Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the thirteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT was the host broadcaster for the event. The final took place on 21 November 2015 and was held at the Arena Armeec in Sofia. Poli Genova, a Bulgarian singer and former representative of Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, hosted the show. A total of seventeen countries participated, with and making their debuts. and returned after being  absent since the and contests, respectively. and withdrew after returning in the , while withdrew for the first time since 2008. The winner of the contest was Destiny Chukunyere, who represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul". and finished in second and third place, respectively. This was Malta's second victory in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, having won previously in . This contest marked the second time a country won twice in a three-year period (following Belarus winning twice in a period of three years between 2005 and 2007). Malta's 185-point victory also achieved the highest number  of points received by any entry in the history of the contest, beating Spain's record of 171 points set during the . This contest also set new records for the highest number of points for a non-winning entry with Armenia's 176 points and the highest placing and score achieved by a country without earning any 12-point scores with Slovenia's third place and 112 points. Location. Bidding phase. Following 's win at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, the European Broadcasting Union had given the Italian broadcaster RAI the first refusal to host the 2015 contest. However , on 15 January 2015, RAI declined the right to host the contest. The Executive Supervisor for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Vladislav Yakovlev, praised the Italian broadcaster RAI for their time looking into the possibilities of hosting, even though they made their debut appearance in 2014, and further explained how the EBU were in a lucky position to have received bids from two countries. The EBU announced later that day that they had received bids from two countries to host the contest; those countries being and last year host , who finished in second and fourth places respectively in 2014. Bulgarian  broadcaster BNT confirmed on 15 January they had submitted a bid to host the 2015 contest. The national broadcaster for Malta, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), stated prior to the 2014 contest that they would host again if they won. On 26 January 2015, it was announced that Bulgaria had been chosen to host the 2015 edition, which took place on 21 November 2015. It was the first time that the nation organised any Eurovision event. In March 2015, it was confirmed that Sofia would be the host city, with the Arena Armeec being the host venue. Format. Graphic design. On  22 May 2015, a press conference devoted to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held in Vienna during the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. At the press conference, the slogan for the 2015 Junior contest was revealed to be "#Discover". The slogan was selected to signify how the Junior Eurovision Song Contest endeavours to find new melodies, explore new people and create links between individuals. On 23 June 2015, the EBU in conjunction with the host broadcaster BNT, presented the official logo for the 2015 edition, during the Steering Group meeting held in Sofia. Viara Ankova, the Director  General of the host broadcaster explained that the logo's concept was inspired behind the idea of a seeded head of a dandelion being blown, "something that everyone has done as a child". The postcards used to introduce each competing nation during the show were built around the concept of selfies. The postcards featured the competing artists sending their selfie to a group of three teenagers in Bulgaria, which would then inspire their adventures. Different sights and cities were showcased with the teenagers documenting their journey through their own selfies and sending them to the competing artist. Host. Bulgarian singer  Poli Genova was announced as the host of the competition on 21 October 2015. Genova had previously represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011. In addition, the running order draw and opening ceremonies were hosted by Bulgarian singer Joanna Dragneva, who had also previously represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 as part of Deep Zone Project. Participating countries. On 7 October 2015, it was confirmed that seventeen countries would take part in the contest. and made their debut, returned after a two-year absence and returned after a one-year absence. and withdrew after returning  in the 2014 edition, while withdrew for the first time since 2008. It was the first time since 2007, that 17 countries would take part. Scoreboard. Destiny Chukunyere who represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul", was declared the winner after all the votes had been cast from all of the seventeen participating countries and the kids' jury. Below is a full breakdown of how the votes were cast. 12 points. Below is a summary of all 12 points received. All countries were given 12 points at the start of voting to ensure that no country finished with nul  points. Below is a summary of the split 12 points, from respectively each country's jury and televote (save for Australia, San Marino, and the Kids' Jury). Countries which gave the maximum 12 points apiece from both the professional jury and televoting to the specified entrant are marked in bold. Spokespersons. The order in which each country announced their votes was the same as the running order of the performances. Details of the running order were published by the EBU on 15 November 2015. The spokespersons are shown below alongside each participating country. Other countries. For a country to be  eligible for potential participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, it needs to be an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It is unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Eurovision Song Contest. The EBU Active Members listed below have made the announcements regards their decisions. Active EBU members. The following broadcasters publicly declined to participate in the contest without providing any further explanations: Non-active EBU members. In August 2014, executive supervisor Vladislav Yakovlev said that they are working on finding a way to allow commercial  networks to participate in the contest, although they are not EBU members. Broadcasts. The contest was broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website and YouTube. The online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov. The following non-participating countries also sent commentators to Bulgaria for radio, television and online broadcasts of the contest. Other awards. Press vote. At the press center during the contest, members of the press were allowed to vote for their favourite acts. Below is the top five overall results , after all the votes had been cast. Official album. Junior Eurovision Song Contest Bulgaria 2015, is a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and was released by Universal Music Group on 13 November 2015. The album features all the songs from the 2015 contest. This is the first since the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 not to include karaoke versions of all the songs.