BBC Alba has confirmed that talks have taken place that could enable participation in Junior Eurovision 2020.
Speaking to ESC Takeover, BBC Alba has confirmed it will not be participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The broadcaster will be taking part in their debut Eurovision event in August, taking Scotland to Eurovision Choir in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The broadcaster will take learning’s from their first Eurovision event and then look at potentially taking part in Junior Eurovision. BBC Alba confirmed that talks have taken place with the EBU, but that nothing had been agreed.
Should BBC Alba decide to participate in Junior Eurovision 2020, they would be following in the footsteps of the Welsh broadcaster S4C. S4C debuted in Eurovision Choir of the Year in 2017, before going on to make their debut appearance in Junior Eurovision in 2018.
The 2019 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held on Sunday 24th November in Gliwice, Poland. To date, 18 countries have expressed their interest in participating in the contest:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Australia
- Belarus
- France
- Georgia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Malta
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Wales
The following nations have confirmed that they will not be participating in Poland:
- Croatia
- Latvia
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
- Cyprus
- Israel
- Greece
Source: Eurovision Takeover