Final 9 June 2017 Presenter(s) TBA Host broadcaster TBA | Venue TBA Executive supervisor TBA Number of entries 6 (to date) | |
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The Eurovision Young Dancers 2017 will be the fifteenth edition of the Eurovision Young Dancers competition. The final was scheduled to be held at the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta on 9 June 2017, however the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced on 23 January 2017 that the event would no longer be held in Malta. This would have been the third time that the Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), would have organised a Eurovision event, the first two being the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 and 2016. The event is aimed at young dancers aged between 16 and 21, competing in modern dances, be it solo or in couples, as long as they were not professionally engaged. Six countries have so far confirmed their interests in participating in the event.
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Location
On 7 July 2015, the Maltese city of Valletta, was selected as the host city for the 2017 edition of the biennial Eurovision Young Dancers. The reasons behind this decision was to coincide the Young Dancers event alongside the European Capital of Culture, of which the city will be the organisers of a series of cultural events in 2018, all with a strong European dimension. The contest is scheduled to take place on 9 June 2017, with the Mediterranean Conference Centre originally proposed as the venue. However, on 19 November 2016 it was reported that the host broadcaster PBS were planning to host the contest in the open-air. It was announced on Christmas Eve 2016 that the event would take place at the Grand Harbour.
In January 2017, the EBU annouced that Maltese broadcaster PBS, who agreed to host the event in July 2015, had due to circumstances beyond their control been forced to cancel their staging of the competition. The EBU also stated they were looking for another host broadcaster but should one not be found in time the competition would not take place this year and was expected to return in 2019.
Hosting selection
Whereas the winning country at the Eurovision Song Contest goes on to host the following year's event, this method is not the case when it comes to the decision of selecting the hosts for the Eurovision Young Dancers. The event's Steering Group, conduct a meeting in which they discuss the countries who submitted an application to host the event, and make their final decision thereafter.
Format
The format consisted of dancers who were non-professional and between the ages of 16–21, competing in a performance of dance routines of their choice, which they had prepared in advance of the competition. All of the acts then took part in a choreographed group dance during 'Young Dancers Week'.
Jury panel
Jury members of a professional aspect and representing the elements of ballet, contemporary, and modern dancing styles, score each of the competing individual and group dance routines. Once all the jury votes have been counted, the two participants which received the highest total of points progress to a final round. The final round will involve a 90-second 'dual', were each of the finalists perform a 45-second random dance-off routine. The overall winner upon completion of the final dances will be chosen by the professional jury members.
Provisional list of participants
The following countries have expressed their provisional interest in participating in the 2017 event.
Other countries
For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the Eurovision Young Dancers, it needs to be an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU issued an invitation of participation for the 2015 Contest to all 56 active members. Five countries had confirmed their participation so far.