The final was held on Saturday, October 24 at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Gaia Cauchi, Destiny Chukunyere and Keane Cutajar, per ESCplus. Sixteen countries competed, with the Netherlands opening the show and Spain closing it.

According to ESCplus, the juries voted after Friday's dress rehearsal and put France's Alec on top with 114 points, ahead of Spain (108) and Armenia (103).

The online vote then flipped the contest: Armenia won the public vote with 99 points, finishing on 202 points overall, ahead of Spain on 184 and France on 165.

TVMnews.mt reports that 13-year-old Naré won with the song "BOO!", giving Armenia its third title after 2010 and 2021, and that 11-year-old Beppe Caruana finished seventh for Malta with "Blue Bird" on 136 points.

For singing fans, the night's real story was the two-vote mechanic deciding the winner against the professionals' judgment.

According to ESCplus, France led the jury ranking yet saw Alec's online total reach only 51 points, while Naré converted her public vote win into victory; San Marino, second in the online vote, climbed to fourth overall.

Demócrata explains the same arithmetic from Spain's side: Lucas Paulano was second with the juries and third with viewers, and the combined rankings handed Armenia the win — the 18-point final gap reflects the scoreboard, not eighteen individual votes.

It was a textbook upset in reverse: the audience, not the experts, decided the crystal microphone.

TVMnews.mt describes a show built around Maltese identity: the MFCC opened with band music, dancing and words spoken in Maltese, and postcards filmed in towns and villages — Salvatur square in Żejtun and rooftop festa scenes in Mġarr — introduced each performance.

Creative Director Gordon Bonello told TVMnews he wanted to show international viewers that Malta has "a culture, a beautiful language, the distinctive sounds of our instruments, and a beautiful way of life."

Junior Eurovision Director Martin Green, in an official statement cited by TVMnews, praised PBS for bringing the spirit of the Maltese festa to the stage.

For vocal-competition followers, the staging is worth watching for how a national broadcaster turns a children's contest into a cultural showcase.

The most striking national milestone came from Montenegro.

According to vijesti.me, ten-year-old Mija Vujović from Podgorica finished 12th with her song "Music Connects Us" (also rendered as "Music Brings Us Together"), which the outlet reports is Montenegro's best placement since it began participating in the children's competition.

vijesti.me adds that the music and lyrics were written by Marko Kon, who arranged the track with Vasilije Čolano, while actor Slavko Kalezić created the choreography.

In a field of sixteen countries where jury and audience votes each counted for 50 percent, a 12th-place finish was enough to set a national record — a detail singing fans rarely see from the bottom half of the scoreboard.

Demócrata profiles the runner-up: Lucas Paulano is ten years old and from Jaén, came to national attention by winning "La Voz Kids," and studies piano at the Ramón Garay Professional Conservatory of Music in his city.

The outlet reports RTVE selected him internally in July, and that Malta awarded him the maximum twelve points, with support from all fifteen other participating countries.

Demócrata notes the second place matches Sandra Valero's 2023 result and improves on Gonzalo Pinillos's fifth in 2025, keeping Spain in the race for victory even though the audience's final push favoured Armenia.

His song "Cuore Bello (Te Quiero, Te Quiero)", per Demócrata, centres on the memories and the people who leave a mark.

Winning does not automatically make Armenia the host: Demócrata and Fakti.bg both report the EBU will work with member broadcasters, including the winner, to select the host of Junior Eurovision 2027, with Armenia having previously hosted in Yerevan in 2011 and 2022 after wins.

Fakti.bg notes the contest came to Malta after France Télévisions announced on December 18, 2025 that it would not organise the 2026 edition — the second time in three years France withdrew from hosting after winning.

Fakti.bg also reports DARA, Bulgaria's 2026 Eurovision representative, performed "Bangaranga" as the interval special guest, sharing the start with Lou Deleuze, while Bulgaria itself did not compete. The next question fans will watch: whether Armenia bids to host a third time.