REVIEW: Sounds like Teen Spirit

A film about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. I m guessing this provokes two instant and sharply divergent reactions – Kids! Eurovision! Ghastly! swiftly followed by

Sounds like Teen Spirit (12A)

Director Jamie J Johnson Documentary. 93 mins

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A film about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. I'm guessing this provokes two instant and sharply divergent reactions - "Kids! Eurovision! Ghastly!" swiftly followed by "how can that not be entertaining." And you'd be right on both scores.

You've probably never heard of the Junior Eurovision Song contest but don't worry; nobody else in this country has either.

We don't enter it, along with most of the other big European nations. Instead it is fought out between the nations that still take Eurovision seriously, basically the ones that are never going to win at football and don't get invited to the G20.

The film follows four entrants - Giorgos from Cyprus, Marina who is part of the Bulgarian entrant, Mariam from Georgia and the band Trust from Belgium, three lanky adolescents and a female singer with braces.

Trust are definitely the odd ones out, not only because they are a straightforward rock band playing in a contest full of dance routines and pop songs, but because they are all about twice the size of the other contestants.

Trust just amble through it all but the other kids seem terribly burdened by the weight of the contest and their ambitions.

Our chosen group are all rather endearing and offer up a touching portrait of the joys and terrors of childhood.

There does seems to be a sub-text of filmmaker's regret running through the scenes in Rotterdam at the contest itself, a feeling that they should have focused on the Ukraine entrant, who really does seems to be a right little madam.