Junior Eurovision 2023 is drawing ever nearer, and That Eurovision Site has been lucky enough to interview some of the contestants. Tim had the opportunity to chat with Júlia Machado, who is representing Portugal with her song “Where I Belong”.
Check out our interview with Júlia Machado here!
Together, they talked about her musical inspirations, the experience of representing Portugal and Portuguese communities worldwide, her experiences of recording the song, and what she learned from participating in The Voice Kids.
Who is Júlia Machado?
Machado was announced to represent Portugal in Nice on June 25th, following her victory on Portugal’s edition of The Voice Kids. Her song “Where I Belong” was released in early October and was written by Aurora Pinto, Fernando Daniel, Twins, and João Direitinho. Twins and Fernando Daniel both have previous Eurovision songwriting experience under their belt, and Fernando Daniel was also Machado’s mentor on The Voice Kids.
Portugal’s Junior Eurovision journey
Portugal first took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, with Pedro Madeira singing his song “Deixa-me sentir”. At the close of voting, Portugal finished 14th in a field of 15 participants with a total of 22 points. Portugal participated once more in 2007, before taking a 10 year break and returning to the Contest in 2017. Since then, Portugal has participated a total of seven times.
Portugal’s most recent participation came in 2022 when Nicolas Alves represented the nation in Paris with song “Anos 70”. Once the combined scores were revealed, Portugal finished in 8th place with 121 points. This is currently Portugal’s best result at the Junior Contest, with 70 points coming from the online vote, whilst the remaining 51 came from professional juries.
What do you think about “Where I Belong”? Are you excited for Portugal’s participation at this year’s Junior Eurovision? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Junior Eurovision 2023!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
That Eurovision Site