Australia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Australia participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 which took place on 25 November 2017, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Australian broadcaster ABC is responsible for choosing their entry for the contest. Isabella Clarke was internally selected to represent Australia in Georgia. Her song for the contest, "Speak Up", was revealed on 7 October 2017.
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Australia had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice since its debut in, with the song "My Girls" performed by Bella Paige. In, Alexa Curtis represented Australia with the song "We Are", achieving fifth place.
On 10 September 2017, it was announced that Isabella Clarke had been internally chosen by the broadcaster to represent Australia. Isabella's song "Speak Up" was revealed on 7 October 2017.
Artist and song information
Isabella Clarke
Isabella Clarke is an Australian singer who represented Australia at the Junior Eurovision song contest with the song "Speak Up". She started singing when she was nine. The last 2 years she has performed at The Victorian State Schools Spectacular in Australia
At Junior Eurovision
During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 20 November 2017, Australia was drawn to perform fifteenth on 26 November 2017, following Serbia and preceding Italy.
Voting
The results of the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by national juries and an online audience vote. Every country will have a national jury that will consist of three music industry professionals and two kids aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury will be asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The first phase of the online voting will start on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances will be shown on junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting will stop on Sunday, 26 November, at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and will start right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers can vote for a minimum of three countries and a maximum of five. They can also vote for their own country's song. These votes will then be turned into points. The number of points will be determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 20% of the votes, thus it will receive 20% of the available points. The public vote will count for 50% of the final result, while the other 50% will come from the professional juries.
