The budget for the contest was stated to be more than €2,000,000.[3][4] Profits made from the televoting were donated to UNICEF.[5]
Belarus won the contest by a single point over Armenia. The winning performer was Alexey Zhigalkovich, singing "S druz'yami" (With friends). This was Belarus' second win; they won for the first time in 2005.
Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, venue of the 2007 contest.
The base of the present Ahoy was laid in 1950. After the devastation caused by the Second World War, the city of Rotterdam had worked on reconstruction and Rotterdam port was virtually complete. To mark the occasion, the Rotterdam Ahoy! exhibition was held in a purpose-built hall on the site where the medical faculty of the Erasmus University now stands. The exhibition hall was called the Ahoy-Hal. The apostrophe is a remnant of the original exclamation mark. The hall was used for a series of national and international events, such as the exhibition of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. During the North Sea flood of 1953 the hall also proved its worth as a reception centre for victims. Rotterdam Ahoy, in its current form, was built in 1970. The complex’s striking design won various national and international awards for its special steel structures. The first event to be held there was the Femina family exhibition. Since then, Ahoy has been expanded on a number of occasions, and was renovated and refurbished in 1998 to create today’s multifunctional venue.
Participating countries
Cover art of the official album
Patricia Goldsmith, Communications Adviser of the Eurovision TV department, stated that nineteen countries would participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007,[6] though Spanish broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) later announced its withdrawal from the contest.[7] Croatian broadcaster Hrvatska Radiotelevizija (HRT) also withdrew due to expense and difficulties in broadcasting the contest live.[8]
Prior to the event, a compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2008 contest, along with karaoke versions, was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group in November 2007.
An official double CD of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was intended to go on sale on 23 December 2007, however it was later cancelled due to a lack of interest.[11]
Participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007[9][12]
Even though rules of Junior Eurovision do not allow participation of returning artists, Sweden's Frida Sandén previously provided backing vocals for Molly Sandén in 2006.[13]
Format
Visual design
On 22 October 2007, the contest was officially presented to the media at a press conference where the first details regarding the show were confirmed. The theme for the contest was water and the motto was Make a big splash!. Five water curtains decorated the stage designed by Ronald van Bersselaar, which explained why this year’s logo featured the "singing girl" wearing boots.[14]
Presenters
At the same press conference, Kim-Lian van der Meij was revealed to be the female host of the show,[14] alongside Sipke Jan Bousema who was the previously announced as the male host.[15]
Contest overview
The event took place on 8 December 2007 at 20:15 CET.[1] Seventeen countries participated, with the running order published in October 2007. All the countries competing were eligible to vote with the televote. Belarus won with 137 points, with Armenia, Serbia, Georgia, and Macedonia, completing the top five.[16] Lithuania, Cyprus, Belgium, Portugal, and Greece occupied the bottom five positions.[10]
The show was opened by all participants alongside dancers from the Dance Academy Lucia Marthas performing the specially-commissioned UNICEF song "One World",[17] written by Jeroen Rietbergen [nl] and Ronald Molendijk [nl], on stage in the arena followed by the traditional flag parade introducing the 17 participating countries.[14] The interval act included Dutch group Ch!pz and a performance by singer Katie Melua.[18][19]
Viewers from each participating country voted by telephone and SMS. Each country's awards points to their top-10 favourites based on these public voting results. The following spokespersons announced the point 1 to 8, 10, and the maximum 12 points.[20]
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.
Most countries sent commentators to Rotterdam or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.[22][better source needed] A live webcast was also streamed via the Junior Eurovision official website.[23]
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
^Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, it broadcast the event on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). As is the case each year, it did not however broadcast it live due to the difference in Australian time zones. It was screened at the later date of 24 December 2007 at 16.30 (local time), and repeated a few weeks after. Since this period is non-rated for television stations, how many people watched the broadcast is unknown.
^The contest was broadcast in Israel where it was watched by 400,000 viewers.[22][better source needed]
^"No DVD from JESC 2007". oikotimes.com. 17 January 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
