• Dates – Final: Saturday, 15 November 2003 – 20:00 CET
• Host – Venue & Location: Forum Copenhagen (Forum København), Copenhagen, 🇩🇰 Denmark
• Presenter (s): Camilla Ottensen, Remee
• Musical Director: —
• Director: Arne J. Rasmussen
• Executive Producer: Preben Vridstoft
• Executive Supervisor: Svante Stockselius
• Multicamera Director: Arne J. Rasmussen
• Host Broadcaster: Danmarks Radio (DR)
• Opening Act – Interval Act: Fu:el and Dance Faction – Busted performing “Crashed the Wedding” & The Sugababes performing “Hole in the Head”.
• Motto: —
• Participants – Number of entries: 16 [🇬🇷 Greece (1ª), 🇭🇷 Croatia (1ª), 🇨🇾 Cyprus (1ª), 🇧🇾 Belarus (1ª), 🇱🇻 Latvia (1ª), 🇲🇰 FYRO Macedonia (1ª), 🇵🇱 Poland (1ª), 🇳🇴 Norway (1ª), 🇪🇸 Spain (1ª), 🇷🇴 Romania (1ª), 🇧🇪 Belgium (1ª), 🇬🇧 United Kindom (1ª), 🇩🇰 Denmark (1ª), 🇸🇪 Sweden (1ª), 🇲🇹 Malta (1ª), 🇳🇱 The Netherlands (1ª)]
• Debuting countries: 16 [🇬🇷 Greece (1ª), 🇭🇷 Croatia (1ª), 🇨🇾 Cyprus (1ª), 🇧🇾 Belarus (1ª), 🇱🇻 Latvia (1ª), 🇲🇰 FYRO Macedonia (1ª), 🇵🇱 Poland (1ª), 🇳🇴 Norway (1ª), 🇪🇸 Spain (1ª), 🇷🇴 Romania (1ª), 🇧🇪 Belgium (1ª), 🇬🇧 United Kindom (1ª), 🇩🇰 Denmark (1ª), 🇸🇪 Sweden (1ª), 🇲🇹 Malta (1ª), 🇳🇱 The Netherlands (1ª)]
• Return: —
• Non-returning countries: —
• Vote – Voting system: 100% televoting (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,12 points). Each country awards 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
• Nil Points: —
• Winning song: “Ti si moja prva ljubav” – Dino Jelušić, 🇭🇷 Croatia (1ª) 

About. The first Junior Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday 15 November 2003.

16 countries competed in total, and, for Belarus, Junior Eurovision 2003 marked the country’s debut in a Eurovision event. Contestants participating in the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest were aged between 8 and 15. Two popular UK bands performed during the interval in 2003; Busted and The Sugababes. 

It was decided that the country that won the contest would not necessarily host the next contest, in order to reduce pressure on contestants. Croatia’s Dino Jelušić won with the song Ti si moja prva ljubav (You Are My First Love). Spain finished second and the United Kingdom came third.

Missed participation

Paesi partecipanti

JESC 2003 Scoreboard Ι Detailed voting results Ι Jurors:

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the inaugural edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 15 November 2003, in Copenhagen, Denmark. With Camilla Ottesen and Remee as the presenters, the contest was won by the then eleven-year-old Dino Jelusić, who represented Croatia with his song “Ti si moja prva ljubav” (You are my first love) while second and third place went to Spain and the United Kingdom respectively. The next time that a country would win on its first attempt was Italy in 2014.

It was the first Eurovision contest to be broadcast in the 16:9 widescreen and high definition, but was also offered to broadcasters in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio. It was also the first Eurovision Song Contest where a DVD of the contest would be released. It was decided that the country that won the contest would not necessarily host the next contest, to reduce the pressure on the contestants. It was announced before the contest took place that the next edition would be held in the United Kingdom (although in the end this did not happen).

Origins and history. The origins of the contest date back to 2000 when Danmarks Radio held a song contest for Danish children that year and the following year. The idea was extended to a Scandinavian song competition in 2002, known as MGP Nordic, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden as participants. The EBU picked up the idea for a song contest featuring children and opened the competition to all EBU member broadcasters making it a pan-European event. The working title of the programme was “Eurovision Song Contest for Children”, branded with the name of the EBU’s long-running and already popular song competition, the Eurovision Song Contest.

Location. Denmark was asked to host the first programme after their experience with their own contests and the MGP Nordic. Copenhagen was confirmed as the host city in November 2002. In January 2003, it was announced that the Danish broadcaster would host the inaugural contest at the 8,000 capacity Forum venue in the Danish capital.

Venue. Forum Copenhagen (Danish: Forum København) is a large multi-purpose, rentable indoor arena located in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark. It hosts a large variety of concerts, markets, exhibitions and other events. The venue can hold up to 10,000 people depending on the event. The Forum operates as a convention center, concert hall and indoor arena.

It was opened in February 1926 to host a car exhibition and was last renovated in 1996–97. Over two storeys there is a combined exhibition floor area of 5,000 m² and a separate restaurant for up to 250 seated guests. The Metro station Forum is adjacent to the building. Forum Copenhagen was designed by Oscar Gundlach-Pedersen, and the lighting was from Poul Henningsen’s brand new PH-lamp. In 1929 it held an architecture exhibition, which was one of the first presentations of functionalism in Denmark, namely the Housing and Building Exhibition in Forum. It was at this exhibition that Arne Jacobsen and Flemming Lassen exhibited their subscription to the cylindrical “House of the Future”.

Participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 (Galleria): 

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Participating countries: In May 2003, the EBU released the initial list of participants with 16 competing countries, in the first edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest In an original press release for the contest, then entitled the “Eurovision Song Contest for Children”, a draw was held to select 15 countries to take part in the inaugural contest, with Slovakian broadcaster Slovenská televízia (STV) and German broadcaster ARD being drawn to compete along with 13 other countries.

These countries would eventually be replaced by entries from Poland, Cyprus (added as 16th country before Germany and Slovakia withdrew) and Belarus, in their first ever Eurovision event. There were also reports that Finnish broadcaster Yle had planned to enter in the contest, but went on to just broadcast it instead.

Prior to the event, a compilation album featuring all the songs from the 2003 contest,^[a] along with karaoke versions, was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Universal Music Group in November 2003.

Participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003^[12]

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)
🇧🇾 Belarus	BTRC	Volha Satsiuk	“Tancuj” (Танцуй)	Belarusian	Katsiaryna Lipouskaya
🇧🇪 Belgium	VRT	X!NK	“De vriendschapsband“	Dutch	Jonas Meukens Thomas Valkiers
🇭🇷 Croatia	HRT	Dino Jelusić	“Ti si moja prva ljubav“	Croatian	Dino Jelusić
🇨🇾 Cyprus	CyBC	Theodora Rafti	“Mia efhi” (Μια ευχή)	Greek	Theodora Rafti
🇩🇰 Denmark	DR	Anne Gadegaard	“Arabiens drøm“	Danish	Anne Gadegaard
🇬🇷 Greece	ERT	Nicolas Ganopoulos	“Fili gia panta” (Φίλοι για πάντα)	Greek	Nicolas Ganopoulos
🇱🇻 Latvia	LTV	Dzintars Čīča	“Tu esi vasarā“	Latvian	Dzintars Čīča
🇲🇰 FYRO Macedonia	MRT	Marija and Viktorija	“Ti ne me poznavaš” (Ти не ме познаваш)	Macedonian	Irena Galabovska
🇲🇹 Malta	PBS	Sarah Harrison	“Like a Star”	English	Sarah Harrison
🇳🇱 The Netherlands	AVRO	Roel	“Mijn ogen zeggen alles“	Dutch	Roel Felius
🇳🇴 Norway	NRK	2U	“Sinnsykt gal forelsket“	Norwegian	Charlot Daysh Kid Joki
🇵🇱 Poland	TVP	Kasia Żurawik	“Coś mnie nosi“	Polish	Katarzyna Żurawik [sv]
🇷🇴 Romania	TVR	Bubu	“Tobele sunt viața mea“	Romanian	Bubu Cernea
🇪🇸 Spain	RTVE	Sergio	“Desde el cielo“	Spanish	Sergio Jesús García
🇸🇪 Sweden	SVT	The Honeypies	“Stoppa mig“	Swedish	Rebecka Laakso
🇬🇧 United Kindom	ITV	Tom Morley	“My Song for the World”	English	Tom Morley

Format. 

Presenters. In February 2003, there was speculation regarding the potential host of the first ever Eurovision Song Contest for Children. Initially, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of the show, announced the possible allocation of this role to Irish vocalist and Eurovision Song Contest 1997 co-host Ronan Keating although no contract had yet been signed. On 10 October 2003, however, it was officially announced that the contest would be hosted by the Danish duo consisting of Camilla Ottesen and rapper Remee.

Voting. All countries used televoting to decide on their top ten. In normal Eurovision fashion, each country’s favourite song was given 12 points, their second favourite 10, and their third to tenth favourites were given 8–1 points.

Postcards. The postcards featured all of the participants (and their backing dancers/singers) exploring different parts of Copenhagen. The postcard’s audio would be an instrumental version of the opening theme. The following list shows the various places they visited:

1. 🇬🇷 Greece – The Tivoli Gardens
2. 🇭🇷 Croatia – Forum Copenhagen
3. 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Royal Danish Theatre
4. 🇧🇾 Belarus – Danish Aquarium (National Aquarium Denmark, Den Blå Planet)
5. 🇱🇻 Latvia – Strøget
6. 🇲🇰 FYRO Macedonia – Copenhagen Lakes
7. 🇵🇱 Poland – A hotel in Copenhagen
8. 🇳🇴 Norway – Hairdressers in Copenhagen
9. 🇪🇸 Spain – Parken (Parken Stadium)
10. 🇷🇴 Romania – Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum 
11. 🇧🇪 Belgium – Copenhagen Skatepark (CPH Skatepark)
12. 🇬🇧 United Kindom – Copenhagen Zoo
13. 🇩🇰 Denmark – A hotdog stand in Copenhagen
14. 🇸🇪 Sweden – The Round Tower
15. 🇲🇹 Malta – A riding school in Copenhagen
16. 🇳🇱 The Netherlands – An internet café in Copenhagen

Contest overview. The event took place on 15 November 2003 at 20:00 CET. Sixteen countries participated, with the running order published on 6 October 2003. All the countries competing were eligible to vote by televote. Croatia won with 134 points, with Spain, the United Kingdom, Belarus, and Denmark, completing the top five. Macedonia, Norway, Cyprus, Sweden, and Poland, occupied the bottom five positions.

The show was opened by Danish boy band Fu:el and dance crew Dance Faction. The interval act included two British acts: the Sugababes performed “Hole in the Head”, while the Busted, with the exception of Charlie Simpson absent due to illness, performed “Crashed the Wedding”.

R/O	Country Broadcaster	Artist	Song – Translate	Language	Processo di selezione	Place	Points
01	🇬🇷 Greece ERT	Nicolas Ganopoulos (Νικόλας Γιαννόπουλος)	“Fili Gia Panta” (Fili yia panta, Φίλοι για πάντα, Friends forever)	Greco	Eurovision Junior 2003, 06-10-2003	08	053
02	🇭🇷 Croatia HRT	Dino (Dino Jelusić, Дино Јелусић)	“Ti si moja prva ljubav” (Ти си моја прва љубав, You are my first love)	Croato	Dječja Pjesma Eurovizije 2003 / Hrvatski izbor za Dječju pjesmu Eurovizije 2003, 07-07-2003	01	134
03	🇨🇾 Cyprus CyBC	Theodora Raftis (Theodora Rafti, (Θεοδώρα Ράφτη)	“Mia Efhi” (Efhi; Μια ευχή; One wish)	Greco	Selezione Interna: artista – 12-09-2003; canzone: 15-09-2003	14	016
04	🇧🇾 Belarus BTRC	Volha Satsiuk (Вольга Сацюк, Кацярына Ліпоўская; Volha Satsiuk, Katsiaryna Lipouskaya)	“Tantsuy” (Tansui, Танцуй, Dance)	Bielorusso	Selezione Interna, 09-10-2003	04	103
05	🇱🇻 Latvia LTV	Dzintars Čīča	“Tu esi vasarā” (You’re in summer)	Lettone	Bērnu Eirovīzija 2003, 08-06-2003	09	37
06	🇲🇰 FYRO Macedonia MKRTV	Marija and Viktorija (Marija Arsovska and Viktorija Loba, Марија Арсова и Викторија Лоба)	“Ti Ne Me Poznavaš” (Ти не ме познаваш, You don’t recognise me)	Macedone	Junior EuroSong 2003, 28-06-2003	12	019
07	🇵🇱 Poland TVP	Kasia Żurawik (Kataryzna Żurawik)	“Coś Mnie Nosi” (Something makes me bustle about)	Polacco	Junior Eurosong / Konkurs Piosenki Eurowizji dla Dzieci 2003, 28-09-2003	16	003
08	🇳🇴 Norway NRK	2U (Charlot Daysh & Joakim Harestad Haukaas)	“Sinnsykt Gal Forelsket” (Crazy in love)	Norvegese	MGP jr. / Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2003, 06-09-2003	13	018
09	🇪🇸 Spain TVE	Sergio (Sergio Jesús García Gil)	“Desde El Cielo” (From heaven)	Spagnolo	Eurojunior 2003, 22-09-2003	02	125
10	🇷🇴 Romania TVR	BUBU (Bubu & Co.: Andrei Mihai Cernea ‘Bubu’ & Co.: Ana Vera, Giulia & Lavinia)	“Tobele sunt viața mea” (Drums are my life)	Rumeno	Selecţia Naţională Eurovision Junior 2003, 06-10-2003	10	035
11	🇧🇪 Belgium VRT	X!NK (Xink: Jonas Meukens, Niels Meukens, Thomas Valkiers en Philip Valkiers)	“De Vriendschapsband” (The bond of friendship)	Olandese	Eurosong for Kids 2003, 22-09-2003	06	083
12	🇬🇧 United Kingsom ITV	Tom Morley	“My Song For The World“	Inglese	Junior Eurovision Song Contest: The British Final 2003, 06-09-2003	03	118
13	🇩🇰 Denmark DR	Anne (Anne Gadegaard, Anne, Anne G, Anne Gadegård)	“Arabiens Drøm” (Arabian dream)	Danese	MGP Junior 2003, 03-05-2003	05	093
14	🇸🇪 Sweden SVT	The Honeypies (Rebecca Laakso och Julia Urbán)	“Stoppa Mig!” (Stop me!)	Svedese	Lilla Melodifestivalen 2003, 04-10-2003	15	012
15	🇲🇹 Malta PBS	Sarah Harrison (SARA)	“Like A Star“		Junior Song For Europe 2003, 28-06-2003	07	056
16	🇳🇱 The Netherlands AVRO	Roel Felius (Roel)	“Mijn Ogen Zeggen Alles“ (My eyes say everything)	Olandese	Junior Songfestival 2003,  20-09-2003	11	023