Before I touched down in Sofia, one of my major reservations about Junior Eurovision – which I suspect I shared with many fans – was a nagging distaste for any trace of kids being exploited. I’ve seen enough ghastly Britain’s Got Talent style shows in which precocious moppets with maniacal stage parents are trussed up and shoved, blinking and terrified, in front of an audience of millions to have their fledgling dreams crushed or commodified by Simon Cowell and his minions that I’m instinctively wary of any show that channels the talents of juveniles into public entertainment.
That said, I’ve been genuinely impressed here in Sofia by the duty of care that the majority of the delegations clearly feel for their young charges. Unlike adult Eurovision, the focus is a lot more on the experience than the final result, and it tells in the behaviour of the performers. Rather than the gimlet-eyed pageant queens and monstrous stage brats I was half expecting, the kids I’ve encountered have been almost entirely relaxed and delightful.
It might be a distinctly English trait to be overly sensitive about things like this. I get the sense that in many parts of mainland Europe, young children are a lot more prevalent in mainstream entertainment. A colleague who works at the BBC agrees – particularly in light of scandals like Operation Yewtree, we’ve become accustomed to being very self-conscious around youth in the UK, to the extent that sometimes we risk wrapping them in cotton wool. Most kids are smarter and more resilient than we give them credit for, and that certainly seems to be the case here.
Slovenia’s performance is pure ‘Frozen’ (in the Disney sense).
Photo: junioreurovision.tv
That said, it is important to be mindful, and to provide support where it’s needed. One of the singers – I won’t say which – is noticeably brittle and stressed throughout her performance and subsequent press conference today. When the other participants are having such a good time, the one that isn’t stands out like a sore thumb. I find myself wondering if there’s anybody outside her immediate team who’s keeping an eye on things and ensuring this experience isn’t getting too much for her. It’s only a gameshow, after all.
Today is the second half of second rehearsals, in advance of the dress rehearsal and jury final tomorrow night. It’s definitely a ballad day, with Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia and San Marino opening with four consecutive slow numbers. Slovenia and San Marino at least seem to have skewed their material to the target audience, with the former delivering a Frozen-inspired number complete with wintry backdrop, while the latter brings an Italian take on the sort of Mickey Mouse Club-friendly ballad Britney Spears might have released early in her career. San Marino also delivers one of the more questionable stage shows of the day, featuring the apparent return of the scary blue man group from Albania 2009, except now wrapped head to toe in bacofoil. It’s a look, I suppose.
Serbia and Ukraine have gone full dramatic ethno-ballad, complete with smoke machines and dramatic arm waving. They both have strong songs, but once again I find it tough to warm to pre-teens singing such incongruously emotionally intense material. Despite her lack of English, the Serbian girl is an absolute delight in her press conference, giggly, chatty and bursting with energy. It’s a sharp contrast to the contrived mini diva theatrics she’s bringing to her stage performance.
Lena from Serbia channels the classic Balkan divas, but do the theatrics prematurely age her?
Photo: junioreurovision.tv
After more slow to midtempo numbers from Russia and The Netherlands, it’s a relief when Montenegro and Australia offer some belated vitality to round off the day. One of the older performers this year – and by some distance the tallest – Jana from Montenegro brings some Balkan via Balearic beats from the writer/producer behind Eurovision classics such as Molitva and Beauty Never Lies. I can’t listen to Bella Paige’s Girls without humming Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire to myself, but what the Delta Goodrem-penned debutant lacks in originality, it certainly makes up for in earworm value. Most of the assembled pundits predict she’s got a strong chance of matching – or even bettering – Guy Sebastian’s top 5 placing in Vienna.
It’s an earlier finish today, so we leave the press centre around 6pm t0 sample some authentic Bulgarian dining at a restaurant called Hadjidraganovite izbi in downtown Sofia, where the waiters are all dressed like they could break out into a Morris dancing routine at any moment, and a traditional Balkan folk trio provides rousing musical accompaniment to the assortment of meat-heavy dishes with names like ‘Head of goat’ and ‘Paste of Ewe’s cheese‘. I decide to play relatively safe with a stewed pork and potato dish that fortunately turns out to be delicious.
Bulgarian cuisine – tastier than it looks.
Photo: John Lucas
Pleasantly lethargic from hearty food and Bulgarian wine, and with what sounds suspiciously like a Balkan folk arrangement of ‘Hava nagila‘ ringing in our ears, the team retreat back to the hotel, where a surprise cameo from Lizi Pop and Mika from Armenia makes for one of the most anarchic ESC Insight podcasts ever recorded. When the hyperactive minors have finally been dispatched, and with the dress rehearsal not due to kick off until 2pm, we’re all exceedingly grateful for the prospect of a lie-in tomorrow…