MJESC 2023 comes to an end after four weeks of broadcasting. PBS (Maltese Public Broadcasting), through its channel TVM, held this afternoon the grand finale of the popular children’s competition, a programme that has reached two hours in length, despite the fact that the performance of the songs has taken no more than an hour since 16:00 CET in the afternoon.
The live gala, presented by Ryan & Josmar – who were also in charge of presenting the last Maltese Eurovision pre-selection – featured the 12 young artists who qualified for the final – and who were revealed on 5 August during the live show broadcast on the same channel -. During the gala, TVM remembered past winners of the festival, with special mention to the two editions organised by the island country, 2014 and 2016.
Yulan Law, as the new winner, gets the ticket to Nice, the host city of Junior Eurovision 2023, on 26 November.
MALTA JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2023 FINAL
The programme, broadcast live, consisted of a first part, in which the 12 finalists presented the second of their entries – as all the artists entered the contest with two entries, as stated in the contest rules. Among the proposals were three Eurovision songs from the last senior edition in Liverpool, Tattoo (Sweden 2023), Unicorn (Israel 2023) and Bridges (Estonia 2023).
Following the presentation of the songs by the young artists, a voting period was opened, in which viewers were able to vote for their favourite entry via telephone hotlines.
In addition to the viewer’s vote, there was also the vote of an expert jury. Although their percentage was not the same when it came to choosing the night’s winner. The expert jury vote, made up of Eurovision’s Claudia Faniello (2017), Ryan Hili (MESC 2023) and Matt Blxck (MESC 2022 and 2023) weighed in at 80%, while the public vote was only 20%. It is worth noting that the lines were not displayed correctly on screen for much of the broadcast, so this could have made it difficult for the televote in the country. During the grand final, Gaia Gambuzza, winner of last year’s final and Maltese representative at Yerevan 2022, presented her new single.
The results of the Grand Final, of which only the podium with the top three performers has been revealed, are as follows:
| Order of performance | Artist | Song (Original Artist) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point Blank | “Born This Way (Lady Gaga) | – |
| 2 | Yulan Law | “Reflection (Christina Aguilera) | 1 |
| 3 | Kaylyn Mallia | “Tattoo” (Loreen) [Sweden 2023] 1 2 3 | – |
| 4 | Aaliyah Grech | “Mama Knows Best” (Jessie J) | – |
| 5 | Anneka Xerri | “Can’t Hold Us” (Macklemore) | – |
| 6 | Shyann Cutajar | “Unstoppable (Sia) | – |
| 7 | Daylin Cassar Randich | “Remember” (Becky Hill & David Guetta) | 2 |
| 8 | Cesca Galea | “Trustfall” (P!nk) | – |
| 9 | Emma Farrugia | “Unicorn” (Noa Kirel) [Israel 2023] | – |
| 10 | Keira Farrugia | – | |
| 11 | Andrea Camilleri | “Bridges” (Alika) [Estonia 2023] | – |
| 12 | Dawn Desira | “Crazy In Love” (Beyoncé) | 3 |
THIS IS YULAN LAW
Yulan has extensive experience in the world of singing. She started her musical journey in the popular Russian competition “New Wave Junior” in 2019. In the same year, she also participated in the “Sanremo Junior Malta“.
A year later, in 2020, he entered the “Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest” with the song “Deck of Cards“, together with also young Maltese singer Gianluca Cilia – who represented Malta at Junior Eurovision in 2017, held in Georgian city of Tbilisi, with the song “Dawra Tond“, finishing in ninth position.
In 2021, she participated inMalta’s Got Talent. She also took part in that year’s MJESC, with two songs, “Change“ and “On My Way”, which came third in the final ranking. After that, she took part in “The Voice Kids Malta“, where she was in the Destiny team, reaching the final.
wHAT ABOUT YULAN’S SONG NOW?
We already know the next representative of the Mediterranean country in the European Junior Festival, but… what about her song?
None of the proposals with which Yulan Law has entered the competition will be the one she will take to the contest. Both entries, as we have seen, are already well-known songs, only performed by the artist in question.
So, which song will Yulan Law perform at Junior Eurovision?
We will have to wait a little less than a month, as in September, PBS will publish the call for composers and songwriters to submit songs for Yulan Law to perform on stage in Nice. We won’t have to wait long to find out the winning song. The song that Yulan Law will perform at the junior festival will be announced on 15 September.
MALTA AT THE JUNIOR EUROVISION
Malta was one of the founding countries of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen 2003. In its first participation, with Sarah Harrison and her song “Like A Star” it reached 7th place. During this first stage in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Malta achieved discreet results, except in Limasol 2008, when Daniel Testa with “Junior Swing” achieved a 4th place.
Thus, 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” took the trophy. Two years later, in Bulgaria 2015, Destiny Chukunyere with “Not My Soul” broke all records and gave another triumph to her country.
Malta has been in the Top 10 ten times. Its best stint in the competition came between 2013 and 2018, when the country achieved its two wins at the children’s festival. On the opposite side, there are its last three places obtained in 2005, with Thea & Friends and their song “Make It Right”, in 2019, with Eliana Gomez Blanco and her “We Are More” and in 2022 with Gaia Gambuzza and her “Diamonds In The Skies”.
During this time, PBS has chosen 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.