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 Australia and Ireland making their debuts. Albania and Macedonia returned after being absent since the 2012 and 2013 contests, respectively. Croatia and Cyprus withdrew after returning in the 2014 edition, while Sweden withdrew for the first time since 2008.
The winner of the contest was Destiny Chukunyere, who represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul". Armenia and Slovenia finished in second and third place, respectively. This was Malta's second victory in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, having won previously in 2013. 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 2004 edition. 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.
Following Italy'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.[1] 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.[2]
The EBU announced later that day that they had received bids from two countries to host the contest; those countries being Bulgaria and last year host Malta,[3] who finished in second and fourth places respectively in 2014.[4] Bulgarian broadcaster BNT confirmed on 15 January they had submitted a bid to host the 2015 contest.[5] The national broadcaster for Malta, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), stated prior to the 2014 contest that they would host again if they won.[6]
On 26 January 2015, it was announced that Bulgaria had been chosen to host the 2015 edition, which took place on 21 November 2015.[7] It was the first time that the nation organised any Eurovision event.[8] In March 2015, it was confirmed that Sofia would be the host city, with the Arena Armeec being the host venue.[7]
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.[9]
