Wales was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Hi yw y Berta", written by Ywain Gwynedd, and performed by Manw. The Welsh participating broadcaster, Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C), selected the song internally and the performer through the televised national final Chwilio am Seren.

Background

Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) announced on 9 May 2018 that it would debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 representing Wales. The broadcaster held a televised national selection process, Chwilio am Seren (English: Search for a Star), to select its entry.

Between and , ITV had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom as a whole, which includes Wales. S4C had also shown interest in participating in the , but in the end decided against participating.

Before Junior Eurovision Chwilio am Seren Chwilio am Seren (Search for a Star) was the national selection process that was used to select the 2018 entrant. Auditions took place at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Aberystwyth Arts Centre and at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre during June 2018 with mentors Connie Fisher, Stifyn Parri and Tara Bethan as the judging panel. The four-part series, produced by Rondo Media for S4C, was aired on Tuesday nights with a repeat broadcast on Saturday afternoons.

The first two shows covered the nationwide auditions. Following a masterclass round at Llandaff's Memorial Hall (part of The Cathedral School), the final twenty singers were whittled down to the top 12 who then performed in public at Quadrant Shopping Centre in Swansea. The jury decided at the end of these performances who would perform during a final round live on television.

Table key Qualifier

+ Top 12 artists – 2 October 2018 Artist Song (performed in Welsh) Mentor 1 Lily Mai Duncan "Rise like a Phoenix" Fisher 2 Tiah "Symphony" Parri 3 Emma Kennedy "Bwgi" Bethan 4 Iestyn Gwin Jones "Byw Fel Brenin" Bethan 5 Amelia Francis "Calon" Fisher 6 Gracie Jayne Fitzgerald "You're My World" Parri 7 Manw Lili Robin "Ysbryd Efnisien" Bethan 8 Ella Georgia Thomas "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" Fisher 9 Manon "What About Us" Parri 10 Misha Parry "Llygad Ebrill" Bethan 11 Lauren Price "Hold My Hand" Parri 12 Lauren Mia Jones "The Voice Within" Fisher

National final The national final took place in Llandudno's Venue Cymru on 9 October 2018, hosted by Trystan Ellis-Morris and broadcast live on S4C. The first round saw the six live finalists performing cover songs. Regional juries (Aberystwyth, Llandudno, Carmarthen, Cardiff and London) consisting of two adults and two children awarded stars (points) to their favourite three performers which were announced by a spokesperson. The three mentors, Fisher, Parri and Bethan all gave their opinions on the performances but could not vote. In the second round, the three superfinalists each performed a different arrangement (folk ballad, funky pop, piano ballad) of the official Welsh entry "Hi yw y Berta", written by Ywain Gwynedd. The televote alone selected the winner from the second round, this being Manw.

The national final opened with a performance by the six finalists, performing a Welsh version of the anthem of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017, "Shine Bright". During the televote window, a summary of the various winners of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast.

+Final – 9 October 2018 Artist Song (original artists)StarsPlace Result 1 Ella Georgia Thomas "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) 1 Superfinalist 2 Gracie-Jayne Fitzgerald "Rhywbeth o'i le" (Huw Chiswell) 4 Eliminated 3 Lily Mai Duncan "Adre" (Caryl Parry Jones) 3 Superfinalist 4 Manw Lili Robin "Fy nghariad gwyn" (Ywain Gwynedd) 2 Superfinalist 5 Lauren Mia Jones "Angel" (Elin Fflur) 6 Eliminated 6 Misha Parry "O Gymru" (Rhys Jones (m.), Leslie Harris (l.)) 4 Eliminated + Detailed Regional Jury Votes Artist Total Ella Georgia Thomas X X X X 4 Gracie-Jayne Fitzgerald X X 2 Lily Mai Duncan X X X 3 Manw Lili Robin X X X X 4 Lauren Mia Jones 0 Misha Parry X X 2

+Superfinal – 9 October 2018 Artist Song 1 Manw Lili Robin "Hi yw y Berta" 2 Ella Georgia Tomas "Hi yw y Berta" 3 Lily Mai Duncan "Hi yw y Berta"

Ratings + Combined viewing figures by show Show Date Viewers(in thousands) Auditions 1 18 September 2018 19 Auditions 2 25 September 2018 16 Top 12 2 October 2018 18 Final 9 October 2018 22

Artist and song information Manw

Manw Lili Robin (born circa 2004) is a Welsh singer from Rhosgadfan in Gwynedd, North Wales. She represented Wales at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Perta".

She performed at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and Urdd National Eisteddfod a number of times, most recently in 2017, and attends Ysgol Glanaethwy in Bangor. In 2014, Manw played the part of Awen in the Welsh version of the animated film, The Secret of Kells (Cyfrinach Llyfr Kells) which was broadcast on S4C on 24 May. In 2015, Manw was a member of the Welsh choir Cor Glanaethwy, who reached the live finals of Britain's Got Talent.

On 23 November, S4C broadcast a 30-minute documentary Manw yn Minsk, which followed her journey to the contest.

Perta

"Perta" (originally called "Hi yw y Berta", later "Berta") is a song performed by Welsh singer Manw. It represented Wales at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The song underwent a revamp ahead of the contest in Minsk, with the official music video released on 16 October. Ywain Gwynedd stated in an interview that the lyrics were written with a focus on sounding nice to non-Welsh speakers, with a repetitive chorus that was easy for viewers to sing along to. The song finished in 20th place with 29 points.

At Junior Eurovision During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 19 November 2018, Wales was drawn to perform eighteenth on 25 November 2018, following Armenia and preceding Malta.

The final was broadcast live in Wales on S4C, with commentary provided by Trystan Ellis-Morris in Welsh. English commentary by Stifyn Parri was available via the red button. It was the joint 14th most watched show that week on S4C with 23,000 viewers.

Voting

In the contest, Wales received no points from the professional juries; they received 29 points from the online vote.

+ Points awarded by Wales Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Detailed voting results + Draw Country Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points 01 6 3 7 10 15 6 5 02 10 17 14 5 16 13 03 18 9 19 17 17 17 04 7 13 5 13 8 9 2 05 2 1 2 11 5 4 7 06 8 12 9 6 11 10 1 07 9 6 12 8 7 8 3 08 17 14 16 19 10 16 09 12 16 17 16 14 15 10 14 11 10 15 13 14 11 16 8 13 9 12 12 12 1 2 4 1 3 1 12 13 3 5 3 2 1 2 10 14 11 19 18 14 19 18 15 15 15 8 7 9 11 16 13 10 6 12 4 7 4 17 19 18 15 18 18 19 18 19 4 4 1 4 2 3 8 20 5 7 11 3 6 5 6

References

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