A Dutch girl, singing in Italian, in Armenia… welcome to Junior Eurovision!

Luna Sabella by Corinne Cumming-EBU
Luna Sabella by Corinne Cumming-EBU

Surrounded by her dancers/friends preparing for the eponymous festa, Luna beams down the camera, instantly connecting with the audience at home. As the dancers join her front and centre and start bopping around, you can’t help but smile. This jaunty little number is a cracking opener for Yerevan 2022!

Stylistically, the magenta and shades of green compliment each other well, it sets the mood for the evening fantastically which can make or break a contest – and let’s face it, it’s slightly more child-friendly way of saying “Yerevan, are you ready to party?!?”. The staging is all very slick and well thought-out, fitting the feel and mood of the song perfectly. This could do very well for the Netherlands. Yes, I do agree with Mr Phil that it’s teetering on being over-produced, but as fine a line as that is to walk I think the Dutch delegation are managing it. And of course, Luna is a firecracker of a performer!

Bonus thought: A couple of decades ago, a Dutch child, singing in Italian, performing in Armenia would have been unthinkable. Today, it’s just the face of modern Europe and we all take it as a completely normal thing for cultures to meet and merge like this. I could wax lyrical about the “oh the children, brave new world, wasn’t like this when I was growing up,” but you don’t want to read it and it’s a little early for me to muse so philosophically (my computer clock says 6AM, so even though it’s actually 10AM here, my brain keeps thinking it’s much earlier!!) – all I will say is that this is one of the many reasons I love this contest!!