I had been waiting for the video of the draw to be uploaded before I read the full running order, but they are having trouble uploading the video so I've dived straight in! First, last and Bulgaria's position were drawn randomly and then the rest drew halves with the producers determining the orders within those halves.

 

And the order is as follows!

 

01 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png Serbia:

02 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png Georgia:

03 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png Slovenia:

04 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Italy.png Italy:

05 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png The Netherlands:

06 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png Australia:

07 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png Ireland:

08 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png Russia:

09 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png Macedonia:

10 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png Belarus:

11 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png Armenia:

12 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ukraine.png Ukraine:

13 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png Bulgaria:

14 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png San Marino:

15 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png Malta:

16 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png Albania:

17 http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png Montenegro:

 

Poor Slovenia are set to be criminally underrated yet again with that horrific running order slot and will probably end up with a similar result to last year. Armenia and Malta are looking very good with that draw, both very similar slots to last year too which brought them both top 5 finishes. I'm pleased Serbia and Georgia are both right at the beginning as I'm finding both very overrated by the fan forums and that should ensure neither come close to victory. We do have a ballad-heavy first half which will disadvantage all of them bar Italy and Georgia, and hopefully give Macedonia the benefit Serbia and Israel both had in the main contest this year in that uptempo 9th position.

 

So it is looking like an Armenia and Malta fight to me, which is the same top 2 I predicted last year (and ended up finishing 3rd and 4th). I can't see anyone else challenging now with the likes of Slovenia, Serbia and Australia ruined by the running order, although as Bulgaria showed last year, a strong enough performance can give you a high finish even from the 2nd slot. I personally don't think Malta will appeal to as many televoters as Armenia, although Malta should do better with the jury. Fantastic draw for Albania which should see them do a million times better than their last place in their first attempt in the contest.

 

My pre-rehearsals prediction is as follows:

 

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png 01 Armenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png 02 Malta

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ukraine.png 03 Ukraine

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png 04 Russia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png 05 Australia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png 06 Georgia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png 07 Serbia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png 08 Ireland

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png 09 Belarus

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png 10 Albania

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png 11 Slovenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png 12 Macedonia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png 13 San Marino

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png 14 The Netherlands

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png 15 Bulgaria

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png 16 Montenegro

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Italy.png 17 Italy

 

(Subject to change as I think about it more ^_^)

I decided to give this AWFUL SHIT A CHANCE and I'm FULLY BACKING MONTENEGRO FOR THE WIN

 

The REST WERE ALL TERRIBLE

I'm just excited to see what Montenegro do on stage during that instrumental bit in the middle that feels like it goes on for an hour! :heehee:

Destiny getting that prime position!

Never one to pass up a chance to tell Ryan he's wrong so here are my predictions

 

01 Malta

02 Australia

03 Ireland

04 Armenia

05 Ukraine

06 Slovenia

07 Belarus

08 Serbia

09 Montenegro

10 Albania

11 Russia

12 San Marino

13 Georgia

14 Bulgaria

15 Italy

16 Macedonia

17 Netherlands

 

And even if these are way off, JESC doesn't count so it's a win-win.

That looks pretty believable I think, no-one looks drastically out of place!

 

There is a fascinating article about the evolution of Junior Eurovision here on ESC Insight, so if you are someone who hasn't seen any Junior contests or hasn't seen one since the UK pulled out 10 years ago - it's definitely worth a read!

Destiny's vocals and stage presence were perfect in rehearsal today, and they have the music video on the LED screens which looks great! My only criticism is that it is just Destiny on stage and does look a little empty, but I'm sure that won't be the case on the TV cameras. To me, Armenia's rehearsal is the one that screams winner out of those that rehearsed today, it does feel less grown-up than Destiny and I think that will work in their favour.

 

 

Looks like all of the gimmicks were saved until today's set of rehearsals with Montenegro, San Marino and of course Russia and Ukraine bringing some. Montenegro have full-on choreography and this strange Sertab-style ribbon thing that they play around with during the massive instrumental so it's good that they've thought about it but it does look like a bit of a mess at the moment. Kamilla is obviously bringing a lot of money with her as San Marino have fantastic staging with Kamilla in an Aliona Moon-style dress and a very very professional looking stage show, and luckily for her the pre-recorded backing vocals are really helping Kamilla out in the chorus.

 

Ukraine seems to have brought some sort of massive flower-head which opens at the beginning to reveal Anna inside, another professional performance although the "aggressive" backdrop may not work too well with young viewers - it involves some sharks and a volcano. The biggest surprise of the day though was Russia, a song that had passed me by before, it was a very beautiful performance and involves Mikhail's backing dancer emerging from a hammock! This is now a winning contender for me.

 

I also loved the rehearsals from The Netherlands and Australia, the former's rehearsal in particular is beautifully staged and it's a shame it's just going to be too grown up to appeal to many. And of course Slovenia have presented their entry very well, appealing to the Disney feel the song has with its Disney-esque backdrop and Lina's vocals are identical to the studio version. It's a big shame she's been handed a horrible running order position - put this song near the end and it's a certain top 5.

 

Lots of fantastic rehearsals today, I do wonder if Malta is going to come across a little bland despite Destiny's obvious vocal power and stage presence. Let's see what the second rehearsals bring in terms of changes and the addition of pyros!

Final prediction!

 

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png 01 Armenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png 02 Russia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png 03 Malta

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png 04 Belarus

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ukraine.png 05 Ukraine

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png 06 Australia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png 07 Ireland

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png 08 Serbia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png 09 Georgia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png 10 Slovenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png 11 Albania

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png 12 The Netherlands

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png 13 Macedonia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png 14 San Marino

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png 15 Bulgaria

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Italy.png 16 Italy

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png 17 Montenegro

 

This is the first year I've watched a few short interviews with the majority of contestants, I can't believe how many of them have such good English skills. Everyone seems to be having such a great time there, I'm sure they will all create a fantastic show tonight and they do all deserve the 12 points they get at the start of voting!

 

I know EVERYONE will be watching, so here is the official YouTube live stream which also includes special English commentary. It begins at 6.30pm GMT.

Destiny to win.

Final prediction!

 

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png 01 Armenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png 02 Russia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png 03 Malta

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png 04 Belarus

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ukraine.png 05 Ukraine

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png 06 Australia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png 07 Ireland

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png 08 Serbia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png 09 Georgia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png 10 Slovenia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png 11 Albania

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png 12 The Netherlands

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png 13 Macedonia

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png 14 San Marino

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png 15 Bulgaria

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Italy.png 16 Italy

http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png 17 Montenegro

 

#tic4tac

 

01 Malta

02 Serbia

03 Armenia

04 Australia

05 Ireland

06 Russia

07 Belarus

08 Ukraine

09 Slovenia

10 Montenegro

11 Netherlands

12 Georgia

13 Italy

14 Albania

15 San Marino

16 Bulgaria

17 Macedonia

#FinlandSecondInTheSemi

The final concluded just under 2 hours ago where in one of the most tense finishes in any Eurovision contest in many years, Malta's Destiny Chukunyere (and a Buzzjack fave!) was crowned winner of Junior Eurovision 2015! The 2nd and 3rd place prizes went to Armenia's MIKA and Slovenia's Lina Kuduzovic - Lina secured Slovenia's best result in any Eurovision contest ever!

 

My full thoughts will arrive later, but here is the winning performance:

 

Yes, slay me Destiny! The only star of Junior Eurovision. :cheer:

 

THEY CAN NEVER TAKE AWAY MY SOUL.

THAT being the best thing this contest has to offer truly encapsulates how atrocious it is. Soz Ryan

Watched the recap and selected Malta as my 'favourite' for all the wrong reasons. You go mini Chiara!

 

What a power to have, Junior Eurovision bellwether *.*

So it is looking like an Armenia and Malta fight to me, which is the same top 2 I predicted last year (and ended up finishing 3rd and 4th). I can't see anyone else challenging now with the likes of Slovenia, Serbia and Australia ruined by the running order, although as Bulgaria showed last year, a strong enough performance can give you a high finish even from the 2nd slot. I personally don't think Malta will appeal to as many televoters as Armenia, although Malta should do better with the jury. Fantastic draw for Albania which should see them do a million times better than their last place in their first attempt in the contest.

 

My original prediction was so much better than my changed ones today, with that Armenia/Malta top 2 (albeit the wrong way around) and Albania getting a great result which they did with their 5th place!

 

THAT being the best thing this contest has to offer truly encapsulates how atrocious it is. Soz Ryan

 

No no no, not my soul! you are so wrong! (We all know you love Destiny really)

Here are the full results of the 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest!

 

01 185 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Malta.png Malta - Destiny Chukunyere - Not My Soul

02 176 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Armenia.png Armenia - Mika - Love

03 112 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Slovenia.png Slovenia - Lina Kuduzović - Prva ljubezen

04 105 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Belarus.png Belarus - Ruslan Aslanov - Volshebstvo (Magic)

05 093 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Albania.png Albania - Mishela Rapo - Dambaje

06 080 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Russia.png Russia - Mikhail Smirnov - Mechta (Dream)

07 079 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Serbia.png Serbia - Lena Stamenković - Lenina pesma

08 064 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/au.png Australia - Bella Paige - My Girls

09 062 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Bulgaria.png Bulgaria - Gabriela Yordanova & Ivan Stoyanov - Colour of Hope

10 051 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Georgia.png Georgia - The Virus - Gabede

11 038 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ukraine.png Ukraine - Anna Trincher - Pochny z sebe

12 036 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Ireland.png Ireland - Aimee Banks - Réalta na Mara

13 036 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Montenegro.png Montenegro - Jana Mirković - Oluja

14 036 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/San_Marino.png San Marino - Kamilla Ismailova - Mirror

15 035 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Netherlands.png The Netherlands - Shalisa - Million Lights

16 034 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/Italy.png Italy - Chiara & Martina - Viva

17 026 points http://www.eurovision.tv/img/upload/flags/mini/FYR_Macedonia.png Macedonia - Ivana Petkovska and Magdalena Aleksovska - Pletenka - Braid of Love

 

Despite a panicked start to the show with the YouTube live stream having no sound, I managed to tune in via the German webcast in time for the first performance - the sound eventually returned on YouTube during Australia's performance, a third of the way through the songs. A fantastic production yet again, just like we had in Malta last year and Poli was a superbly enthusiastic host.

 

Lots of strong performances, I think Belarus was the biggest surprise for me and I'm glad that finished top 5. But of course I am absolutely thrilled that 3 of my pre-contest top 4 finished in the top 3 (with the other being Australia), and I was rooting for Destiny all the way through the voting - an incredibly exciting voting, probably the most tense I've personally seen and can remember since the 2003 adult contest with it all resting on the final vote!

 

It's absolutely great for Malta to win for the second time in three years and they once again show that you don't need neighbours to win a Eurovision. Of course there was some cultural/disapora voting around, but nothing that had any impact and as always a great song will get votes no matter where it's from with Malta sweeping 10s and 12s from just about everyone. I'm just as pleased, if not more pleased that Slovenia won the 3rd place trophy (the top 3 all get trophies in JESC) which is by far Slovenia's best result in any Eurovision contest - and finally a Maraaya composition (they composed the entries for Tinkara and Ula last year and of course took part this year) or a Slovenian entry in general is not horribly underrated in the results. Fantastic for Albania to get a top 5 position too, equalling there best ever Eurovision result with Rona (of course with much less competition here).

 

Aimee was fantastic for Ireland, but operatic pop is always going to struggle in JESC especially when it doesn't really have the hook or moment that Federica had for Malta last year. I hope TG4 continue in the contest in future! Macedonia were always destined to fail, but it's still a fab tune - likewise The Netherlands. I'm surprised Ukraine missed the top 10 but apart from that no major underperformances.

 

Congratulations to Destiny and her record-breaking points total! Bulgaria were fantastic hosts, and I'm pretty sure Malta will be snapping the EBU's hands off for the chance to host yet again. :cheer:

Well thank god that's over.

 

Being subjected to that Armenian thing was not a pleasant experience Ryan. Winner's k.

let this thread never happen again