On Sunday 24 November, 19 countries will compete via the medium of song for the Junior Eurovision 2019 crown. However, unlike its sister contest in May, fans can vote for their favourites in advance. Here’s how!

Voting Online in Junior Eurovision 2019

Whether you’re cuddling penguins in Antarctica or running with lions on the African savannas, you can vote in Junior Eurovision 2019. Voting is open to anyone in the world, once you have an internet connection and a device capable of logging on.

To do so, fans must visit the official Junior Eurovision website — junioreurovision.tv. Once there, users can vote for their favourites, but only after they have watched previews of all 19 competing entries. This footage will come from the second rehearsals taking place on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 November.

Upon completing the recap, viewers can vote for 3, 4 or 5 acts. No geographic restrictions apply, so fans can vote for their own country if they so desire.

But when can you vote?

Junior Eurovision 2019 Online Vote: Phase 1 — Friday 22 November

The first phase of voting begins at 20:00 CET on Friday 22 November. This round of voting will remain open throughout Saturday, closing at 15:59 CET on Sunday 24 November — just before the contest’s opening credits roll.

Junior Eurovision 2019 Online Vote: Phase 2 — Sunday 24 November

The second round of voting takes place during the live broadcast. The window will open after the last country, Serbia, has performed. Phase two will last for approximately 15 minutes.

You can vote a total of two times — once during Phase 1 and again during Phase 2.

How the final result is calculated

The online vote will make up 100% of the public vote — it’s not possible to vote by phone or SMS.

As with Eurovision, the public decides 50% of the points with the remaining scores coming from jury panels in each country. The JESC 2019 juries will include three music industry professionals and two children aged ten to 15. They’ll dish out a total of 1,102 points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 points times 19 participating countries).

The audience will also have 1,102 points to allocate. However, the distribution will be based on the percentage of points received. The official Junior Eurovision 2019 Media Briefing document gives the following example:

If a song receives 20% of the votes, then it receives 20% of the available points (20% of 1,102 points = 220 points).

A History of Online Voting at Junior Eurovision

The online vote was first introduced at Junior Eurovision 2017. Then the public rowed behind the Netherlands, only ranking the overall winner Russia sixth.

One year later, the tables were turned. In 2018, the jury scores were wiped away by the public, with Poland, France and Kazakhstan hoovering up points. The former two ended up taking the gold and silver positions.

Prior to the arrival of online voting, there had almost always been some form of televote since the contest first took place in 2003. The only exception was in 2016 when the result was solely determined by a variety of jury types.

What do you think of the system? And what countries will get your vote? Let us know in the comments below.

Follow all of our Junior Eurovision 2019 news.