13-year-old Lissandro representing France has won the 2022 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, giving his country its 2nd win in 3 years.

Lissandro stunned the millions watching around the world on TV and online with an incredible performance of "Oh Maman!"*, finishing with an impressive 203 points.

France first took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and has finished in the Top 3 four times.

Lissandro is from the small village of Moselle in east France.

He sings in 5 languages, is a professional cartoon dubber, and has a love of all things rock and pop, from Elvis Presley, to the American crooners, through to Bruno Mars.

He described taking part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as the 'adventure of a lifetime'.

Barbara Pravi, one of the writers of “Oh Maman!” also wrote France’s winning song “Imagine” in 2020 and came 2nd for France in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest.

Nare from Armenia, received 180 points to finish in 2nd place with “Dance!”. Georgia's Mariam Bigvava singing "I Believe” was 3rd with 161 points.

EBU Members and Associates from 16 different countries took part in the annual competition for talented youngsters aged 9 to 14.

SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY SHOW

The 20th anniversary edition was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and hosted by Armenian Public Television (AMPTV) with all artists performing live on stage at the 6,000 capacity Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex in Yerevan.

11 former winners of the competition took to the stage to sing a medley of their triumphant songs together with a local children’s choir.

Armenia’s Eurovision Song Contest 2022 entrant Rosa Linn also returned to perform “Snap”, now the second most streamed Eurovision song of all time. 

MILLIONS OF VOTES

Viewers in the 16 participating countries and a further 162 nations helped decide the winner by voting online. 

Juries made up of three industry experts and two children from each participating country provided 50% of the scores.

Millions of valid votes were received in the online poll which was split into two rounds; one before the show based on preview clips and a second that opened after the last live performance, allowing viewers to cast their votes based on what they saw on stage.

This year’s show was hosted by two Armenian former Junior Eurovision and Eurovision Song Contest artists, Karina Ignatyan and Iveta Mukuchyan who represented their country in 2019 and 2016 respectively. They were joined by local TV host Garik Papoyan and Robin the Robot, an Armenian invented AI robot which provides emotional support to hospitalized children. 

The colourful show also saw performances from last year’s winner Malena and began with all the competing artists performing the theme song of this year’s event “Share The Magic”. 

"PASSION AND HEART"

Martin Österdahl, the Contest’s Executive Supervisor, said “We have received the most incredible hospitality from the team at AMPTV and would like to thank them for creating such a special show for the 20th anniversary of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and ensuring this has been a wonderful experience for us all. It truly has been a magical time for our team, our 16 delegations and the millions watching around the world.

We extend our warmest congratulations to the 20th winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Lissandro who gave a standout performance of “Oh Maman” and to all the great, confident young artists who sparkled on stage, made friends for life and represented their countries with passion and with heart.

The dedication, kindness and hard work of the production team and all the delegations who came to Yerevan made this Contest truly the most memorable yet.”

David Tserunyan, Executive Producer of the Contest for AMPTV added: “It was an honour to host the 20th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Armenia! Our team worked tirelessly for almost a year to bring the magic to life and I want to thank them for their love and passion for the contest. On behalf of Armenian Public Television I would like to congratulate Lissandro for his incredible win and say thank you to all of the 16 participating broadcasters!”

The host broadcaster for the 21st Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 will be announced in the coming months.

The full show can be streamed on demand on the official YouTube channel.

Catch up with all the backstage fun on our social media channels @JuniorEurovision on TikTok. @EurovisionJr on Twitter, @junioreurovisionofficial on Instagram and Junior Eurovision Song Contest on Facebook.

*Written and composed by Frederic Chateau and Barbara Pravi