Prior to the 2016 Contest, Georgia had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its debut in 2007.[1] They had never missed any edition of the contest since debut, and won twice in 2008 and 2011.[2]
The Georgian broadcaster announced on 17 August 2016 that it would be participating at the contest to be held in Valletta, Malta.[3] A open selection process was held, with the submission window open between 17 August and 25 September,[3] after which a committee consisting of Rusudan Bakhtadze (vocal coach), Nato Dumbadze (producer), Zaza Orashvili (director), Nika Kocharov (singer, represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016) and Lizi Pop (singer, represented Georgia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014) chose the artist internally.[4][5] On 30 September 2016, Mariam Mamadashvili was selected to represent Georgia.[6][7] Her song for the contest, "Mzeo", was presented on 24 October 2016.[8][9]
Mariam Mamadashvili (born 16 November 2005)[10] is a Georgian child singer who represented Georgia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "Mzeo", which won the contest with a total of 239 points, thus setting a new record for highest winning score at the contest after the 2015 winner Destiny Chukunyere with "Not My Soul".[11]
Mariam Mamadashvili after being announced as the winner of the contest.
During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which took place on 14 November 2016, Georgia was drawn to perform last on 20 November 2016, following Cyprus.[12]
During the press conference for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in Stockholm, the Reference Group announced several changes to the voting format for the 2016 contest. Previously, points had been awarded based on a combination of 50% National juries and 50% televoting, with one more set of points also given out by a 'Kids' Jury'. However, this year, points will be awarded based on a 50/50 combination of each country’s Adult and Kids' Jury, to be announced by a spokesperson. For the first time since the inauguration of the contest the voting procedure will not include a public televote.[13] Following these results, three expert jurors will also announce their points from 1-8, 10, and 12. These professional jurors are: Christer Björkman, Mads Grimstad, and Jedward.[14]
Georgia
