FRIDAY FAST FIVE | The JESC 2015 artists who should graduate to the ESC, ASAP!
Happy Friday, guys! Or, for all of you residing in the US of A and anywhere else where Black Friday is a thing (they try to make it a thing here in Australia, but it hasn’t really taken off), HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY! It’s definitely a Happy Friday for me, because yesterday, after several hours of heart palpitations, yelling expletives at my computer screen and sobbing into the Swedish flag I carry with me at all times, I managed to score some Eurovision tickets.
OH MY LORDI. Honestly, I’m more relieved that the ordeal of attempting to get them is over than ecstatic that I managed to nab a ticket to both broadcast semis – as you’ll know by now, whether you were in the dreaded Waiting Room of Death or not, the ticket quest was very traumatic. But I have my tickets next to me as I type this, and every time I look at them (and stroke them lovingly from time to time), I feel a flash of excitement. Congratulations to all of you who also got your hands on a ticket or two (or three, damn you), and to those of you who didn’t, or who are planning to try again in the new year for the show you missed out on: I will see you there. Assuming I will have concluded the course of therapy I’ve enrolled in to get over yesterday, of course.
It’s also a good Friday for me and my fellow Aussies thanks to tomorrow being the day of the delayed JESC 2015 broadcast, with our brand new pair of commentators narrating the proceedings (and probably taking the piss a little too often for my liking, but I’ll try to ignore that). I’m in no mood to stop talking about JESC ’15 until the credits roll on that replay, hence the topic of today’s post. So, if you’re not a fan of Eurovision’s younger sibling, you’ll have to humour me a little longer.
Let’s get into this Fast Friday Five* before I’ve officially rambled on for so long that it’s no longer Friday (confession: it’s already Saturday over here anyway). Here are five Junior acts from this year who I’d love to see and hear at Eurovision in the future.
*I’m now thinking that this might be the first time I’ve posted an FFF, so in case that’s true, here’s a definition: A Fast Friday Five is a short, sweet and unranked version of a top 10 list, for which I’ll select five randomly ordered favourites from any given ESC (or JESC, in this instance) category and ask you for yours in return. Just so you know.
Albania’s Mishela Rapo
If Mishela allowed her already-mature voice to mature even more, ditched the adorable but very childlike Mullet Gown of Multilingual Greetings (© Jaz, 2015) and popped up in Festivali I Këngës with a tropical-pop song sans the repetitiveness of Dambaje, she’d have great shot at representing Albania in the big show. Even more so if Albania loosened their purse strings and gave her some backing dancers (she doesn’t need any backing singers…not visible ones, anyway).
The earliest we’ll see her in the ESC 2017
Belarus’ Ruslan Aslanov
You guys know this kid can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. What can I say? He’s the Vincenzo Cantiello of 2015 (only without a trophy to prove it). At age thirteen, he’s got the vocal chops, stage presence and effortless ability to emote of someone twice his age, and if we assume his voice will have broken by the time he’s sixteen (since it thankfully didn’t on the JESC stage), Belarus would be mad not to force him, at glitter cannon-point, to enter Eurofest.
The earliest we’ll see him in the ESC 2018
Malta’s Destiny Chukunyere
This little list wouldn’t be complete without our winner, who sang all of her competition under the (dinky, child-sized green room) table last weekend. She could also destroy many an adult vocalist despite being three years younger than one must be to participate in the ESC. If it wasn’t for that pesky age rule, Destiny would be the bookies’ top pick to represent her island home in Stockholm, I’m sure.
The earliest we’ll see her in the ESC 2018
Armenia’s Mika
I’ve said it once, and now I’ll say it again – Mika is a star in the making. He has more personality in his four-foot-something self than the entire cohort of Eurovision 2015 competitors (not that they were boring…he’s just that stocked up with the stuff). He’s said he’d be happy to represent Armenia in the adult contest, so all we have to do is sit back and wait three-and-a-half years for him to come of age and for that pink suit to be altered accordingly.
The earliest we’ll see him in the ESC 2019
Slovenia’s Lina Kuduzović
Last but not least, it’s Slovenia’s Got Talent winner Lina, whose voice is so studio perfect live, hearing it raises the same question asked when Federica Falzon launched into Diamonds at JESC 2014 – is this for real? Another thing I love about Lina is how much she seems to enjoy herself when she’s on stage. She’s not a show-off or a try-hard – she just gets up there, sings her heart out and smiles the entire time. We need her to spread some joy at Eurovision (and perhaps score Slovenia another top three placing!).
The earliest we’ll see her in the ESC 2019
So, now I’ve shown you mine, you’re pretty much obligated to show me yours. Count them on one hand, then let me know which JESC 2015 tweens and teens you’d like to see have a bash at Eurovision once they’ve hit the big 1-6!
Considering how insanely talented some of them are now, imagine how phenomenal they’ll be with a few more years of practice…*refuses to due to intense fear of feeling useless and unskilled in comparison to a bunch of teenagers*
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
3 Responses to “FRIDAY FAST FIVE | The JESC 2015 artists who should graduate to the ESC, ASAP!”
Thank you for introducing me to this year’s Junior ESC, Jaz! I probably wouldn’t have watched it, if your blog posts hadn’t been so interesting. I got intrigued 😊!
I was never a big fan of these kiddie contests in the past, but JESC 2015 really was an entertaining and enjoyable show. And Sofia/Bulgaria did a great job, in terms of professionality! Partly, it looked even better than Vienna 2015, what I did not expect here!
It was a great show with some really good songs and also VERY professional live performances! JESC definitely doesn’t need to hide behind the ESC, they are almost on the same level. 😀
But now, here are my Fave Five from this year that I would like to see on the bigger ESC stage some time soon:
5. Mikhail from Russia: I was impressed by that professional live performance AND his vocal abilities on stage, plus he looked really (Italian) stylish in his suit in a classy way, just like a little Marco Mengoni! Maybe we have the next Dima Bilan coming up here for Russia, who knows?!
4. Lena from Serbia: although not everything was perfect in her live vocals, she really looked so cute on stage, her song had great ethnic elements, and I liked her hand paintings! In my Eurovision universe, that looked and sounded MUCH better than, for example, Moje 3 in 2013. Maybe she can return to the big ESC stage with a song from Zeljko or Jelena, that would be awesome! 😃
3. Destiny from Malta: she had the perfect vocals and a real fun song with very positive vibes. It all reminded me on the young ‘Whitney’ in “I wanna dance with somebody”! One saw that she had fun and loved it on stage, without being too theatrical during her performance, it all looked child-like and authentic. And I was wondering if Aretha even had THAT voice at Destiny’s age? 😀
2. Lina from Slovenia: Lina was my perfect whole package in this contest: she had an amazing song, great live vocals and a beautiful stage and dress that fitted her age perfectly! I would love to see her singing a ‘primo amore’ with Vincenco on ESC stage in a few years time. They truly would give a very good duet couple for Italy/Slovenia, wouldn’t they? 😊
And, OF COURSE, this young lady:
1. BELLAAA from Australia: she looked like as if she was already ready for the big ESC stage! IMO, she was amazing, and she had an equally amazing song, she has belt out like a big star. Maybe that all looked and sounded all too grown-up for this contest, but Bella gave everything in her performance and should’ve been in the top 5 on the scoreboard, IMO! And concerning her great pants, they were “U can’t touch this”-adorable, and combined with her “Hammer” song, it was a perfect Australian first timer!
Liked your JESC posts MUCH this year, and I am sure I will return on this topic!
Bye for now and read/see you soon!
Wolfgang 😉
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I’d put Bella Paige and Lena Stamenković up there, too, and you can’t deny Aimee Banks’s talent (even though opera can be a tough sell at Eurovision.)
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I can’t deny it – very true! Had to narrow it down to five, though. Truth be told, I get ridiculously excited when ANY member of JESC alumni makes it to the ESC, so I wouldn’t mind any of the Class of ’15 popping up in years to come ☺
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