12 countries for Junior Eurovision 2011, several changes coming up
15 July 2011 at 23:10 CEST
San Marino joins the Junior Eurovision Song Contest family, while several others saw no choice to stay home. "Broadcasters all over Europe face the consequences of the financial crisis and the budget cuts they have to implement. Despite that, we are grateful for the support from a sufficient number of countries," said Sietse Bakker, Supervisor of the event at the EBU. "Nevertheless, we consider it our duty at the EBU to steer the contest through this challenging period. We are confident of its potential," he added.
The following 12 nations signed up for the competition:
Armenia (AMPTV, Host Broadcaster)
Belarus (BTRC)
Belgium (VRT)
Georgia (GPB)
Lithuania (LRT)
FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
Moldova (TRM)
The Netherlands (AVRO)
Russia (RTR)
San Marino (SMRTV)
Sweden (SVT)
Ukraine (NTU)
The Steering Group also decided that the spokespersons shall read out all the points during the presentations of the points, which is possible due to the lower number of participants.
Like during next year's Eurovision Song Contest, viewers will no longer be able to vote during the entire show, but only after all songs have been performed.
The 9th running of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan, Armenia, on the 3rd of December, and will start at 19:30 CET.
