The broadcasters of four out of five Nordic countries have confirmed that they will not participate in Junior Eurovision 2026.
NRK (Norway), Yle (Finland), DR (Denmark), and SVT (Sweden) have all confirmed to Eurofestivales that the relative countries will not come back to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
🇳🇴 Norway
NRK confirmed that they would not return to the contest without a selection format in place. NRK previously held MGPjr annually before cancelling the show in 2022:
There will also be no Junior Eurovision national final in 2026. The coming years have not yet been decided, but it is very likely that the contest will not return in the next few years.
Joakim Veder, Director of Children’s Content Strategy at NRK
Norway last participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, when Malin Reitan came third with “Sommer og skolefri”, Norway’s best result in the contest. Norway was one of the original 16 countries to take part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and hosted the 2004 contest in Lillehammer. Norway also took part in MGP Nordic alongside Denmark, Sweden and Finland in 2002 and from 2006 to 2009.
🇫🇮 Finland
Yle has confirmed that Finland will not debut in Junior Eurovision 2026, as confirmed to Eurofestivales by Markku Mastomäki, Head of Children’s Programmes.
This might be due to economic and budget reasons, as Mastomäki stated in 2024 that the reason for the country’s absence from the children’s contest was mainly financial.
Finland has not shown a clear interest in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since the first edition in 2003. In 2003, Yle was one of a number of non-participating countries to broadcast the first contest, but has not participated in the contest yet. However, Yle was a former participant in MGP Nordic, a children’s contest for Nordic broadcasters held during the 2000s. Up until 2021, its Swedish-language channel organised an annual song contest for children, MGP.
🇩🇰 Denmark
DR, the Danish public broadcaster, has confirmed that Denmark will not be back to the competition in 2026, as the Head of the Children’s Department at DR said to ESCSpot.
At DR, our main priority in terms of children’s music content remains our national production MGP, which we consider to be a solid and well-established platform, specifically tailored to Danish children and their everyday lives.
While we are constantly evaluating our participation in international projects, DR has no plans to return to Junior Eurovision in 2026.Marlene Boel, Head of the Children’s Department at DR
Anne Gadegaard, representing Denmark at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Denmark took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest from 2003 to 2005, and hosted the first edition of the contest in the Danish capital Copenhagen. The country never finished outside of the top five. Their best result came in 2005, when Nicolai Kielstrup performed “Shake Shake Shake”. He finished in 4th place with 121 points.
🇸🇪 Sweden
The Swedish broadcaster SVT too has ruled out their participation in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
In 2024, there had been speculation that SVT could return to the competition after launching a children’s contest based on Melodifestivalen, Hello Mello. The competition was open to children between 13 and 15 and was broadcast on Sunday evenings. The winner won the right to perform at Melodifestivalen.
Sweden took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest from 2003 to 2014, only missing out on the 2008 edition of the competition. Swedish participation was organised by SVT from 2003 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2014, while the other entries were managed by TV4. TV4 is, however, no longer a part of the EBU, which leaves a potential Swedish return to Junior Eurovision in the hands of SVT.
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Lou Deleuze won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Tbilisi for France with “Ce monde”. She scored 248 points, giving France their fourth victory in history and tying them with Georgia for the most wins overall. However, France declined to host the 2026 contest. As a result, a bidding process is likely to take place.
To date the following broadcasters have confirmed their intention to compete in the 2026 contest:
RTVSLO of Slovenia and S4C of Wales have declined returning to the competition.
Image source: Corinne Cumming/EBU | Source: Eurofestivales