Another song and artist for Junior Eurovision 2022! A new edition of the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest (MJESC) was held on Sunday night 2nd October and ended with the triumph of Gaia Gambuzza and her song “Diamonds in the Skies” . With this victory she wins the ticket that will allow her to travel to the Armenian capital of Yerevan to represent Malta this year 2022 at the iconic 20th anniversary of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
A total of 16 candidates were the finalists who competed tonight to be chosen to represent Malta at the young brother of Eurovision. And these were the three best according to the jury and the public:
- Gaia Gambuzza | “Diamonds in the Skies”
- Andrea Camilleri | “Spark “
- Emma Kate Formosa | “Bounce”
Of the rest of the participants, their position in the final result ranking has not been announced and only the Top 3 has been revealed to safeguard their professionalism and effort, as they are all equally outstanding with their immense talent.
These are the 16 MJESC 2022 finalists and their songs in the order they performed tonight for the Junior Eurovision 2022 dream:
- Emma Kate Formosa | «Bounce»
- Naomi Busuttil | «Little Cheeky»
- Cassidy Gauci | «Light Up»
- Kay | «Here I Am»
- Aaliyah Cassar | «Infinity»
- Cesca Galea | «See the Invisible»
- Isis Jade | «Unbreakable»
- Shaznay Mangion | «Heartbeat»
- Geneve Dimech | «With You By My Side»
- MA Girlz | «Stereo»
- Kensley Ciappara | «Tliet Xadini»
- Charelle Micallef | «The Extra Miles»
- Andrea Camilleri | «Spark»
- Rih & Bri | «Karma»
- Kayleen Mercieca | «Shooting Star»
- Gaia Gambuzza | «Diamonds in the Skies»
MJESC 2022
MJESC 2022 took place from the studios of the Maltese public broadcaster, PBS, located in Gwardamanġa, a municipality situated in Pietà in the central region of Malta.
The masters of ceremonies were Josmar and Ryan Borg, who have already been part of the line-up of presenters of the Maltese pre-selection for the adult Eurovision Song Contest 2022, the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022 (MESC 2022).
The 2022 edition of the MJESC has come with a slight variation in the voting system compared to previous years. Until now, the result of the Maltese pre-selection was determined by a combination of equal parts jury and televote, but this time, however, the jury’s evaluations have had more value
This way, the professional jury has come to account for 75% of the weight of the final result, while the televote via SMS messages has only counted for the remaining 25%.
Junior Eurovision is always a great source of stars, and it is always a joy to know what has become of them a few years after their participation in the festival. And on tonight’s magnificent evening, we were reunited with no less than a number of former participants from the past three editions
We have had the representatives of last year 2021, Ike and Kaja (remember their performance “My Home”), who have returned to the stage of the MJESC to delight us with a brilliant performance
And besides them, the Maltese representative of the year 2017, Gianluca Cilia (remember his performance “Dawra Tond”) and the Maltese representative of the year 2019, Eliana Gómez Blanco (remember her performance “We Are More”) have also visited the MJESC 2022. They have once again had the opportunity to perform in front of a Eurovision audience and viewers have been able to see how their careers have developed as they have grown and grown
MALTA AT THE JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Malta was one of the founding countries of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen 2003. In her first participation, with Sarah Harrison and her song “Like A Star reached 7th place. During this first stage in the children’s contest, Malta achieved discreet results, except in Limasol 2008, when Daniel Testa with “Junior Swing achieved a 4th place.
So, in 2011, PBS decided to withdraw from Junior Eurovision. Despite being one of the countries that has been participating in the festival since the beginning, its results were never encouraging for the Maltese broadcaster, along with an audience performance that was not as expected.
After its absence for two editions, Kiev 2013 saw the long awaited return of the Mediterranean island. Gaia Cauchi with her song “The Start won the trophy. Two years later, in Bulgaria in 2015, Destiny Chukunyere with her song “Not My Soul broke all records and brought another triumph for her country.
Malta has been in the Top 10 on 10 occasions. Its best stint in the competition came between 2013 and 2018, when the country achieved its two victories at the children’s festival. At the other end of the spectrum, Malta’s last two places were in 2005, with Thea & Friends and their song “Make It Right”and in 2019, with Eliana Gómez Blanco and her song “We Are More.
In 2021, at the festival held in Paris (France), Ike and Kaja were the Maltese flag-bearers with the song “My Home”. They reached 12th place with 97 points.
During this time, PBS has opted to choose its representative through open pre-selections, except in 2013 and 2014, when they did it internally.
Malta has hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 2014, held at the Malta Shipbuilding in Marsa and in 2016 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta
JUNIOR EUROVISION 2022
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will take place next Sunday 11 December in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. After the victory of Maléna and her “Qami Qami” at the last festival held in Paris (France), the Karen Demirchyan Complex will host the contest for the second time in its history, as it did in 2011
This is a very special edition as it marks the 20th anniversary of the children’s festival. Therefore, public broadcaster ARMTV is preparing a big show where it hopes to have the largest number of participating countries fighting for the crystal microphone
16 countries have confirmed their participation in the festival, with the UK returning after 16 years of absence. However, the ambition and efforts of the organisers predict an even higher final number, with the aim that this 20th edition of the children’s contest will be remembered as one of the most spectacular in its history.
Year after year, Junior Eurovision consolidates itself among the young audience and year after year it acquires a greater potential and popularity. And above all, it gives visibility to new talents in the world of music
As of today, these are the participating countries that have already revealed an artist and/or song:
- Georgia. Mariam Bigvava
- Kazakhstan. David Charlin
- North Macedonia. Lara and Irina
- Malta. Gaia Gambuzza – “Diamonds in the Skies”
- Netherlands. Luna – “La festa”
- Poland. Laura Baczkiewicz – “To the moon”
- Portugal. Nicolas Alves
- Ukraine. Zlata Dzyunka – “Nezlamna”