A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Eurovision Song Contest 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Malta | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Quarter-finals: 13 January 2023 20 January 2023 27 January 2023 Semi-final: 9 February 2023 Final: 11 February 2023 | |||
| Selected entrant | The Busker | |||
| Selected song | "Dance (Our Own Party)" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | David Meilak Jean Paul Borg Sean Meachen Matthew James Borg Michael Joe Cini | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (15th) | |||
| Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Dance (Our Own Party)" performed by the band The Busker. The Maltese entry for the 2023 contest was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of three quarter-final rounds, a semi-final round and a final, held between 13 January and 11 February 2023, where "Dance (Our Own Party)" performed by the Busker eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.
Malta was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 2, "Dance (Our Own Party)" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Malta placed last out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 3 points.
Background
Prior to the 2023 contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-four times since its first entry in 1971. Malta briefly competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1970s before withdrawing for sixteen years. The country had competed in every contest between their return in 1991, and 2022. Malta's best placing in the contest thus far was second, which it achieved on two occasions: in 2002 with the song "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco and in the 2005 contest with the song "Angel" performed by Chiara.[1] In 2022, Malta failed to qualify for the final with the song "I Am What I Am" performed by Emma Muscat.
The Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), broadcast the event within Malta and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. In 2022, Malta selected their entry through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for their 2023 participation.[2][3]
Before Eurovision
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition consisted of five shows which commenced on 13 January 2023 and concluded with a final held on 11 February 2023. All shows were broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well as on the broadcaster's website tvmnews.mt.[4]
Format
The competition consisted of three phases. The first phase was the three quarter-finals on 13, 20 and 27 January 2023 where 40 songs competed and the top twenty-four entries qualified. The second phase was the semi-final on 9 February 2023 where the top sixteen entries qualified to compete in the third phase, the final on 11 February 2023. Five judges evaluated the songs during the three phases and the results of the public televote had a weighting equal to the total votes of the judges in the final result. Ties in the final results were broken based on the entry which received the higher score from the judges.[5][6] Monetary prizes were also given to the competing artists: the winner received €10,000, the runner-up received €4,000, the second runner-up received €2,000 and the remaining artists received €300 each.[3] Former Maltese Eurovision entrants Paul Giordimaina (1991), Moira Stafrace (1994), Mike Spiteri (1995) and Ludwig Galea (2004) were appointed as consultants of the competition in order to offer support to the artists.[7] The five members of the jury that evaluated the entries during all phases consisted of:[8]
- Sergio Gor – Publisher
- Corazon Mizzi – Singer-songwriter
- Matthew Bugeja – Conductor
- Antoine Farrugia – Artistic director of Notte Bianca
- Dorothy Bezzina – Singer
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 17 October 2022 and 31 October 2022.[9] Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with one in the quarter-finals. 2022 Maltese Eurovision entrant Emma Muscat was unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous winner from competing in the following competition.[3] The 40 songs selected to compete in the quarter-finals were announced on 21 November 2022. Among the selected competing artists are former Eurovision entrants Fabrizio Faniello who represented Malta in the 2001 and 2006 contests, Jessika who represented San Marino in the 2018 contest, Francesca Sciberras who represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and Eliana Gomez Blanco who represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[10]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Aidan | "Reġina" | Aidan Cassar, Boban Apostolov |
| Andre' | "Broken Hill" | Toby Farrugia, David Cassar Torreggiani, Andre' Portelli |
| Bradley Debono | "Blackout" | Christina Magrin |
| Brooke | "Checkmate" | Brooke Borg, Gerard James Borg, Christian Rabb, Dino Medanhodzic, Lukas Meijer |
| Cheryl Balzan | "La La Land" | David Cassar Torreggiani, Cheryl Balzan, Toby Farrugia |
| Chris Grech | "Indescribable" | Joakim Dubbelman, Gerard James Borg, Jesper Rune, Arve Furset |
| Christian Arding | "Eku ċar" | Jan van Dijck, Emil Calleja Bayliss |
| Clintess | "Lura qatt" | Dominic Cini, Etienne Micallef |
| Dan | "It'll Be OK" | Daniel Muscat Caruana |
| Dario | "Pawn in a Game" | Henric Pierroff, Emil Vaker, Karin Pierroff |
| Dario Bezzina | "Bridle Road" | Martin Älenmark, Darren Michaels, Charlie Mason |
| Dominic and Anna | "Whatever Wind May Blow" | Alexander Berger, Michael Tauben, Will Taylor, Jonas Gladnikoff |
| Eliana Gomez Blanco | "Guess What" | Ray Agius, Alfred C. Sant |
| Fabrizio Faniello | "Try to Be Better" | Johan Bejerholm |
| Francesca Sciberras | "Masquerade" | Marco Debono, Rita Pace |
| Geo Debono | "The Mirror" | Daniele Moretti, Natasha Turner, Niall Mooney |
| Giada | "I Depend on You" | Melanie Georgiou |
| Greta Tude | "Sound of My Stilettos" | Cyprian Cassar, Muxu, Antoine Farrugia |
| Haley | "Tik Tok" | Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg |
| Ian | "On My Own" | Melanie Georgiou |
| Jake | "Love You Like That" | Primož Poglajen, Jonas Gladnikoff, Michael James Down |
| James Louis | "Dream" | James Mifsud |
| Jason Scerri | "Anything Can Happen" | Jason Scerri |
| Jessika | "Unapologetic" | Jessica Muscat, Stefan Moessle |
| John Galea | "Trailblazer" | John Galea |
| Kirstie | "Girls Get Down" | Cyprian Cassar, Muxu |
| Klinsmann | "Piranha" | Mats Ygfors, Robin Svensson, Magdalena Ohlin, Gerard James Borg |
| Lyndsay | "Haunted" | Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Primož Poglajen, Jonas Gladnikoff, Johnny Sanchez, Sara Ljunggren |
| Maria Christina | "Our Flame" | Erik Horvath, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Emil Calleja Bayliss |
| Maria Debono | "X'allegrija" | Cyprian Cassar, Muxu, Maria Debono |
| Marie Claire | "Thankful" | Thorghy Landgren, Thomas Rodin, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Emil Calleja Bayliss |
| Mark Anthony Bartolo | "Tears" | Mark Anthony Bartolo |
| Matt Blxck | "Up" | Matthew Caruana, Cyprian Cassar |
| Maxine Pace | "Alone" | Steve Manovski, Shaun Farrugia |
| Mikhail | "Leħen fiċ-ċpar" | Cyprian Cassar, Cliff Casha |
| Nathan | "Creeping Walls" | Dominic Cini, Jonas Gladnikoff, Emil Calleja Bayliss |
| Ryan Hili | "In the Silence" | Aaron Sibley, Natan Dagur, Cyprian Cassar |
| Stefan Galea | "Heartbreaker" | Stefan Galea, Rikki Lee Scicluna, Muxu |
| Stefan Xuereb | "What Do You Want?" | Richard Micallef, Aidan O'Connor |
| The Busker | "Dance (Our Own Party)" | David Meilak, Jean Paul Borg, Sean Meachen, Matthew James Borg, Michael Joe Cini |
Shows
Quarter-finals
The three quarter-finals took place at the TVM studios in Pietà on 13, 20 and 27 January 2023 and were hosted by Ryan Borg and Josmar Gatt.[11][12] On 23 January 2023, Aidan was disqualified from the quarter-finals for violating the competition's social media promotion policy.[13] The remaining thirty-nine songs competed for twenty-four qualifying spots in the semi-final which were announced during a special programme on 3 February 2023.[14] The allocation for the quarter-finals was announced on 6 January 2023.[15]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haley | "Tik Tok" | Eliminated |
| 2 | Stefan Xuereb | "What Do You Want?" | Eliminated |
| 3 | Clintess | "Lura qatt" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Fabrizio Faniello | "Try to Be Better" | Advanced |
| 5 | Eliana Gomez Blanco | "Guess What" | Advanced |
| 6 | Christian Arding | "Eku ċar" | Advanced |
| 7 | Jason Scerri | "Anything Can Happen" | Eliminated |
| 8 | Maria Debono | "X'allegrija" | Eliminated |
| 9 | Geo Debono | "The Mirror" | Advanced |
| 10 | Mikhail | "Leħen fiċ-ċpar" | Advanced |
| Disqualified | |||
| 12 | Nathan | "Creeping Walls" | Advanced |
| 13 | Klinsmann | "Piranha" | Advanced |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francesca Sciberras | "Masquerade" | Eliminated |
| 2 | The Busker | "Dance (Our Own Party)" | Advanced |
| 3 | Lyndsay | "Haunted" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Maxine Pace | "Alone" | Advanced |
| 5 | Marie Claire | "Thankful" | Eliminated |
| 6 | Ian | "On My Own" | Advanced |
| 7 | Kirstie | "Girls Get Down" | Eliminated |
| 8 | Dario Bezzina | "Bridle Road" | Advanced |
| 9 | Brooke | "Checkmate" | Advanced |
| 10 | Mark Anthony Bartolo | "Tears" | Advanced |
| 11 | Dan | "It'll Be OK" | Advanced |
| 12 | Dario | "Pawn in a Game" | Eliminated |
| 13 | Matt Blxck | "Up." | Advanced |