Maria has been announced as the winner of Junior Songfestival 2026. Her song “Stronger Together” 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 |
| Vajèn | “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:
- 🇦🇱 RTSH (Albania) – Eslin Kurti – “Kërce me mua”
- 🇦🇲 AMPTV (Armenia)
- 🇨🇾 CyBC (Cyprus) – Harry Georgiou
- 🇫🇷 France Télévisions (France) – Alec
- 🇬🇪 GPB (Georgia) – Davit Lomidze – “Sun on the Rooftops“
- 🇮🇪 TG4 (Ireland)
- 🇮🇹 Rai (Italy) – Matteo – “Che cos’è l’amore?”
- 🇲🇹 PBS (Malta – host) – Beppe Caruana
- 🇲🇪 RTCG (Montenegro) – Mija Mujović – “Muzika Nas Spaja”
- 🇳🇱 AVROTROS (Netherlands) – Maria – “Stronger Together”
- 🇲🇰 MKRTV (North Macedonia) – Ana Stojanoska – “Idnata jas”
- 🇵🇱 TVP (Poland) – Wiktor Sas – “Gravity”
- 🇵🇹 RTP (Portugal) – Salvador Rio
- 🇸🇲 SMRTV (San Marino) – Violamarie
- 🇪🇸 RTVE (Spain) – Lucas Paulano – “Cuore Bello (Te Quiero, Te Quiero)”
- 🇺🇦 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 ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Junior Eurovision 2026!
News source: AVROTROS