News - Hasselt 2005: ITV releases Junior participants list | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

UK broadcaster ITV have released details about the participants for the national selecition for Junior Eurovision Song Contest. 8 acts will take part in the selection to be held in Manchester on 3rd September. ITV2 will broadcast the show at 18:15 local time with results at 21:15.

The partcipants are: Vicky Gordon (14) - Groovy Chick Vicky has wanted to be a part of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since watching the first show back in 2003 and started writing her song immediately afterwards. She has always been a keen performer and attends regular dance classes and is also a member of her local Theatre Group. She realised it was a lot harder than she had originally thought to write a song, and therefore didn’t manage to enter last year as she still felt her song needed more work. She wanted to write an upbeat song that would get people on the dancefloor (especially the “wallflowers” as she calls them) and she knew the word Groovy had to be a big part of it. She asked 2 girls from her school to be her backing dancers and they were thrilled with the opportunity. When she found out she was on the show she couldn’t stop screaming! Craig Lees (15) - Clear the Air Craig found out about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest through his singing teacher, he immediately thought it would be a great opportunity. He is an only child and lives with his mum and dad (Carol and Phil) and his granddad also plays a huge role in his life. As well as singing he is also a keen musician and plays Guitar, Drums and Keyboard, on this song he plays guitar. He came up with the guitar line first and then developed the lyrics around that. When he’s not working on his music he enjoys mountain bike riding. Lizzie M (13) - Devil in a Hood Elizabeth Massey lives with her mum, dad and younger brother Christopher (aged 8) in Slough. She may look like a quiet girl, but when she gets her electric guitar in her hand and sings she becomes Lizzie M. She got the inspiration for this song from Christopher, she needed some ideas and he pointed to the logo of the devil on the front of his hooded top he was wearing, she imagined the devil was anger people felt and the hood was the way they cover it and “Devil in a Hood” was written 10 minutes afterwards. Please note: due to EU restrictions the name of this song may need to be changed! Sarah Robertson (15) - In My Life Sarah Robertson is not just a pretty face, she has been singing from the age of 9 and can also play the piano and has been playing the cello since the age of 3, this might’ve been encouraged by her mum who is a cello teacher. “In My Life” is the only song she has written and she wrote it especially for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as soon as she found out about it. She is a big Christina Aguilera fan, and favourite song is “The Voice Within”, although she doesn’t admire her dress sense as much! Joni Fuller (13) - How Does it Feel Joni wanted to enter the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as soon as she heard about it through her music teacher, she thought it would be a fantastic opportunity and she would love to represent the UK in Belgium. Although she is only 13 her influences and favourite music artistes include The Rolling Stones and Prince. Not only is she a fantastic songwriter, singer and musician (she can also play the Violin – which she plays on this song, and Piano) she is also a keen scientist and was recently awarded the top science award at her school. A prize she accepted gratefully, but was slightly embarrassed too as she says it makes her feel like a geek! Jack Garratt (13) - The Girl Jack plays the acoustic, electric and bass guitars, drums, trombone, mandolin and can play the piano! His musical heroes include Rufus Wainwright, Funeral for a Friend and Bright Eyes and he loves Green Day. Jack’s song “The Girl” is about a guy who finds a beautiful girl and falls in love with her at a glance. Jack is into basketball, hip hop and street dance and he goes to drama workshops. Jack went straight from his audition for Junior Eurovision to be an extra in the new Woody Allen film. Jessica Stretton (14) - About You Jessica loves Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and Gabrielle and has been learning to play the guitar for a couple of months. She has been singing since the age of 8. Jessica’s music teacher at school told her about Junior Eurovision and suggested she entered the competition when she heard Jessica’s song “About You”. Jessica appeared on Stars in their Eyes a couple of years ago. Ben Smith (15) - Lovely Ben loves rock music and his favourite bands include Queen, Green Day, Coldplay, The Killers, The Kinks, Razorlight, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and The Eagles. His current favourites are Keane and James Blunt. Ben plays the guitar on his track ”Lovely” which is about a girl at school! He has also taught himself to play the piano. When Ben leaves school, he would like to do a music degree or go to Europe's premier fame academy, Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). (STAND BY PARTICIPANT) April Bonas (15) - In My Dreams April is a classical soprano and her inspiration includes Katie Melua and Alanis Morissette. April has taken first places in solo and duets in the Leicestershire Music & Warwickshire Performing Arts Festivals over the last 3 years. It only took April half a day to write her song “In My Dreams”. April gets her inspiration whilst sitting outdoors. She has recently finished playing a leading role in a local youth theatre’s production of ‘Summer Holiday’. In 2003, Tom Morley represented the UK in the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Copenhagen. His song My song for the world ended 3rd. In 2004, Cory Spedding travelled to Lillehammer, Norway and placed second with her song The best is yet to come.