Wales was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Calon yn Curo", written by Sylvia Strand, John Gregory, and Ed Holden, and performed by Erin Mai. 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.
A televised national selection process, Chwilio am Seren (English: Search for a Star), was held to select the Welsh entrant. Manw won the national final, held at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno, on 9 October to represent Wales with the internally selected song "Perta", written by Ywain Gwynedd. Wales came last in their debut year at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Manw and her song "Perta" received no jury points and only 29 points from the online voting.
Between and , ITV had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest representing the 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 used to select the 2019 entrant. Auditions took take place during April and May 2019 with mentors Connie Fisher, Lloyd Macey 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 of the first three episodes on Sunday afternoons. The series began on 3 September 2019, seeing three weeks of auditions, before the live grand final on 24 September 2019, held in Llandudno.
The first two shows covered the nationwide auditions. Following a masterclass round at S4C's headquarters in Carmarthen (on the campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint Davids), the final twenty singers were wittled 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 – 17 September 2019 Artist Song (performed in Welsh) Mentor 1 Cerys TJ "Brwyndro" Fisher 2 Mared "Bendigeidfran" Bethan 3 Sophie "Dwi'n dy garu di" Macey 4 Carys "Adre" Fisher 5 Henry "Harbwr Diogel" Macey 6 Mackenzie "Gweld y byd mewn lliw" Bethan 7 Osian "Sedd Flaen" Macey 8 Rhiannon "Dim Ond" Bethan 9 Cerys "Cofio Ni" Fisher 10 Erin "Dim Gair" Bethan 11 Maya "Treiddia'r Mur" Fisher 12 Y Minis "Ti a Fi" Macey
National final
The national final took place in Llandudno's Venue Cymru on 24 September 2019, 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. Each performer automatically received one star from each jury. The three mentors, Fisher, Macey 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 of the official Welsh entry "Calon yn Curo". Public televoting selected the winner from the second round, this being Erin.
The national final opened with the six finalists performing a Welsh version of the anthem of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, "Together". During the televote window, a recap of the past edition of Chwilio am Seren was broadcast.
+Final – 24 September 2019 Artist Song (original artists)StarsPlace Result 1 Sophie "Cae o Yd" (Martin Beatty) 5 Eliminated 2 Mackenzie & Rhiannon "Nythod Cacwn" (Super Furry Animals) 3 Superfinalist 3 Carys "Croeswn y Dyfroedd Geirwon" (Paul Simon, Iestyn Llwyd) 4 Eliminated 4 Y Minis "Hedfan Uwch Na'r Sêr" (Little Mix) 5 Eliminated 5 Cerys "Meddwl Amdanat Ti" (Bronwen Lewis) 1 Superfinalist 6 Erin "Nos Da Susanna" (CHROMA) 1 Superfinalist
+ Detailed Regional Jury Votes Artist Total Sophie 1 1 1 2 1 6 Mackenzie & Rhiannon 1 2 2 1 2 8 Carys 2 1 2 1 1 7 Y Minis 1 1 2 1 1 6 Cerys 2 2 1 2 2 9 Erin 2 2 1 2 2 9
+Superfinal – 24 September 2019 Artist Song 1 Mackenzie & Rhiannon "Calon yn Curo" 2 Cerys "Calon yn Curo" 3 Erin "Calon yn Curo"
Ratings + Combined viewing figures by show Show Date Viewers(in thousands) Auditions 1 3 September 2019 Not reported in the weekly top 20 programmes for S4C. Auditions 2 10 September 2019 Top 12 17 September 2019 Final 24 September 2019
At Junior Eurovision During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 18 November 2019, Wales was drawn to perform ninth on 24 November 2019, following Malta and preceding Kazakhstan.
On 23 November, S4C broadcast a 30-minute documentary Erin yn Ewrop (Erin in Europe), which followed Erin's journey to the contest. 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 12th most watched show that week on S4C with 24,000 viewers.
Voting
+ Points awarded to Wales Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point Wales received 26 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 17 13 7 18 13 14 02 1 12 1 3 2 2 10 03 18 4 15 10 16 12 04 7 11 12 2 9 9 2 05 16 5 5 7 3 4 7 06 4 8 6 4 4 3 8 07 11 14 8 5 8 11 08 12 7 4 9 6 10 1 09 10 2 1 2 11 1 1 12 11 14 18 3 1 10 5 6 12 3 2 9 13 12 6 5 13 15 9 13 15 15 16 14 9 17 17 14 11 15 15 8 16 10 12 14 13 16 13 10 16 17 17 17 17 6 3 14 8 7 8 3 18 10 15 18 16 18 18 19 5 6 11 6 5 7 4
References
External links Chwilio am Seren Junior Eurovision