Wales in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Wales | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Artist: Chwilio am Seren Song: Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) | Auditions: 18–25 September 2018 2 October 2018 Final: 9 October 2018 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Manw | |||
| Selected song | "Perta" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Ywain Gwynedd | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 20th (last), 29 points | |||
| Wales in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Wales debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 held in Minsk, Belarus on 25 November 2018. The Welsh broadcaster S4C was responsible for organising their debut entry for the contest. Manw was selected through Chwilio am Seren to represent Wales, winning the televised national final on 9 October at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno.[1] The winning song, "Hi yw y Berta", was chosen internally and written by Ywain Gwynedd.[2]
Background
[edit]Wales announced on 9 May 2018 that they would debut at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 to be held in Minsk, Belarus. Welsh broadcaster S4C is responsible for the country's participation in the contest.[3] A televised national selection process, Chwilio am Seren (English: Search for a Star), was held to select the Welsh entry.[4]
Wales previously took part in the contest as part of the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2005, with ITV being responsible for their participation. S4C had also shown interest in participating in the 2008 contest, but in the end decided against participating.[5]
Before Junior Eurovision
[edit]Chwilio am Seren
[edit]Chwilio am Seren (Search for a Star) was the national selection process that was used to select the 2018 entrant. Auditions took place at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Aberystwyth Arts Centre and at Cardiff's Wales Millennium Centre during June 2018 with mentors Connie Fisher, Stifyn Parri 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 on Saturday afternoons.
The first two shows covered the nationwide auditions. Following a masterclass round at Llandaff's Memorial Hall (part of The Cathedral School), the final twenty singers were whittled 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.[6]
- Table key
- Participant who was selected to progress to the national final
| Draw | Artist[7] | Song (performed in Welsh) | Mentor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lily Mai Duncan | "Rise like a Phoenix" | Fisher |
| 2 | Tiah | "Symphony" | Parri |
| 3 | Emma Kennedy | "Bwgi" | Bethan |
| 4 | Iestyn Gwin Jones | "Byw Fel Brenin" | Bethan |
| 5 | Amelia Francis | "Calon" | Fisher |
| 6 | Gracie Jayne Fitzgerald | "You're My World" | Parri |
| 7 | Manw Lili Robin | "Ysbryd Efnisien" | Bethan |
| 8 | Ella Georgia Thomas | "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" | Fisher |
| 9 | Manon | "What About Us" | Parri |
| 10 | Misha Parry | TBC (by Alys Williams) | Bethan |
| 11 | Lauren Price | "Hold My Hand" | Parri |
| 12 | Lauren Mia Jones | "The Voice Within" | Fisher |
National final
[edit]The national final took place in Llandudno's Venue Cymru on 9 October 2018, 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. The three mentors, Fisher, Parri 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 (folk ballad, funky pop, piano ballad) of the official Welsh entry "Hi yw y Berta", written by Ywain Gwynedd. The televote alone selected the winner from the second round, this being Manw.[1]
The national final opened with a performance by the six finalists, performing a Welsh version of the anthem of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017, "Shine Bright". During the televote window, a summary of the various winners of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast.
| Draw | Artist | Song (original artists) | Stars | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ella Georgia Thomas | "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) | 
|
1 | Superfinalist |
| 2 | Gracie-Jayne Fitzgerald | "Rhywbeth o'i le" (Huw Chiswell) | 
|
4 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Lily Mai Duncan | "Adre" (Caryl Parry Jones) |
|
3 | Superfinalist |
| 4 | Manw Lili Robin | "Fy nghariad gwyn" (Ywain Gwynedd) |
|
2 | Superfinalist |
| 5 | Lauren Mia Jones | "Angel" (Elin Fflur) |
|
6 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Misha Parry | "O Gymru" (Rhys Jones (m.), Leslie Harris (l.)) |
|
4 | Eliminated |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artist | Aberystwyth | Llandudno | Cardiff | London | Carmarthen | Total |
| Ella Georgia Thomas | X | X | X | X | 4 | |
| Gracie-Jayne Fitzgerald | X | X | 2 | |||
| Lily Mai Duncan | X | X | X | 3 | ||
| Manw Lili Robin | X | X | X | X | 4 | |
| Lauren Mia Jones | 0 | |||||
| Misha Parry | X | X | 2 | |||
| Draw | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manw Lili Robin | "Hi yw y Berta" |
| 2 | Ella Georgia Tomas | "Hi yw y Berta" |
| 3 | Lily Mai Duncan | "Hi yw y Berta" |
Ratings
[edit]| Show | Date | Viewers (in thousands) |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 18 September 2018 | 19 | [8] |
| Auditions 2 | 25 September 2018 | 16 | [9] |
| Top 12 | 2 October 2018 | 18 | [10] |
| Final | 9 October 2018 | 22 | [11] |
Artist and song information
[edit]Manw
[edit]Manw | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Manw Lili Robin |
| Born | 2004 (age 19–20) Rhosgadfan, Gwynedd, North Wales, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2014–present |
Manw Lili Robin[12] (born circa 2004) is a Welsh singer from Rhosgadfan in Gwynedd, North Wales. She represented Wales at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Perta".[13]
She performed at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and Urdd National Eisteddfod a number of times, most recently in 2017,[14][15] and attends Ysgol Glanaethwy in Bangor. In 2014, Manw played the part of Awen in the Welsh version of the animated film, The Secret of Kells (Cyfrinach Llyfr Kells) which was broadcast on S4C on 24 May.[16] In 2015, Manw was a member of the Welsh choir Cor Glanaethwy, who reached the live finals of Britain's Got Talent.
On 23 November, S4C broadcast a 30-minute documentary Manw yn Minsk, which followed her journey to the contest.[17]
Perta
[edit]| "Perta" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) | Manw Lili Robin |
| As | Manw |
| Language | |
| Composer(s) | Ywain Gwynedd, Ifan Siôn Davies, Richard James Hooson Roberts[18] |
| Lyricist(s) | Ywain Gwynedd |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 20th |
| Final points | 29 |
| Entry chronology | |
| "Calon yn Curo" (2019) ► | |
"Perta" (originally called "Hi yw y Berta", later "Berta") is a song performed by Welsh singer Manw. It represented Wales at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The song underwent a revamp ahead of the contest in Minsk,[19] with the official music video released on 16 October.[20] Ywain Gwynedd stated in an interview that the lyrics were written with a focus on sounding nice to non-Welsh speakers, with a repetitive chorus that was easy for viewers to sing along to. The song finished in 20th place with 29 points.[21]
At Junior Eurovision
[edit]During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 19 November 2018, Wales was drawn to perform eighteenth on 25 November 2018, following Armenia and preceding Malta.
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.[22][23] It was the joint 14th most watched show that week on S4C with 23,000 viewers.[24]
Voting
[edit]The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition was used, where the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten.[25]
The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 23 November 2018 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on 25 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for a minimum of three and a maximum of five songs.[26] They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points. In the contest, Wales received no points from the professional juries; they received 29 points from the online vote.[27]
| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points |  Australia
|
| 10 points |  Georgia
|
| 8 points |  Malta
|
| 7 points |  Russia
|
| 6 points |  Poland
|
| 5 points |  Ukraine
|
| 4 points |  Macedonia
|
| 3 points |  Azerbaijan
|
| 2 points |  Albania
|
| 1 point |  Netherlands
|
Detailed voting results
[edit]| Draw | Country | Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Average Rank | Points Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ukraine
|
6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 5 |
| 02 |  Portugal
|
10 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 16 | 13 | |
| 03 |  Kazakhstan
|
18 | 9 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | |
| 04 | Albania
|
7 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 2 |
| 05 | Russia
|
2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 06 | Netherlands
|
8 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| 07 | Azerbaijan
|
9 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| 08 |  Belarus
|
17 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 10 | 16 | |
| 09 |  Ireland
|
12 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 15 | |
| 10 |  Serbia
|
14 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 14 | |
| 11 |  Italy
|
16 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 12 | |
| 12 | Australia
|
1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 13 | Georgia
|
3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 14 |  Israel
|
11 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 19 | 18 | |
| 15 |  France
|
15 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | |
| 16 | Macedonia
|
13 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| 17 |  Armenia
|
19 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 19 | |
| 18 | Wales
|
|||||||
| 19 | Malta
|
4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 20 | Poland
|
5 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Granger, Anthony (9 October 2018). "Wales: Manw to Junior Eurovision 2018". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Manw is the winner of Chwilio am Seren Junior Eurovision". S4C Press. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Chwilio am Seren". junioreurovision.cymru. S4C. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (9 May 2018). "Wales: Debuts in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ Kuipers, Michael (20 April 2008). "Junior Eurovision 2008: United Kingdom to return to JESC?". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ "Eurovision Junior PAYS DE GALLES JUNIOR 2018: Les 6 Finalistes de Chwilio Am Seren". Eurovision-fr.net. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Wales: Chwilio am Seren Finalists Revealed". Eurovoix. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Viewing Figures - Week Ending - 2018-09-23". www.s4c.cymru.
- ^ "Viewing Figures - Week Ending - 2018-09-30". www.s4c.cymru.
- ^ "Viewing Figures - Week Ending - 2018-10-07". www.s4c.cymru.
- ^ "Viewing Figures - Week Ending - 2018-10-14". www.s4c.cymru.
- ^ "Eurovision Junior PAYS DE GALLES JUNIOR 2018: Manw à Minsk". Eurovision-fr.net. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Junior Eurovision: Manw i gynrychioli Cymru". BBC. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Monolog i rai 12–16 oed (117) / Monologue 12–16 yrs (117)". BBC. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Results – 7 August – National Eisteddfod". eisteddfod.wales. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "An Irish adventure sparks a new Welsh film – S4C Caban". s4c.cymru. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (22 November 2018). "Wales: S4C To Broadcast Documentary About Manw's Junior Eurovision Journey". Eurovoix. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Manw - Wales - Minsk 2018 - Junior Eurovision Song Contest — France 2021". Junioreurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Wales: "Hi yw y Berta" to Undergo Revamp". Eurovoix. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Wales: "Berta" Official Music Video Released". Eurovoix. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
- ^ Bissett, Daniel (17 November 2018). "Perta - the story behind the Junior Eurovison song". North Wales Live. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Herbert, Emily (22 November 2018). "Wales: Trystan Ellis-Morris to Commentate on Junior Eurovision 2018". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ "Viewing Figures - Week Ending 2018-11-25". www.s4c.cymru. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (15 November 2018). "Junior Eurovision 2018 – How Does The Voting Work?". Eurovoix.
- ^ "Junior Eurovision fans: Cast your vote online!". Junioreurovision.tv. 23 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Results of the Final of Minsk 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
