Malta’s ongoing and seemingly endless search for a new Eurovision star continued on Thursday evening with the semi-final of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Twenty-four acts competed for a spot in Saturday’s grand final. But only 16 remain in the race to fly the Maltese flag in Liverpool this May.
Amongst the qualifiers are MESC fan favourites Brooke Borg, Matt Blxck and Maxine Pace. Elsewhere on the billing is Eurovision 2001 and 2006 star Fabrizio Faniello, and Maltese Junior Eurovision star Eliana Gomez Blanco.
Malta Eurovision Song Contest: The Finalists
- Matt Blxck – “UP.”
- Christian Arding – “Eku Ċar”
- Ian – “On My Own”
- Stefan – “Heartbreaker”
- Giada – “I Depend on You”
- Nathan – “Creeping Walls”
- Maxine Pace – “Alone”
- Eliana Gomez Blanco – “Guess What”
- The Busker – “Dance (Our Own Party)”
- Geo Debono – “The Mirror”
- Brooke – “Checkmate”
- Chris Grech – “Indescribable”
- Fabrizio Faniello – “Try To Be Better”
- Ryan Hili – “In the Silence”
- Dan – “It’ll Be Ok”
- Cheryl Balzan – “La La Land”
Twenty-four artists sang in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest semi-final.
- Greta Tude – “Sound of My Stilettos”
- Fabrizio Faniello – “Try To Be Better”
- Eliana Gomez Blanco – “Guess What”
- Andre – “Broken Hill”
- Dan – “It’ll Be Ok”
- Ian – “On My Own”
- Ryan Hili – “In the Silence”
- Mark Anthony Bartolo – “Tears”
- Cheryl Balzan – “La La Land”
- Dario Bezzina – “Bridle Road”
- Nathan – “Creeping Walls”
- Chris Grech – “Indescribable”
- Brooke – “Checkmate”
- Christian Arding – “Eku Ċar”
- Bradley Debono – “Black Out”
- Klinsmann – “Piranah”
- Geo Debono – “The Mirror”
- The Busker – “Dance (Our Own Party)”
- Maxine Pace – “Alone”
- Dominic and Anna – “Whatever the Wind May Blow”
- Giada – “I Depend on You”
- Stefan – “Heartbreaker”
- Mikhail – “Leħen Fiċ-Ċpar”
- Matt Blxck – “UP.”
The winner of MESC 2023 will represent Malta at Eurovision this May. However, rules stipulate the song the winning song doesn’t have to be the same one that Malta takes to Liverpool. In 2022, Italian model Emma Muscat won the Maltese final with her song “Out of Sight”, but she ultimately sang the new track “I Am What I Am” in Turin.
Did you watch the MESC 2023 semi-final? Which acts stand a chance of taking it all?
Ryan Hili a star. Let it shine. Open the doors for this new star and vote for Ryan . He can make us proud. Its an opportunity that we can’t loos. Vote for Ryan Hili. Let it shine
Brooke, The Busker, Matt Blxck or Cheryl… but man if these are finalist thank god I didn’t pay attention to the QTFs and the SFs. One can tell there’s a huge different between amateur and professional artists.
I can only see one artist that can make the best performance In the eurovision song contest. RYAN HILI already x Factor winner. For me that is a big plus to give this onest artist the chance to represent us. Vote cleverly to try to be satisfied with the end result.
I’m here for Brooke. I don’t care about what you think. I am living for this genre called POWER HOUSE. I’m obsessed with this song and this is the only chance for Malta to qualify
and if she does go to ESC she may change the song
Busker is just brilliant! Love it!
The most useless selection this year, they could have selected the artist internally and save the money for the actual Eurovision performance.
I still think Malta will pick Giada, Maxine, or maybe Brooke (I don’t trust Malta to pick her from these three). Look at what Malta has sent every single year since 2015 (and many of their Junior entries as well). I don’t think they are going to suddenly pick something different this year and take a needed risk. I am rooting for The Busker, since I think it could stand out and they have come up with a clever performance. It is also fun, which is something Malta has struggled with lately. “Je Me Casse” had a fun beat but… Read more »
I’m enjoying Checkmate much more these days
If Brooke wins and goes to Eurovision with another song, I swear to God…
Why doesn’t the broadcaster select the singer they want INTERNALLY
That being said, Brooke could actually sing Checkmate in Liverpool since it’s written by Swedish authors
I guess we’ll see soon enough
FYI Brooke and Gerard James Borg are Maltese
I’ve been stuck on The Busker at #1 and Eliana as a distant #2 for a long time, and nothing changed here.
All this fuss to ultimately choose Brooke and DQ Aidan through a loophole. I think it’d be better if, instead of holding a long ass selection, they just chose Brooke internally instead
This gives experience to new singers (here in Malta they don’t get much opportunity to participate in large scale events) and we discover new talents, I never personally heard of the busker and now I’m new fan. Brooke is the front runner to win, she is an experienced singer and when it came to production she went the extra mile. Aidan disqualified because he broke the rules and then he went and hired Malta top criminal lawyer to then drop the court case. Let it be now…….. Aidan song was horrible I am fan of his but I would not… Read more »
I always find it strange how some selections have these rounds where theres like half the participants and only a handful dont qualify (kind of like the Latvian selection). Like idk whether producers wants a lonlonger final to run more ads or whatever but it seems strange to have the vast majority of contestants go through. I watched a recap of the songs,I’m just going to write about some of the front runners or acts ive seen mentioned. Brooke: Surprised by this outfit change, unless theyre playing on purple relating to wealth and regalness, I dont know if it matches… Read more »
I’m totally satisfied. The two best songs of the entire Maltese Eurovision Contest, which are also my personal two favorites are heading through the final, Brooke and The Busker. Despite Brooke having the better supoort behind her, I’d prefer the Busker to win their contest. Why? Well, the song is simple, has an unforgettable groove and funk, it’s quirky yet amusing, the staging was perfect (those parts were the performance was split into 3 different and unique Acts bind every single element of the staging and the choreography together), the live was brilliant and so fun to watch. In simple… Read more »
This revamped Checkmate has a passing resemblance to Helena Paparizou’s Survivor… I wouldve loved to have seen what Aidan had in store—was that he much of a threat to win that the broadcaster found a loophole to kick him out?!
Or he brought it on himself for not obeying the rules, but at this point we’ll never know.
Yes, he was. He was also the favorite last year, but still they managed to engineer a win for Emma Muscat with a song that was so poorly received that they ended up changing it. Aidan’s song was so popular that he was invited to perform at a number of pre-parties, but somehow he wasn’t even chosen to represent Malta at the OGAE Second Chance… Now this. It’s all very weird.
oh ya Emma Muscat, one of the most known singers in Malta’s win was “engineered” plz
This is Brookes year. Malta just send her it’s the only song that is somewhat quality plus had good staging and slayed the vocals.
Brooke might be Malta’s only shot to try to qualify for eurovision, but even if she doesn’t qualify, you can’t say Malta didn’t die trying.
exactly, i don’t even expect her to qualify but at least it’s decent and will be nice to listen to. Plus Brooke’s been trying for so many years she deserves it at this point.
There seems to be momentum behind The Busker but like you will be surprised if Brooke does not win.
Maxine was amazing tonight. Never expected that staging. That’s an expensive staging. Wow
Who? the song is more dull and boring than the ballads Malta usually sends. Brooke will take it.
It’s probably already rigged for Brooke, but I prefer Nathan and The Busker
Not my favourite but the idea of anything being rigged for Brooke is laughable. You could argue she’s lost three national selections where she clearly had the best song.
And like Emma last year, even if she’s not your favourite, you can’t argue she doesn’t have ONE OF the best songs in the selection. So if she wins, she wins.
I don’t think that it’s ”rigged” for Brooke either, but the hype (which existed before the songs were released) is certainly on Brooke’s side. Sure, she didn’t win three times (Golden was good, but even if I’d never call ”pack of wolves with a heart of gold” even one of the better songs in that selection), but remember that Malta, much like Albania, likes to ”build-up” a lasting recognition. Christabelle? Claudia? Amber? When’s the last time a new name won? Or someone who scored badly on all of their previous attempts? MESC is often about ”step-by-step” going towards victory, which… Read more »
Yes, agree with you re Heart of Gold. Fabrizio Faniello is doing both sides of the coin, not sure why, but I look forward to seeing him perform in person tomorrow.
Wow the actual better song in Maltese did NOT qualify… Maltese people hate their own language?
They hate bad lyrics in their own language
Do Eku car and Lehen fic-cpar have bad lyrics? Any translation?
The hosts and all the participants speak Maltese…but don’t perform it!
English is also our mother language also no one understands maltese unless your from Arabic countries is not like Eastern Europe that languages are so similar to each other so English is preferable language for eurovision as much more people understand it. If you’re interested in songs in maltese you can go and listen to The travellers unlike your favourite singer Aiden who choose when is convenient for him to sing in maltese all their song and albums are fully in the maltese language
That is strange, Maya, for I was a week in Malta, visited valetta and the Northern part of the island, Gozo as well, and most of the people I was in contact with spoke Maltese, jus a few spoke english…
That’s true most people speak maltese but English is very important language and you have to know it as much a maltese. To enter post secondary school and university you have to have a pass in both maltese and English and then most university course are in English so if don’t know English your screwed from schooling point of view
That was like Irish back in the day. If you failed Irish, you were not allowed in university even if you were Einstein or Pythagoras.
Most of the expected songs to qualify qualified but there were three or four suprise songs that snuck through! Why did ‘the Mirror’ get through?! Biggest suprise for me was Mikhail not qualifying. His staging was bad but his song was a bop and stood out at the end. It was also in Maltese and he had top four vocals for me, especially at the end! I find it! The final will have all English lyrics in their songs. What’s the point in having a national final where all the participants and hosts even speak Maltese and all the songs… Read more »
The Mirror, besides the barely listenable Stilletos, is the worst song of the evening. At least I understand *why* Stilletos exist. It’s a campy joke act. I really dislike the song, but I understand why it’s here. The Mirror…umm… it’s a mess.
Results… yeah. Bradley should have qualified to the finals. He was so good tonight! Some really weak songs qualifying instead… 🙁
Congratulations Nathan, The Busker, Maxine Pace, Ryan Hili, and Dan! 🙂
Whatever the final result may be, I think I will give these songs a listen to give my own ranking and end my boycott
Brooke’s song is very average. It’s like a Melo schlager. There are a few more interesting, authentic songs here.
Will be voting for the Busker on the final show.
My favorites tonight:
1: The Busker – “Dance”
2: Matt Blxck – “Up!”
— BiG GaP
3: Brooke – “Checkmate”
4: Nathan – “Creeping Walls”
5: Mikhail – “Lehen Fic-Cpar”
Ryan, Brooke, Mikhail AND Brooke had PERFECT voices. But Brooke and Maxine brought VERY expensive stages. Brooke had this block back stage that revealed extra dancers at the end but could have had more chess references whilst Maxine brought a BUTTERFLY DRONE!!! All in all, I DO wonder if Aidan could have beaten these. He COULD have but at the end of the day it’s about how much money each of the artists get given! Some of them like Brooke and Maxine genuinely suprised me. I didn’t like them as much before but now i’m seeing them on the Eurovision… Read more »
Hopefully whoever wins will not get their song changed. These are ten times better than Emma Muscat
I’d put over half of the songs in this semi ahead of the cheesy IAWIA. Some even drastically higher.
The question is, could any of them qualify out of the semi final? EVEN THEN?!
That’s a good question, but with this staging, and competition like Belgium and Albania, that might be a higher number than people think. Anyway, I’d rather have an underappreciated gem than an overrated entry that does nothing for me.
Malta is not in the same semifinal as Belgium and Albania. They’re in the “ stronger semifinal” which could finish them off, even if they pick the best song in their selection here.
Matt is the perfect showcloser act
Matt Blaxck my second favorite overall in this show… So catchy. Love that it is dancehall!
Maltese language sounds great
Too bad Malta prefers being commercial over being authentic
Agree
If Malta could send JUST ONE song in their native language, Eurovision watchers would vote for it. It would be a WOW moment in itself just by being there at Eurovision! Aidan showed last year that Maltese is a beautiful language!
I really like the quality of the show
Malta knows what they’re doing when it comes to production, JESC 2014 looked insanely good
If only the songs were as good as the visuals we’re seeing
As a whole, it is not that bad compared to other semis
Alone is a solid song, but Maxine’s vocal and this staging elevate it so much! Wow!
Otherwise, my top 3 remain Bradley, Nathan, and The Busker.
I also really liked Dan. It’s a simple song, but makes me smile!
Man, I forgot this show was happening tonight
I wish Aidan was here
Watching Maxine right now, she’s very good
Any great performances to catch up on?
Ian, Eliana, Brooke in my opinion
Thanks, will take a look after it’s over
Glad to know Matt Blxck hasn’t performed yet, excited to see his performance lol
The Busker
Well… many other countries should take a glance to the maltese creative stagings…
The Busker was great. All the right ingridients are there and it will get even more polished, if it go to Eurovision. Im really excited and hope this wins.
The Busker ia AMAZING!!! Such awesome staging!!! Could come Top 10 in Eurovision definitely!
Shouldn’t have been Piranha now???
My second favorite, Bradley Debono, just knocked it out of the park, and I’m happy. What a performance! I hope that the Maltese voters see it that way too.
Yes all the artists choreograph and pay for the extras they use on stage. Some artists have deeper pockets than others hence the difference in complexity 🙂
The roof is leaking 😀
is it the storm? Im not watching live.. whats happening
Yes its a heavy one … the MFCC is just a tent not an actual building.
Malta experienced a hurricane today!!!
Maltese staging is about 100 times better than the Irish one.
I have been saying the same lol
Which makes the songs seem better than they really are.
Some, yeah. I actually feel like some are only now coming to their full potential, and it was the low-quality staging and overcrowded stage that made them feel worse than they actually were. Unpopular opinion, but I genuinely really like my top few in Malta.
Yes, and as we saw with Ireland last week, a poor staging can make a song look even worse.
Brooke is cool
Television Malta (TVM) is the leading television network broadcasting from Malta and run by the national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).
Nathan just killed it with this staging! I’m sending an officially complaining if he doesn’t qualify. 😉
Whoah, the production value went up like 70%. I expected this but these stagings are very good
Okay, so I just watched Ryan Hili’s performance and let’s say he’s got the BEST vocals so far! Actually potential to go to Eurovision.
I refuse to watch a karaoke show with ads every 2 minutes and a song that will be chosen when they see poor reception by the fandom, wake me up when they announce which song they bought from Jimmy joker
Actually it was every 30 minutes… after 6 songs.
It wasn’t karaoke, cause we heard rain Live. The venue is a tent.
We are having the worst hurricane of the decade in Malta. I thought they would postpone today’s show
what hurricane???? We’re going through a storm! Show must go…..
I‘m always amazed how tiny countries like Malta and Iceland regularly stage multi-semi national finals… and the shows look big.
Malta’s semi-final staging is quite good.
Mikhail Mikhail Mikhail
Anyone else who watch? I feel weird choosing MESC semi over Sanremo
Me too… But, i have seen all the Sanremo performances… And I want to avoid Malta on Saturday so better just watch it today. LoL!
It was absolutely worth it. Never expected that show.