Earlier today, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Junior Eurovision 2022 will be held on Sunday, December 11, 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia.
It was earlier announced that the event will be held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan, Armenia. This will be the second time this complex has hosted the junior version of Eurovision, having hosted the contest in 2011.
Hovhannes Movsisyan, CEO of Armenian Public Television (ARMTV) said during the announcement that “it is an honour to host the 20th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan – one of the most ancient and iconic cities in the world. We are excited to work together with the EBU and our partners from public service media across Europe to create an unforgettable journey for our young talents and a state of the art television show for millions of viewers all over the globe. We will spare no effort to make sure that we create magic for the young participants and viewers, and we look forward to welcoming you all to Yerevan later this year.”
The Karen Demirchyan Complex has also played host to major concert events in Armenia, including large concerts by Lara Fabian (Luxembourg, Eurovision 1988), System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and Dorians (Armenia, Eurovision 2012).
Named after former Armenian Parliament Speaker Karen Demirchyan, who was one of eight politicians assassinated in 1999 Armenian Parliament Shooting, the complex was opened in 1983, shortly closed after a fire, and reopened in 1987. It is located on Tsitsernakaberd Hill, where the Armenian Genocide Memorial is also located. 184 steps lead up the Hill to the Demirchyan Complex. The main hall has a capacity of 6,000 seats, but can be expanded to 8,800.
Armenia won Junior Eurovision 2021 and the first option to host Junior Eurovision 2022 with Malena’s “Qami Qami.” They had previously won in 2010 with Vladimir Arzumanyan’s “Mama.” With four second place finishes and two third place finishes, Armenia is one of the contest’s more successful nations.
To date, eight countries have registered their interest in participating at Junior Eurovision 2022. They include hosts Armenia, the content’s only ever-present nation The Netherlands, Georgia, France, Bulgaria, Ireland, Poland, and Spain.
Azerbaijan have not yet confirmed or ruled out participation, though delegation member Eldar Rasulov surprised the press in January 2022 that despite hostilities and war with Armenia, the delegation has still expressed an interest in participating.
Iceland, whose RTV sent a delegation to Paris, France last year, is rumored to be a debuting nation at this year’s contest, as well as the United Kingdom potentially returning as a united country again (having participated from 2003 to 2006, and then Wales having participated in 2018 and 2019).
Though we are still in Eurovision season, are #YOU looking forward to the JESC contest in December? Let us know in the comments below, on social media, or in our forum.
