One of the most awaited selections of the year – the Malta Eurovision Song Contest – has now a date we all must highlight on our calendars! The final of the Maltese national selection contest for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine will be taking place on the 18th of February.
The question now remains on where the show will be held, so will one of these two – MFCC (Malta Fairs and Convention Center) in Ta’Qali or MCC (Mediterranean Conference Centre) in Valletta – be selected for the appointment?
This year’s Junior Eurovision venue could most likely and eventually be selected by PBS as it’s been a hot favorite for the broadcaster throughout the years due to its acoustic and architecture as well. MCC has capacity to host up to 1.500 people approximately.
After the submission period day on the 30th of November at PBS’ headquarters in Gwardmanga, 156 entries were collected and narrowed down to 60, so it was up to a 11 professional people panel, last night in Valletta, to pick the best 16 joining the national final in February. As TVM revealed today on its official website: “The 11-member jury are familiar with the Maltese music scene”. The event took place last night inside Valletta’s St James’ Cavalier Hall where the artists in competition were also invited to witness the process.
Which of the 60 pre-qualified entries will be making it to the final?
| Song | Performer | |
| 1 | Beautifully Bruised | Raquel Galdes |
| 2 | Bird of Prey | Nadia Vella |
| 3 | Bombshell | Maxine Pace |
| 4 | Breathe | Kylie Colerio |
| 5 | Breathe | Cherylis |
| 6 | Breathlessly | Claudia Faniello |
| 7 | Butterfly | Lyndsay Pace |
| 8 | Calling Out | Wayne William |
| 9 | Chasing My Dreams | Maria Cini |
| 10 | Child of the Sun | Romina Mamo |
| 11 | Chill Out | Christian Arding |
| 12 | Crazy Games | Shauna Vassallo |
| 13 | Cruise Control | Michela Pace |
| 14 | Different Light | Jessica Magro |
| 15 | Don’t Let Your Heart Say No | Dominic |
| 16 | Don’t Look Down | Miriana Conte |
| 17 | Edge of Tomorrow | Jessika |
| 18 | Escape | Sebastian Calleja |
| 19 | Falling | Kayla Borg |
| 20 | Fearless | Rhiannon Micallef |
| 21 | Feel | Ana Boynuegri |
| 22 | Fighting To Survive | Cherton Caruana |
| 23 | Fireworks | Iona |
| 24 | Follow | Kevin Borg |
| 25 | Follow Me | Franklin Calleja |
| 26 | Free Fall | Nazio Rotin |
| 27 | Gemini | Lyndsay Pace |
| 28 | Gone | Nazio Rotin |
| 29 | Heal With Me | Gabriella Azzopardi |
| 30 | Hey Yo | Domenique Azzopardi |
| 31 | I Got You | Joseph Refalo |
| 32 | Immortal | Jessika |
| 33 | Kewkba | Janice Mangion |
| 34 | Laserlight | Klinsmann Coleiro |
| 35 | Leap of Faith | Corinna Baldacchino |
| 36 | Let There Be Light | Jessika |
| 37 | Moving Mountains | Rhiannon Micallef |
| 38 | Only Night | Tiziana |
| 39 | Pawn In A Game | Dario Mifsud Bonnici |
| 40 | Prisoner | Dario Bezzina |
| 41 | Ray of Light | Raquela Dalli Gonzi |
| 42 | Rescue Me | Clive Isaac Gauci/Karine Caruana |
| 43 | Seconds Away | Jade Vella |
| 44 | Shelter | Milkmi |
| 45 | So Simple | Crosswalk |
| 46 | Sunshine in the Rain | Lydon Incorvaja |
| 47 | Supernovas | Jasmine Abela |
| 48 | The Power | Kaya |
| 49 | The Rapture | Dre’ Curmi |
| 50 | Tonight | Deborah C/Josef Tabone |
| 51 | U | Derrick Schembri |
| 52 | Unbreakable | Maria Muscat |
| 53 | Unforgettable | Floren Sultana |
| 54 | Unstoppable | Brooke Borg |
| 55 | Wait Forever | Stefan Galea |
| 56 | We Can Run | Avenue Sky |
| 57 | When Love Cries | Clive Isaac Gauci/Karine Caruana |
| 58 | When The Sun Shines | Joseph Tabone |
| 59 | You | Aidan Cassar |
| 60 | You | Richard Edwards |
The final 16 acts will be made public tomorrow evening during the 20:00 (CET) news bulletin on TVM1.
For the first time in years, 100% televoting will be solely deciding who will be flying the Maltese colors in Kiev next May. Among this year’s participants in the list, we can add that Jessika won the televote in 2014 with “Hypnotica” but unfortunately could not make that well with the juries voting, being the only artist in years which wins the televoting but does not make it to the international stage.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s finalists on ESC+Plus! We are bringing you the latest details!