The ''Magic Circus Show'' was an entertainment show organised by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) and host broadcaster

Radio Télévision Suisse The Radio Télévision Suisse (; "Swiss Radio Television"), shortened to RTS, is a subsidiary of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), operating in French-speaking Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2010 by a merger of Radio Suis ...

(RTS), which aired in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Children aged between seven and fourteen representing eight countries within the EBU membership area, performed a variety of circus acts at the
Geneva Christmas Circus
' (). The main show was also accompanied by the ''Magic Circus Show Orchestra''. The programme was recorded at the end of November each year in the tent of Circus Pajazzo in

Chêne-Bougeries Chêne-Bougeries is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Chêne-Bougeries is first mentioned in 1270 as ''Quercus''. In 1801 it was mentioned as ''Chêne-les-Bougeries''. Chêne-Bougeries was inhabited for most of its his ...

, a town just outside

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Background

The idea to make a magic circus show, where circus acts are performed by children, belonged to the Swiss national television and radio company RTS and Damien Ottet, who was the executive producer of 7 Street Productions and the director of children's programs for RTS. They presented the idea of holding a contest at the Eurovision TV congress, and the European Broadcasting Union responded to their proposal. The event was officially launched by the EBU on 5 October 2010 at MIPCOM in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France.

Editions

The ''Magic Circus Show'' was a gala show and was recorded in advance and broadcast in the participating countries during the Christmas season. The first edition was held on 26 November 2010 with six countries participating: Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, France and the hosts Switzerland. The second edition took place on 26 November 2011 and Ukraine participated for the first time, making seven countries in total. The last edition took place on 17 November 2012 and nine countries participated: Bulgaria, Armenia and Ireland joined the show, however Ukraine did not return.

Participation

Listed are all the countries that have ever taken part alongside the year in which they made their debut:

Broadcast

The following broadcasters participated at least once: * ( ARMTV) * ( VRT) * ( BNT) * (

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

) * (

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

) * (

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

) * ( RTP) * ( RTR) * ( RTS) * ( NTU) The broadcasting rights for the inaugural show in 2010 were acquired by Belarus ( BTRC), Italy (

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

), Slovenia ( RTVSLO),

TV5 Québec Canada TV5 Québec Canada (abbreviated to TV5) is a Canadian French-language specialty channel that focuses primarily on programming from international French-speaking broadcasters. The channel shares a broadcast licence with its sister network, Unis, ...

and international francophone network,

TV5Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available across ...

References

External links

EBU Press Release
{{European Broadcasting Union Variety shows Television magic shows

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

Entertainment events in Switzerland Television shows set in Switzerland Recurring events established in 2010 Recurring events disestablished in 2013 2010 in Switzerland 2011 in Switzerland 2012 in Switzerland Events in Geneva November 2010 in Europe November 2011 in Europe November 2012 in Europe