 9-15 can join.
Change of schedule : ok ( better sunday afternoon for children)
No televoting : I don’t agree! I want televoting!
I will miss them, I loved their entries in the contest 🙁
Now I’m waiting for Iceland’s debut.
JESC could be a great contest – but only if it is done right. I think the most important thing is that the songs have to be professionally made and they have to be both kid and adult friendly. This contest needs both kid and adult audiences to stay alive. And both of those groups like *quality* music. It should be enough that the kids are good singers and performers, they don’t have to be professional composers yet. And they still can have some role in making the song. I bet one of the reasons why so many countries left… Read more »
Someone told me about this in another article.
I would do the same.
These changes are bad. 🙁
If JESC is on a sunday slot, the new saturday slot will be a Charles Schulz Birthday Tradition of Screening Rudolph in each country’s native language.
For me, the Junior contest is a failed experiment that has only lasted so long by riding on the coat-tails of the real thing. Plus the concerted effforts of the EBU in trying to revive the dead horse over the last number of years. Just let it die. Although having said that, the new rules and changes are definitely a huge improvement and a massive step in the right direction if they absolutely insist on taking the show forward. If it’s for kids, let it be for kids. It had become bizarre. The songs should be written by children too,… Read more »
JESC is a strange contest anyway, I watched it last year for the first time, because my country Ireland was making its debut, but it was strange. The new rules are odd, eliminating a televote completely but I agree with moving it to an earlier time slot, considering it is mostly a kids show anyway. JESC won’t last forever, even though the EBU are trying to bring it up to the same standard as the main Eurovision and enticing more English speaking countries to participate (Ireland, until we sent an act ás Gaelige, so then they invited Australia and were… Read more »
Too bad for this underrated contest, Slovenia was one of the best countries in 2014 and 2015. 🙁
And a song contest without televoting, how is that going to work? EBU seriously needs to reconsider that.
I’m surprised. Even if a delegation has a fallout over the changing rules, they’ll compete if they get a good result, especially if it’s their best.
I’ll miss them for sure, but I understand and support the decision of the Slovenian broadcaster.
I hope many countries withdraw, so the EBU changes everything back. And after the EBU changed the rules back, everyone must join again 🙂
those rules kinda lowered my interest in jesc.
the best competition from the all 4
unfortunately not all the people understand this wonderful contest
include jon ola sand
so they try to stop the contest
and in addition to what you mention also only 2,000 people will be able to watch from the “arena”
so in this year we will hear only maltese people and not see and hear big delegations from non participate countries (for example UK and Israel last year)
I hope slovenia will return next year after these new decisions will cancel
I agree, the JESC rules have changed far too much
This only betters San Marino’s victory odds!
San Marino 2017 with Supreme Leader Host Valentina