The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the fourth edition of the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Junior Eurovision, is an international children's Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 2003. Each part ...

for young singers aged 8 to 15. On 2 December 2006, the contest was broadcast live from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

making it the second time the contest had been held in a capital city. It was organised by the Romanian national broadcaster,

Romanian Television Televiziunea Română (), more commonly referred to as TVR , is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune ("Romanian Television Society"; SRTV), the Romanian public television. It operates nine channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TV ...

(TVR), in co-operation with 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). The show was broadcast live in the competing countries, as well as

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and the Australian television channel

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

(SBS) that acquired the rights for broadcasting the show, which was broadcast on 1 January 2007. This was

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

's first participation in a Eurovision event as an independent nation. The contest was won by The Tolmachevy Twins from with the song "

Vesenniy Jazz Russia was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Bucharest, Romania. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, organised by Russian broadcaster All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK). The final ...

Location

Bidding phase and host selection

On 5 October 2005, it was confirmed that TVR had won the rights of hosting the contest over

AVRO Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(who would later be announced as the host broadcaster of the next contest).

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

also expressed an interest in hosting this contest.

Venue

Polyvalent Hall from Bucharest () is a multi-purpose hall in

, located in the

Tineretului Park ''Tineretului'' Park (, "Youth's Park") is a large public park in southern Bucharest ( Sector 4). History The park, which was created in 1965 and finished in 1974, was planned by the architect . It was designed as the main recreational space for ...

. It is used for

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s, indoor sports such as

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent (''knock ...

s and

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

. The hall was opened in 1974 but has since been renovated. It has a maximum seating capacity of 12,000 for concerts and 6,000 for handball.

Participants

On 16 May 2006, the EBU released the official list of participants with 15 competing countries. Originally 16 countries had initially signed up for the contest but one unspecified country later dropped out.

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

(for the first time as an independent country after the participation in 2005 contest as part of

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

) and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

made their debut, while

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

returned after a one-year absence. Two broadcasters withdrew from the contest: Radio télévision belge de la communauté française (RTBF) of the French-speaking

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

in Belgium left the contest this year, after co-hosting the previous edition with Flemish broadcaster

Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie ("Flemish Radio and Television broadcasting organisation"), shortened to VRT (), is one of the national public broadcasting, public service broadcasters for the Flemish Community of Belgium. Its c ...

(VRT), claimed that continuing with the contest was not in their interests financially. Belgium continued to be represented at the contest by Flemish broadcaster VRT. Subsequently also

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(SVT) of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

decided to withdraw from the contest for focusing on organisation of the MGP Nordic in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

; the country continued to be represented at the contest by commercial broadcaster TV4. Prior to the event, a compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2006 contest, along with karaoke versions, was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

in November 2006.

Format

Presenters

The presenters in charge of conducting the event were Andreea Marin and Ioana Ivan, who also appeared in the green room. Marin has been a presenter at the host broadcaster since 1994 and achieved national fame as the host of '' Surprize, Surprize'', the Romanian version of British light entertainment show '' Surprise Surprise'', on

TVR1 TVR 1 (; spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 1'', "Romanian Television 1") is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR. The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is ("The news journal as it should ...

. Marin has twice appeared on the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, reading out the Romanian televote results in and . Ivan is an actress and television personality and the first child presenter of the event.

Contest overview

The event took place on 2 December 2006 at 21:15 EET (20:15 CET). Fifteen countries participated, with the running order published in October 2006. All the countries competing were eligible to vote by televote. Russia won with 154 points, with Belarus, Sweden, Spain, and Serbia, completing the top five. Malta, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, and Macedonia occupied the bottom five positions. The show was opened by various circus style dancers and performers including fifteen children, champions from the

Romanian Gymnastics Federation The Romanian Gymnastics Federation (RGF), or Gymnastics Federation of Romania, is the governing body of gymnastics in Romania. Established in 1906, it supervises gymnastics clubs and gymnasts' participation in international competitions. In 2013, Ad ...

, plus characters from the Bucharest State Circus and an on-stage appearance by Mihai Trăistariu, dressed as

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

and was followed by the traditional flag parade introducing the 15 participating countries. The interval act included a performance by last year's winner

Ksenia Sitnik Ksenia Mikhailovna Sitnik (born 15 May 1995), sometimes also transliterated as Kseniya Sitnik or Xenia Sitnik, is a Belarusian pop singer. She represented Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005, which she won with the self-penned son ...

, a "fight" between

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, Locking (dance), locking, house dance, waacking, voguing, etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created o ...

and traditional Romanian dance in addition to a remix of songs by the last three Romanian participants at the contest.

Spokespersons

# Joana Galo Costa # George Ioannidies # Tess Gaerthe # Andrea Nastase # Assol # Lucía # Milica Stanišić # Jack Curtis # Denis Dimoski # Amy Diamond # Alexandros Chountas # Liza Anton-Baychuk # Sander Cliquet # Lorena Jelusić # Roman Kerimov

Detailed voting results

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 The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is determined by a positional voting system. The most recent version of the system was implemented in the . Each participating country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, based on th ...

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 EBU. It is currently unknown whether the EBU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Eurovision Song Contest. * Armenian broadcaster AMPTV were negotiating with the EBU to debut. However, plans never came to fruition and they debuted a year later. * Danish broadcaster DR, along with all Scandinavian broadcasters (

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

and SVT), decided to withdraw from the contest for various reasons, one being that the content put too much pressure on the participating children. Instead they staged a solely Scandinavian contest called MGP Nordic in Stockholm, as they did in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. * Latvian broadcaster LTV decided to withdraw from the contest due to financial reasons. * Monégasque broadcaster TMC, who is in charge of the country's participation in the

, had stated an interest to take part in the contest. Monaco did not appear on the list of participants published by the EBU on 16 May 2006. * Following the dissolution of

, which had previously taken part in the 2005 contest, the EBU gave to the Montenegrin broadcaster,

Radio Televizija Crne Gore Radio and Television of Montenegro ( cnr-Cyrl-Latn, Радио и Телевизија Црне Горе, Radio i Televizija Crne Gore; abbr. /) is the public service broadcaster of Montenegro. A state-owned company with its headquarters in Podgor ...

(RTCG), extra time to decide whether or not to participate, but they finally declined the invitation. * Norwegian broadcaster

decided to withdraw from the contest for various reasons, one being that focusing on participation in the MGP Nordic. * British broadcaster ITV decided to withdraw from the contest due to low ratings in the last three editions.

Broadcasts

Notes

References

External links

Official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website
{{Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 2006 in Romania Music events in Romania December 2006 in Europe Events in Bucharest