Tonight the Opening Ceremony for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will take place in Valletta, Malta signalling the start of this years contest.
The venue for the Opening Ceremony and the Running Order Draw for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is the Manoel Theatre, with the event taking place from 18:15 CET and lasting 105 minutes. The Manoel Theatre in Valletta has been in use since 1732, the building is home to Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and is the oldest operating theatre in the Commonwealth. The event tonight is being hosted by Taryn Mamo Cefai.
Running Order Draw:
Junior Eurovision will continue to use a mix random draw and producer input to decide the running order of the contest. Malta as the host country will draw its exact starting position at random. The remaining countries will then draw whether they will perform in the first half or the second half of the show. They will then do a further draw to decided whether they will be in the first or second half of that section of the show. The producers will then decide the exact order based on this information.
The running order will be announced shortly after the end of the Opening Ceremony, once it has been signed off by the Executive Supervisor.
A total of 17 countries are set to compete in the 14th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest this November in Malta. Returning to the contest this year are Cyprus, Israel and Poland. Cyprus last competed in 2014, while Israel made their only appearance to date in 2012, Poland is returning to the contest after 12 years away.
The final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 takes place on November 20 at the Mediterranean Conference Center in Valletta, Malta. This years contest is open to singers aged between 9 and 14 years old.
Watch the Opening Ceremony live on TVM from 18:15 CET here.
