Roll up, roll up! It's AI slop carnival time!

Maltese public broadcaster PBS and the EBU have revealed the logo and stage design for next month's Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, and it's all the fun of the fair. An AI generated fair that is.

I'm sure you walked past at least one AI generated funfair poster while out and about over the summer. Now imagine that poster but as a massive stage, and you basically have the stage design for this year's JESC!

The stage for this year's JESC (Source: Eurovoix)

I'll let PBS and the EBU themselves explain what (if anything) this slop fest is meant to represent. The theme is "Join the Festa" and the stage design features colourful "artwork" and "traditional balconies". Having looked up what these festas actually look like I can say with some certainty that this definitely doesn't represent them! The EBU reckons that the viewing public "are promised a show that will capture the energy of a celebration that lasts from day into night; Flags and festoons lining the streets, brass bands and traditional instruments filling the air, with colour, light, confetti and fireworks building towards the excitement of a festa night. These elements will be reimagined through a unique Junior Eurovision event, bringing Malta’s sound, movement and visual spectacle to the international stage."

The logo itself is actually quite nice, though I suspect this is AI generated also as no designer or design agency is listed on the article.

I'm guessing "Coco" was one of the prompts. It certainly feels very "day of the dead", which is ironic as many are starting to get tired of the very existence of the JESC. This is Malta's first time hosting the contest in a decade. A rare chance for this tiny island nation to show its wares to the world, and they get slop instead. I kind of feel sorry for them.

Just 16 countries will compete in the 24th Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the lowest since 2023. The UK is not one of them, having last took part in 2023.