Around Europe, 12 young hopefuls will eagerly be standing by to see how their songs fare today in Junior Eurovision 2020. But while Armenia‘s young singer Maléna won’t be part of the show this year, she has released her song intended for the competition, “Why”.
The song is a slice of dreamy, chilled-out pop with both Armenian and English lyrics. Like many Junior Eurovision entries over the years, it’s a song of peace.
In the chorus, Maléna wonders, “Tell me why are even angels falling? Why do we hate instead of loving? Why it’s silent when I’m screaming? Why it hurts and words ain’t healing? Why?”
The music was written by Armenian hitmaker (and Depi Evratesil 2020 contestant) tokio9 (né TOKIONINE). He’s also contributed to the song lyrics along with Suzanne Khanzadian and Armenia’s Head of Delegation David Tserunyan.
It’s a different sound to the other entries of Junior Eurovision 2020 and would have been a welcome addition to this year’s lineup.
Armenia’s withdrawal from Junior Eurovision 2020
Armenia made its debut at Junior Eurovision 2007 and had competed every year since. In that time, Armenia has finished third twice, placed second four times and won the contest in 2010 with Vladimir Arzumanyan’s “Mama”. Armenia hosted the contest the following year in Yerevan.
Earlier in November, Armenian broadcaster AMPTV confirmed they would not be participating in Junior Eurovision 2020. In the statement, Armenia’s reason for withdrawing is described as being “due to the introduction of martial law in the region” as a result of the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan.
Soon after, Head of Delegation David Tserunyan confirmed that Armenia had internally selected the 13-year-old singer Maléna Fox and had been intending for her to represent Armenia at Junior Eurovision 2020.
At the time, Maléna revealed that there were plans to release her song. In an Instagram post she wrote, “Considering the message of the song, our team and me have decided to release the song in the nearest future.”
And while “Why” won’t be in the competition this year, Junior Eurovision fans can now listen to it and feel the message of the song.
What do you think of “Why”? Would you like to see Maléna compete at Junior Eurovision (or even Eurovision) in the future? Let us know in the comments below!
Watch Junior Eurovision 2020 today, Sunday 29 November at 17:00 CET.
would love a reaction video from william and deban!!!
just one word: WOW along with Belarussian entry that would’ve been my favourites
Omg they would have won with this
It’s better than all the JESC entries this year. It would’ve been my absolute winner.
The song is very beautiful. I like the song very much. Armenia should have been in this contest.
Can we all just appreciate the fact that their head of delegation has co-written their entry? Damn
Also, I hope she comes back next year, she deserves her chance! (Or even wait for ESC 😉 I wouldn’t mind)
This song is beautiful and very different for a JESC entry
Would’ve been my personal winner smh.. This could be an ESC entry as well
I think she may have won the Contest with this song, top 3 for sure. Such a pity she doesn’t have the chance to participate.
Would have competed for the ESC top too !! Really good song dude
Starts off really strongly but loses a bit over the final minute. I think it would be (for me) similarly placed to Georgia in my ranking, probably 4th-5th. There are parts of this that are at a Belarus-Russia level for me.
Such a haunting, relevant, and beautiful song Maléna has. Some people may say she is too young to sing about such topics but I think her youthfulness adds to the dire message of peace. The worlds youth are crying out for help as they are also victims to horrible events and need to be heard. I hope she gets her chance on JESC or ESC and I can’t wait to hear from her in the future:)
Whoever is saying kids are “too young” to sing about either topic, are ageists. Kids are people. They can feel despair, pain, sadness, grief, confusion and all the negative emotions too. Maybe even more intense than adults. And they have a right to express those feelings through art.
Such a beautiful song and a beautiful voice. I hope Malena gets her chance again next year.
This song is ethereal and a little dark. I love it