On the second day of the new Eurovision season, more countries reveal their plans for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Portugal has just opened submissions for Festival Da Canção 2023 and now the Maltese broadcaster PBS has revealed the full dates and regulations for The Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) 2023. The national final will take place in a new format this year, with a total of 6 live shows!
- Quarter Final 1 – 13 January 2023
Quarter Final 2 – 20 January 2023
Quarter Final 3 – 27 January 2023
Quarter Final 4 – 3 February 2023 - Semi Final – 9 February 2023
- Grand Final MESC – 11 February 2023
The submission window to enter a song for the national final, will be open from October 17th to October 31st and it was revealed that the winner will receive a money prize of 10.000€, while the first and second runner-up will get 4.000€ and 2.000€ and the rest of the participants, that have made it at least to the Quarter Finals, will get 300€ each.
Malta’s broadcaster is also stricter than most other countries, allowing only performers with a Maltese citizenship to enter the competition:
All artists must be of Maltese nationality or have dual citizenship, one of which is Maltese. In the case of a group comprising two or more artists, the lead artist must be of Maltese Nationality or hold dual citizenship one of which is Maltese. All artists participating in lead role must be of Maltese Nationality or hold dual citizenship, one of which Maltese.
This year, Emma Muscat won The Malta Eurovision Song Contest with “Out Of Sight” and is therefore not permitted to enter a song to MESC in 2023. Her winning song was later changed to “I Am What I Am“, as her Eurovision entry. PBS has revealed that the Eurovision song will be submitted to the EBU in March 2023, which is almost a month after the national final. It is therefore not impossible that the Maltese Eurovision song will be changed once again, after the national final.
Emma Muscat finished in 16th place out of 18 participants in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to the Grand Final with “I Am What I Am”. Do you think she would have had better chances with “Out Of Sight”? And who would you like to see at MESC 2023? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and on our social media profiles! @escbubble
