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Malta Eurovision Song Contest

Malta Eurovision Song Contest
Logo since 2025
Also known as	Maltasong
Genre	Song Contest
Inspired by	Eurovision Song Contest
Country of origin	Malta
Original language	Maltese
Production
Production company	Public Broadcasting Services Malta Broadcasting Authority (formerly)

The Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) is an annual music competition hosted by Maltese Public Broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services's TVM . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been staged almost every year since 1991, under different names including Malta Song for Europe (Maltese: il-Festival Kanzunetta għall-Ewropa) and GO Malta EuroSong. The contest is consistently considered as the most popular television program in Malta. Over an estimated 200,000 people tune in to the Grand Final during most years, almost half of the Maltese population.

The contest has produced 5 top-five placings for Malta in the contest. The winner of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest was selected exclusivley by a jury panel until the 2000 contest. From 2001 onwards, a mix of televoting and jury voting was used, with different weighing systems used throughout the years.

The introduction of the childen's version of the contest, the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 allowed children to participate in a modified version of the concert. The winner of the concert determined the country's representative in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Since 2023, PBS has organised a Music Exchange Camp, which allows artists to be paired with songwriters locally and internationally. Most of the songs present in the recent editions of the MESC were written in this yearly bootcamp, which has become quite popular amongst artists.

History

See also: Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest

Early History (1971-1990)

Malta first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971, with the Malta Broadcasting Authority (MBA) acting as the participating broadcaster. The format selected included the Malta Song Festival (a festival not hosted by the MBA) used as the semi-final, with the 6 highest ranked songs selected for the final. The final, titled Song for Europe selected the winning song by an internal and external jury. Whilst the final was meant to select the song and not the artist representing Malta in that year's Eurovision, the winning singer was selected as the singer for the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 anyway. The selection for the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest used the same format. Whilst the Malta Song Festival was held in preparation to the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, MBA eventually withdrew their participation because of the inferior songs quality compared to European standards. Malta did not participate in the 1974 contest, but participated in 1975 contest, selecting the song by the same system used in 1971 and 1972. Malta did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1976 to 1990.

Return by PBS (1991-1993)

From 1991 onwards, Public Broadcasting Services became the participating broadcaster instead of the Malta Broadcasting Authority. PBS used a different format named Malta Song for Europe (Kanzunetta Maltija għall-Ewropa) for selecting the Maltese representative for the 1991 contest. Two semi-finals, each containing 12 songs were held, with the top 6 passing to the finals. Songs had to be performed first in Maltese then in English, meaning that each songs had to have its lyrics written in 2 languages. . This format selected by winner exclusively by an internal jury. The same format, although slightly altered to only include one semi-final across two nights, was used for the 1992 and 1993 selection. In this format, the songs were sung in Maltese on one night and in English on the other night of the semi-final.

Mixture of Formats (1994-2000)

In the 1994 Malta Song for Europe, the requirement to perform the songs in both Maltese and English was dropped. The semi-final consisted of 10 songs, with the top 5 passing to the national final. The winner of the final was chosen as the Maltese representative for the 1994 contest. A different format was used in the 1995 selection, in which a semi-final was not held but a final was held over two days featuring 18 entries. Returning to the previous format, the 1996 selection consisted of a semi-final featuring 16 songs and a final featuring 10 songs. . Yet again, the format was changed for the 1997 selection, in which no semi-finals were held and instead a final over the span of 2 days consisting of 16 songs was held.

For the 1998 Malta Song for Europe, a similar format was used, which introduced a category of 6 songs for newcomers, 2 of which would be eliminated after the first night. The 1999 selection included 16 songs which participated in a two day final. The 2000 selection was organised in a similar manner, however it was held in just 1 day with 16 songs.

Introduction of Televoting (2001-*)

The 2001 Malta Song for Europe was the first time televoting was introduced in the contest. This format reverted back to a final featuring 16 songs over 2 days. Televoting carried 1/8 of the final points awarded to the artists, with the rest of the 7/8 being awarded by a jury. As usual, the winner of the contest was selected to represent Malta in the 2001 contest.

Current Format

The format of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest tends to change from year to year. However, the 2025 edition seems to have started to stabilise the format used by PBS.

Music Exchange Camp

Whilst not a compulsory step, the Music Exchange Camp organised by PBS is most artists' first step of participating in the