No song change after the final

With a month and half to go before the finals of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, the first meeting for the 16 finalists was held to inform them of the regulations. One of these is that the winning song cannot be changed after it is chosen by the public through televoting.

The Chief Executive of the Public Broadcasting Services, John Bundy, said that the winning song may not be changed to represent Malta in the Eurovision contest being held in May in Ukraine.

During the meeting, the draws were chosen to determine who will sing first and last during the most anticipated music festival in Malta, which will take place on 18 February at the MFCC at Ta’ Qali. Klinsmann Coleiro will be singing first while Claudia Faniello will be singing last, in 16th place before the televoting starts.

The PBS Chief Executive said this was the first time that the song representing Malta will be chosen entirely by the public who can only phone once from every number.

Mr Bundy said: “The public will decide who it wants to represent us in Ukraine in May. We are asking the singers to concentrate on the song, the voice and the sound of the song and forget what is happening behind them. The 16 singers will all be treated equally. These are all winning songs and that is why they need to all be treated the same. We have therefore created a special schedule for the equal promotion of every singer.”

Mr Bundy said that the 16 songs which are in the finals are all of a high quality.

Six singers, Shauna Vassallo, Miriana Conte, Rhiannon Micallef, Chereton Caruana, Janice Mangion and Jade Vella, will be taking part in the contest for the first time.

Shauna Vassallo said, “This is a wonderful experience, we will see how it goes, I am just happy to have reached this far.” Miriana Conte said, “It is a great experience which means a lot to me since it is the first time I entered the contest and I am already in the finals.”

On her part, Janice Mangion said, “I am very happy, especially as I have a song in Maltese and am representing my country. The smile on my face says it all.”

Jade Vella said, “The fact that I reached this stage is a great honour for me as I am participating along with these very talented singers. It is an experience I will learn a lot from.”

The production of the festival is in the hands of John Bundy, Gordon Bonello, Doreen Cortis and Charles Dalli.