Junior Eurovision 2023: UK's STAND UNIQU3 fourth as France win
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UK girl group STAND UNIQU3 finished fourth as host nation France won the 21st Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Zoe won with her song Coeur - which means Heart - to give France victory for the second year running.
She finished on 228 points, 27 points ahead of second-placed Spain, with Armenia third and the UK fourth out of 16 countries.
The Song Contest took place in the southern French city of Nice and children aged nine to 14 represented their countries.
How did the UK perform?
STAND UNIQU3 finished fourth in both the jury vote and the public vote, gaining 160 points in total.
The voting is split equally between the online public vote and from national juries featuring three music industry experts and two children from each participating country. Viewers from 175 countries around the world voted online this year.
The UK act featuring Maisie, Hayla and Yazmin were delighted with their performance of Back to Life.
They spoke to Newsround immediately after coming off stage.
Yazmin, 12, from Newcastle, said: "I'm ecstatic. We didn't get first place, it's sad, but it's not the end of the world, we got fourth. In the first place we are lucky to be here, we are winners for being here ... we got fourth, I'm so happy about that."
Maisie, 13, from Essex, added: "It was like the best feeling of my life, I actually cried, I want to cry now. And well done to Zoe, you're amazing."
And 12-year-old Hayla from Liverpool said: "When we came off the stage we couldn't stop crying. It was the feeling of how much we worked for it. We were so happy with the outcome."
France win again
French singer Zoe, who has appeared on the Voice Kids in her home country, wowed the crowd with a stunning performance of her song Coeur.
The 13-year-old won both the jury and public vote to give her a big lead over Spain's Sandra and the Yan Girls of Armenia.
Zoe said: "I feel really happy after so many months of hard work. All of the singers from all the other countries were so friendly - that was one of the big highlights."
The win was France's third in four years and they now equal the most number of wins with Georgia.
Did you watch the show? Who was your favourite act? Let us know in the comments below.
- Published26 November 2023
- Published26 November 2023
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