It's that time again folks, EUROVISION!!!! Cannae wait for the obligatory pairty, pick a country, dress up and bring a themed dish. Can you imagine the opportunity to do this TWICE in ONE YEAR? Well imagine no longer; I give you, JUNIOR EUROVISION. I know, I had no idea either but it exists and Jamie Jay Johnson's 2008 documentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit, followed the kids from selection to the final live show. Technically this is a docu-film but it was on the telly and I liked it so I'm writing about it anyway.
We begin our road to Junior Eurovision in Belgium as they showcase their young talent. And what does Belgium have to offer? Wheelie wearing, line dancing, sugar-dipped Dalton sisters; danced-up accordion playing lads with traditional kicking dance; a spurned 13 year old Avril-Lavigne-alike; bland, rice throwing Bieber-alikes complete with token girl singer. Through the dance of the red blocks a representative is chosen and it's.... Biebers+girl, Trust.
Ruddy hell, it's like the early Olympics apparently, the winners then only got a bit of leafy head wear and these kids now only get perspex trophy. You'd at least expect it to be platinum or solid gold or something, it's just PERSPEX but these kids want it. Including 10 year old Giorgios from Cyprus, the star of the whole show. He begins by showing us around his Mediterranean pad with gems such as, 'This is the door that we go in' and the perplexing, 'This is the fridge. This is where we spend most of our time.' I instantly LOVE this boy. His entry sees him perform with his sequined capped girls but his life at school is far from fab and spangly. As with most theatrical kids, Giorgios is bullied but because he is amazing he wants to thank his bullies or he wouldn't be the person he is. You see? LOVE.
Bulgaria gives us the mildly irritating Bon-Bon. From this group of tweenie Miley Syruses we follow Marina, who's struggling to come to terms with her parents' separation. Her father left her mother for another woman and Marina heart-breakingly thinks that maybe if she does well in Eurovision her dad might come back.
Georgian winner, Mariam, lives in startling contrast to her more well off competitors. We meet her mother and little brother in a run down tower block. As she walks through the streets we see how big a deal this kind of competition is to a country like Georgia. She's greeted like a celebrity, with kisses and hugs and free oranges (don't worry the guy has a car full. Literally).
The kids from Trust are quite boring and normal apart from the one who likes to study in his bathroom and the girls who just wants to meet a nice boy. These ones, I like. When the competition arrives the bitchy adults give their take on who will win. No one puts much faith in Mariam, they mostly think she will come near the bottom so naturally I hope she wins. It reminds me of youth theatre courses I used to go on, the kids all got to know each other and quickly made friends. The comradery is really quite heart-warming. Giorgios says he wishes his whole life could be like Junior Eurovision. If only.
The live show begins hosted by Laurence Llewellyn Bowen and Gwendolyn, the good witch and watched by 23 MILLION across Europe. From Georgia, Mariam's mother watches on an old TV with a dodgy reception as she couldn't be there in person. One by one the acts perform and then the scoring begins. As the scores come in the Ukraine with their horrendous stripping Bonnie Langford seem to be doing well, Greece, Belgium and Bulgaria are not. Georgia, meanwhile are raking in the points and after a win for Bellarus, end up coming in fourth! In your FACE bitchy adults! I am genuinely gutted for Giorgios, though who's dad worries he may get bullied when he gets back to school. For now though, it's disco time! I hope this is what the big people's Eurovision is like too.
The doc isn't really about Junior Eurovision but about the kids and their disparate lives in Europe. Although Mariam returned to Georgia a national hero, she and her family had to flee there town shortly after when conflict with Russia broke out. The film maker muses that these children are the future of Europe and can perhaps change it for the better. Here's hoping.
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