Maria has been announced as the winner of Junior Songfestival 2026. Her song โStronger Togetherโ earned her the top prize in the national final, giving her the opportunity to represent the Netherlands at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Ta’ Qali.
Maria’s Junior Songfestival victory
The final of Junior Songfestival took place at the RTM Stage in Rotterdam, where Maria competed against three other acts. Performances were judged through a combination of votes from a professional jury (Numidia, Kris Kross Amsterdam and Berget Lewis), a children’s jury (Meadow and Level Up, who participated in Junior Songfestival last year), and the audience.
Maria won by a very small margin, with only 3 points separating her from the 4th place. The results are as follows:
| Artist | Song | Professional Jury | Children’s Jury | Public Vote | Total | Position |
| Maria | “Stronger Together” | 12 | 10 | 9 | 31 | 1st |
| The Crossovers | “Crossovers” | 8 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 2nd |
| Vajรจn | “Here I Am” | 9 | 12 | 8 | 29 | 3rd |
| Nolan | “Crush” | 10 | 8 | 10 | 28 | 4th |
Junior Eurovision 2026 begins to take shape
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is due to take place at 21.00 CEST, on Saturday 24 October, live from the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Ta’ Qali. Malta’s broadcaster PBS are hosting the contest for the third time, having done so previously in 2014 and 2016.
The full list of the 16 competing broadcasters is as follows:
- ๐ฆ๐ฑ RTSH (Albania) – Eslin Kurti – “Kรซrce me mua”
- ๐ฆ๐ฒ AMPTV (Armenia)
- ๐จ๐พ CyBC (Cyprus) – Harry Georgiou
- ๐ซ๐ท France Tรฉlรฉvisions (France) – Alec
- ๐ฌ๐ช GPB (Georgia) – Davit Lomidze – “Sun on the Rooftops“
- ๐ฎ๐ช TG4 (Ireland)
- ๐ฎ๐น Rai (Italy) – Matteo – “Che cos’รจ l’amore?”
- ๐ฒ๐น PBS (Malta – host) – Beppe Caruana
- ๐ฒ๐ช RTCG (Montenegro) – Mija Mujoviฤ – “Muzika Nas Spaja”
- ๐ณ๐ฑ AVROTROS (Netherlands) – Maria – “Stronger Together”
- ๐ฒ๐ฐ MKRTV (North Macedonia) – Ana Stojanoska – “Idnata jas”
- ๐ต๐ฑ TVP (Poland) – Wiktor Sas – “Gravity”
- ๐ต๐น RTP (Portugal) – Salvador Rio
- ๐ธ๐ฒ SMRTV (San Marino) – Violamarie
- ๐ช๐ธ RTVE (Spain) – Lucas Paulano – “Cuore Bello (Te Quiero, Te Quiero)”
- ๐บ๐ฆ Suspilne (Ukraine)
The Netherlands’ Junior Eurovision journey
The Netherlands has participated in every edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since its inception, first taking part in 2003. The country’s first entry came in the form of Roel, singing “Mijn ogen zeggen alles”. At the close of voting, the Netherlands finished in 11th place, earning 23 points. Since then, the Netherlands have taken part in another 19 times, earning one victory in 2009 with Ralf Mackenbach singing “Click-Clack”.
In 2025, Meadow represented the Netherlands in Tbilisi. Her song “Freeze” received 47 points from the jury and 46 from the televote, placing 10th overall.
What do you think of Maria’s song? Do you like “Stronger Together”? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow โThat Eurovision Siteโ on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Junior Eurovision 2026!
News source: AVROTROS