Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018
#LightUp
Date and venue
Final
  • 25 November 2018
VenueMinsk-Arena
Minsk, Belarus
Organisation
OrganiserEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU)
Executive supervisorJon Ola Sand
Production
Host broadcasterBelarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC)
DirectorMarek Miil
Executive producersGleb Shulman
Olga Shlyager
Olga Salamakha
PresentersEvgeny Perlin
Zinaida Kupriyanovich
Helena Meraai
Participants
Number of entries20
Debuting countries Kazakhstan
 Wales
Returning countries Azerbaijan
 France
 Israel
Non-returning countries Cyprus
Participation map
  •      Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2018
Vote
Voting systemEach country's professional jury award 12, 10, 8–1 points to their top 10 songs. International viewers vote for 3–5 songs, and votes are converted to points by proportional representation.
Winning song Poland
"Anyone I Want to Be"

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, held on 25 November 2018 at the Minsk-Arena in Minsk, Belarus, and presented by Evgeny Perlin, Zinaida Kupriyanovich, and Helena Meraai. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC). It was the second time that the contest was held in Belarus, after hosting the 2010 edition at the same venue.

Broadcasters from a record of twenty countries took part in the contest, with Kazakhstan and Wales participating for the first time. France returned for the first time since 2004, alongside Azerbaijan for the first time since 2013, and Israel after missing the 2017 edition. Cyprus withdrew from the contest. Last year's winner Polina Bogusevich performed her entry again as the interval act, alongside the common song "#LightUp" sung by all the participants.

The winner was Poland with the song "Anyone I Want to Be" by Roksana Węgiel. Poland won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. Returning country France came second, while Australia placed third for the second year in a row. Kazakhstan was the fourth best performing debuting nation, after Croatia and Italy's victories in 2003 and 2014 respectively, and Armenia's second place in 2007, finishing sixth, whilst Wales came last.