The fascination wrought upon people by personalities is a weird thing. I watched it in action this week when I was standing a couple of inches away from Alfred Sant. There was another person who spent the best part of half an hour literally gaping at him.

It is partly this fascination that makes people throng to events such as the Samsung Malta Television Awards - and it is also what makes the event the perfect occasion for the venting of spleen by some people who shall remain nameless.

I lost count of the letters, e-mails, and telephone calls I received in connection with something that ought to be a celebration of all that is good in the local television scene. Some of the people who wrote or called did not even have the decency to introduce themselves. Others, as usual, told me what I 'ought' to write today, and others offered salacious gossip on condition of anonymity.

It is patently obvious that some of the people who contacted me were the monkeys' paws of others; some had their own agenda. They wanted to use this platform to air their views because it is my name that appears here, rather than their own as would have happened had they written letters to the press.

There were others who used blogs to insinuate this, that, and the other... and again, stopped short of signing their names. I can never understand why someone who has the courage to air his convictions lacks the final iota to put his name to them.

Be that as it may, congratulations are due to the organisers Mermaid Media, but especially to the hat-trick winners.

I was very, very disappointed at One Radio last Monday, because despite Alfred Zammit's and Miriam Dalli's triumphs, they did not even give the awards a mention in their 6.45 a.m. news bulletin. However, Mr Zammit more than made up for this by including the relevant clips and his thanks in his own programme.

I was also very annoyed that the website of the Samsung Malta Television Awards was not kept updated in real time.

To me, it was a foregone conclusion that Alfred Zammit of One Television would win the People's Choice Award for Favourite Television Personality, just as it was that Miriam Dalli would win the Newscaster of the Year Award. Kalamita won the People's Award for Favourite Television Programme, and Qalbinnies won Best Social Awareness/Religious Programme and Zmeraldi Teens won the Best Youth Programme.

The fact that the same two people and three programmes were capable of clinching the awards for the third time obviously did not sit well with some people.

The law of averages might have had a hand in TVM's winning of the coveted Station of the Year Award - and this year they appear to have realised that boasting a bit about it ought to be par for the course.

Inevitably, there was talk of a rival awards scheme being set up (so what's new?).

I would like to suggest that next year the people who present both radio and television programmes will not be allowed to compete for both if the Radio Personality of the Year Award is introduced.

I would also like to see a list of criteria upon which judges will base their decisions as a footnote to the applications for nominations. That way, the media people who send in an application will begin on an even playing field because they will know what is expected (and which clips to send in), and the judges will have benchmarks that will preclude the giving of any nil points as happened this time around.

Meanwhile, the gossip is that apart from the new television channel Favourite (why are the blurbs in English whereas the presenters' bumphs are in Maltese?), a new radio station is also set to hit the local airwaves.

Head-hunting of staff, and moves akin to a football transfer season in full bloom, are happening as you read this. I did ask one of the best DJs on the island, Joe Tanti, if he knew what was happening. All he said was "There's a lot of talk going on about projects. All I know is what has actually happened so far; and, to date, that results in a half an hour cut in my show. The rest is pie in the sky."

Just in time to celebrate TVM's Station of the Year Award comes the very first edition of the Malta International Television Short Film Festival, to be broadcast from April.

This series, launched last week at the Empire Cinema in Bugibba, will go way beyond the filmfest format of yore. Television audience participation is possible, nay, encouraged, over the 13-programme schedule.

Viewers will watch the short films, originating from a variety of countries including Malta and competing against one another. They will then vote for their favourite candidate. The submitted films will be in English or with English subtitles.

The fact that short films are usually low-budget does not mean they are 'cheap', or that they will appeal only to aficionados of the genre. A short film is the visual effect of flash fiction; pithy and capable of branding the memory.

The closing date for submissions is February 14. The postal address is PO Box 26, San Ġwann. For more information please contact Joyce Grech on 9942 5594, Tony Parnis on 9945 3982 or send an e-mail to info@maltashortfilmfest.com.

There will also be a professional panel of judges voting for the films; Tony Cassar Darien, Winston Azzopardi, Fr Saviour Chircop, and a guest judge every week.

television@timesofmalta.com