The lights fall gently as the countdown in the arena for live broadcast begins. The audience shouts out the numbers from 10-1, where at the end a giant avalanche of white confetti falls upon them, missing the stage for obvious reasons. The space feels dark, and the lack of lighting makes for tension before the main event starts. Across the world, the packed venue is showcased, in the first camera shot of the night. Graphics sweep across suddenly, and the camera appears to fly above the ceiling and into the clouds. Stars fly by, coloured with the national palettes of each country. They are followed down, as they shoot through the streets of Mera, showcasing it as though it’s a tourism advertisement. An instrumentation of the opening song starts playing, with the synths slow at first - melodic though. The camera is used again in the arena, beginning to reveal the large stage, with its tall pieces of infrastructure clearly in the back, shining with shimmer in blue highlight.
The back of the stage slowly opens, allowing smoke to build an unclear line of sight, as the two hosts of the evening make their way up onto the main stage. Alia is wearing a golden gown, which is carefully laced with yellow sequins, colliding nicely with the light that gleams down on it. Giorgio goes more classic, a tuxedo, but with a tie, coloured a similar colour to his counterparts dress. They both come out smiling widely, waving to the cheering fans, who wave their flags over their heads. Once around thirty seconds of greeting has passed, Alia makes an introduction to the contest, going through the well-known and documented rules, before Giorgio joins her to open the competition with the iconic line…
“Let the 6th Junior World Hit Festival begin!”
Then, the previous music pauses, and the sound of glass shattering plays as a sound effect - with the arena going pitch black again. A voice is heard out of the dark, “Let’s party!” Hannah Berelie is seen making her way across the stage to the front, as her song “Replay” begins. The parade of nations starts, as the audience cheers along.
