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Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is set to be the 22nd edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). The contest will take place on 16 November 2024 at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain, marking the first time that the contest is held in the country as well as the first Eurovision event in Madrid, and Spain in general, since the Eurovision Song Contest 1969. The contest will also be the first contest since the 2015 contest to be held on a Saturday.

Location

Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the winning country of the previous year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest does not automatically receive the right to host the next edition. However, since 2011 (with the exceptions of 2012, 2015 and 2018) it has become customary for winners to take on hosting duties, and since 2019, the winning country has had the right of first refusal on hosting the following competition. In 2015, 2014 winner Italy was given this right but ultimately opted out of it.

On 27 November 2023, upon its victory in the 2023 contest on home soil, French broadcaster France Télévisions announced that talks would be conducted with the EBU regarding the hosting of the 2024 contest, as multiple countries had expressed interest in doing so and it did not want a "French monopoly on Junior Eurovision", having already hosted the event twice in a three-year span; France ultimately opted not to host in 2024. Spain, which had finished in second place in the 2023 contest, was announced as the host country for 2024 on 14 February 2024, with the Caja Mágica in Madrid announced as the venue on 10 May 2024. This will mark the first time that the contest has been held in the country, as well as the first Eurovision event hosted by Spain since the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, also held in Madrid.

Bidding phase and host city selection

Upon the confirmation of Spain as the host country for 2024, the Generalitat Valenciana announced that it would bid to host the contest in a city in the Valencian Community; since 2022, the autonomous community has hosted Benidorm Fest, the Spanish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, expressed interest in hosting the event in the city, followed by the mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre. Madrid, Granada and Zaragoza also announced their readiness to host the competition. Ana María Bordas, head of the Spanish delegation for the contest, had said that the broadcaster had received several bids upon the host country announcement and that a decision would be taken within the following weeks. Valencia, Barcelona, Málaga, Granada and Zaragoza were reported to have submitted an official bid by mid-March 2024. Shortly after, however, Zaragoza announced its withdrawal due to the unavailability of the intended venue for an assessment visit. In mid-April, Barcelona was unofficially reported to be in the forefront of the selection process, with Palau Sant Jordi considered as the potential venue, but by the end of the month the city dropped out of the running due to the lack of an adequate venue available for late 2024.

RTVE and the EBU scheduled a press conference at Malmömässan in Malmö on 10 May 2024, during the adult contest, where the selected host city was revealed to be Madrid, with Caja Mágica as the selected venue.

Provisional list of participating 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 EBU.

As of 6 June 2024, the 11 following countries have publicly confirmed their intention to participate in the 2024 contest:

Other countries

Active EBU members

Georgia – On 26 May 2024, after the final of Ranina, a format that has continuously served as the national final for the contest since 2018, Georgian broadcaster GPB published an article on its website, which originally included a mention that winner Andria Putkaradze would represent Georgia in 2024, but the excerpt was removed from the article shortly afterwards. Thus, it is currently unclear whether Georgia will participate in the contest, as at this point GPB has not commented in any way on its plans to participate in 2024.
Iceland – In December 2023, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV stated that it was considering a debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2024.
Norway – Although Norwegian broadcaster NRK stated in January 2024 that it would not participate in the contest in 2024, Polish participating broadcaster TVP mentioned on 14 May 2024 in an article about the contest that a broadcaster from Norway expressed its intention to participate, but had not yet made a final decision. Norway last took part in 2005.
United Kingdom – Polish Eurovision media Eurowizja.org revealed in their article that British broadcaster BBC has not yet made a decision on the participation in the contest, but stated an announcement is expected to be made through the BBC Media Centre "soon".

Active EBU member broadcasters in Austria, Belgium (VRT), Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland (SRF) have confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU.

Associate EBU members

Kazakhstan – On 26 November 2023, upon the 2023 final, Kazakh broadcaster Khabar Agency expressed its intention to return to the contest in 2024; however, this is dependent on a formal invitation by the EBU. Polish participating broadcaster TVP mentioned on 14 May 2024 in an article about the contest that a broadcaster from Kazakhstan expressed its intention to participate, but had not yet made a final decision. Kazakhstan last took part in 2022.

Associate members for Australia, SBS and ABC, both confirmed non-participation prior to the release of the participants list.

Production

In April 2024, it was reported that RTVE had started negotiations with María Isabel to be a guest or host the contest on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of her victory in 2004.

Broadcasts

All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing insight and voting information to their local audience. The European Broadcasting Union will also provide international live streams of the contest through their official YouTube channel with no commentary.