17 November 2024

Andria Putkaradze, performing To My Mom, won the Junior Eurovision Contest of 2024 for Georgia in yet another case of absurd jury voting that would deny the win for the clear public favourite, Portugal’s Victoria Nicole, who finished second with Esperanca. The jury awarded Georgia 180 points, which was just 12 short of the maximum possible, compared to just 96 points and a fourth rank for Portugal. The public gave Portugal their highest points of 117 while awarding Georgia 59 and ranking them sixth. Combined, that gave Georgia the win with 239 points to 213.

Rounding out the top five were Ukraine (203 points), France (177) and Malta (153). The host nation, Spain, was next with 144 points.

The past two senior Eurovision events suffered similarly with the people’s voice made redundant by an avalanche of jury votes on one song. Croatia’s Baby Lasagna got smashed by Switzerland’s Nemo this year, while Finland’s Käärijä was similarly denied by Sweden’s Loreen in 2023. There’s simply no rationale for this type of voting. Georgia got 12 points from twelve of 16 juries, two sets of 10 points, and two sets of 8 points. Portugal could only earn one set of 12 points in a clear demolition job of an entry that, objectively, was at least equal, if not superior, to the winner. At least ESC offered some explanation in that the difference was between artistic songs and fun ones, and the public ranked Loreen second anyway. At JESC, both entries were of an artistic nature.

There’s two issues with the current voting setup. The first is the juries are far more geared to concentrate all their votes on one or two particular songs. In this case, just one song. No doubt, as “music professionals”, there’s some sort of like-minded thinking in effect too. Second, public favourites are fairly obvious in advance, so not only can juries be more energised for their favourites, they can suppress votes of the public favourites. This was clearly evident with Baby Lasagna and Käärijä, and was also obscenely evident back in 2016 when Russia’s Sergey Lazarev got smashed by the jury to make a Russian win virtually impossible. The jury need to be instructed to critique songs on broader qualities, or the jury should consist of more diverse minds, or the votes be harmonised, meaning first with the jury is worth equal value as first with the public. In this case, it was first and sixth on jury/public voting, respectively, for Georgia versus fourth and first on jury/public voting for Portugal. Portugal would win. Estonia’s Eesti Laul actually employs this system, with the public vote used to break a tie.

Review & Score

01 Italy – Simone Grande – Pigiama Party (8)

Bouncy opening. Catchy song and got the audience bopping. Performed very well.

02 Estonia – Annabelle – Tänavad (7)

A sedate entry following Italy. Vocals didn’t punch through as hoped. Still my favourite song overall.

03 Albania – Nikol Cabeli – Vallëzoj (5)

Presented much better than my pre-JESC rank (last) would suggest. Good staging. Voice lacked enough presence.

04 Armenia – Leo – Cosmic Friend (6)

Back to the fun, energetic stuff, with a precocious young punk. Leo tries his best. Not enough to the song to elevate it higher than eighth.

05 Cyprus – Maria Pissarides – Crystal Waters (6)

Song let down by wafer thin vocals. The last half significantly improved when less singing was involved.

06 France – Titouan – Comme ci comme ca (8)

Surprisingly understated for France. An older and less charismatic artist, and a basic presentation. Song still one of the best, so definitely potential for a higher place was lost here. Perhaps not winning again was the point, yet France still ran reasonably close, finishing place.

07 North Macedonia – Ana and Aleksej – Marathon (5)

Perfunctory is the word. From the song, staging and performance – all standard fare. Second last was perhaps one place too high.

08 Poland – Dominik Arim – All Together (7)

Always really liked the song. The weak vocals hold it back. AI-generated background graphics showing Dominik aging was an interesting addition. A handsome man at 50.

09 Georgia – Andria Putkaradze – To My Mom (6)

Reminds of Georgia’s last winner, Mariam Mamadashvili in 2016, performing Mzeo, which I hated. So whiny and nauseating. This is at least was listenable, and no doubting that it was presented well.

10 Spain – Chloe DelaRosa – Como la Lola (7)

The song was more talking than singing, and it needed more of the latter. It finished well, and was one of the best presented overall.

11 Germany – Bjarne – Save The Best For Us (5)

Too preachy. Song seemed extra flat in parts no matter how much energy Bjarne was trying to inject.

12 Netherlands – Stay Tuned – Music (6)

Standard song and dance stuff that we see most years from the Dutch.

13 San Marino – Idols SM – Come Noi (7)

I really liked the simplicity of this. Four stylish girls in black jackets just singing the song with minimal effects and choreography. It made me quite appreciate the song. Last place was ridiculous!

14 Ukraine – Artem Kotenko – Hear Me Now (8)

Immediately catchy chorus, and obviously a quality performer. Excellent staging made this one of the best.

15 Portugal – Victoria Nicole – Esperanca (9)

Stood out as a vocal tour de force. Outstanding song too, and staged beautifully. This was an obvious winner for me and many people, with those in the audience chanting “Portugal, Portugal” during the vote reveal. If Victoria had a more mature, rounded voice, I would have scored this 10.

16 Ireland – Enya Cox Dempsey – Le Cheile (6)

The “na na na na” chorus describes it best. It’s fine in an individual context. Among this group, especially following Portugal, it’s a na.

17 Malta – Ramires Sciberras – Stilla Ckejkna (7)

Always the best boy ballad, and Ramires presented it well. Rare to actually hear Malta sing in Maltese (it’s related to Arabic), as English is an official language and they default to that.

My Top 10

01 Portugal – Victoria Nicole – Esperanca (9)
02 Ukraine – Artem Kotenko – Hear Me Now (8)
03 France – Titouan – Comme ci comme ca (8)
04 Italy – Simone Grande – Pigiama Party (8)
05 Estonia – Annabelle – Tänavad (7)
06 San Marino – Idols SM – Come Noi (7)
07 Malta – Ramires Sciberras – Stilla Ckejkna (7)
08 Poland – Dominik Arim – All Together (7)
09 Spain – Chloe DelaRosa – Como la Lola (7)
10 Georgia – Andria Putkaradze – To My Mom (6)

The main change from my ranking before JESC is Estonia dropping from first to fifth and Ukraine jumping from eleventh to second. San Marino had a big climb too, from fifteenth to sixth. Cyprus fell from fifth to outside the top 10. Portugal rose from second to first while France and Italy switched positions.

Average score of 6.6 means it was a very good JESC, which actually belies the lacklustre final impression. No songs rated below 5 so that keeps the average up. Last year scored 6.8, 2022 scored 6.9, while the small, quality field in the Covid year of 2020 holds the record at 7.3.

The jury insanity really tarnished the event and created the lacklustre impression. Many complaints online also centered around the computer generated graphics and the artificial intelligence effects, which personally didn’t bother me. The flat sound, just like in the past two senior Eurovision events, was again a big peeve. I increased the volume on my soundbar to maximum and the sound was still too low and lacked punch.

This year’s JESC trialled a different process of revealing the jury votes, by allocating all the one points at a time, then the two points, etc. With the 12 points, each delegate read them in sequence without any individual introduction by the hosts. While efficient, it was slightly confusing, especially at the pace it ran. Perhaps pause after one and two points to explain the scoreboard status.

From a scoring perspective, countries leading early from the lower points is completely misleading because they will get swamped by the countries that earned the bigger points at the end of the sequence. Perhaps reveal the points traditionally and just cut the introductions. Then you get the efficiency and can see an actual race forming. As it stood, Georgia were last until the 8 points were allocated, nudged a little higher after that, before launching to the lead as the 12 points arrived. That this year’s Junior Eurovision slogan of “Let’s Bloom” manifested itself so powerfully during the jury vote sequence was irony that no one could have predicted.

Madrid 2024: Junior Eurovision Preview & My Top 17

Watch the Junior Eurovision 2024 live show here