Sounds Like Teen Spirit (2008)

Broadcaste on More4 in a double bill with the excellent 90 minute documentary The Secret History of Eurovision (2011), Sounds Like Teen Spirit follows a number of kids from across Europe as they prepare to compete in the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. Although I love Eurovision, I tend not to write about the show itself on my blog. I don't know why, maybe I don't want to analyse it too much. I have never seen Junior Eurovision - it's only been shown twice in the UK to my knowledge and the UK hasn't competed in it for a long time. But watching Teen Spirit it is clear how much other countries in Europe love it equally as much as its parent show.

The film follows entrants from Cyprus (a cute, camp little 11 year old boy), Georgia (their first entrant, a sweet girl who lives in a run down block after her family fled for their lives during tensions with Russia), Bulgaria (she lives in a vast, showy house with a pool, but her parents have split up and she's disillusioned with love), and Belgium (these are pretty normal kids). The Eastern European entrants are the most interesting, they have the most to gain from the contest, using it as a showcase for their oft-little-known countries - Belarus has won Junior Eurovision twice for example, but would be hard pressed to do the same at regular Eurovision. 

Watching the snippets of the show itself, there was a noticeable lack of the Big Five and countries from Scandinavia, with a heavy Eastern bias to those competing. I'm not sure whether this says more about the Western attitude to Eurovision as a whole or about the Eastern attitude. Either way, the young entrants stories are touchingly interwoven into an engrossing documentary. There is little narration, just a few onscreen prompts, and the children mostly tell their own stories. At times you fear the whole Junior Eurovision could be a horrendous Mini Pops / Little Miss Sunshine style grotesque, but what comes across is a happy, positive experience that cares for the contestants and is eager to share young European talent across the continent.