A boycott of the Malta Eurovision Festival is not being ruled out by the Union of Maltese Composers and Authors (UKAM), which opposes the recent decision to allow foreign songwriters to take part in the contest.
However, union representative Horace Anastasi insisted a boycott was a last resort and he hoped constructive discussions with the festival organisers, Public Broadcasting Services, would prevail.
UKAM called an urgent meeting for members at the Vilhena Band Club in Floriana yesterday to discuss the festival’s regulations, especially since the revised rules allow foreign composers and authors to submit two songs.
“We won’t accept foreigners having two songs, not even one if we can help it,” Mr Anastasi said, banging his fist on the wooden table.
His message echoed the same threat made by UKAM in 2004 when it had protested vociferously against foreigners’ participation during the 2005 festival.
The threat was lifted at the eleventh hour when a compromise was reached thanks to a reciprocity clause through which only composers who allowed Maltese to take part in their festival could join in.
“In 2004 I said I have nothing against foreigners and I will say it again – this has nothing to do with being scared of competition, but about having a fair competition,” Mr Anastasi said.
He said while the reciprocity clause had been a reasonable compromise, the revised rules made Malta’s festival a free-for-all where foreign composers or authors, whether European or not, could compete.
When contacted, PBS CEO Anton Attard said he was prepared to meet the union for discussions in the best interest of the festival.
PBS reopened this contentious debate as part of its drive to reverse Malta’s recent losing trend in the festival and open up the competition from its insularity, while encouraging composers and authors to take the plunge and be more creative in presenting different songs.
During a seminar on the song contest last week, Mr Attard had said the current situation, where 52 per cent of all 123 entries for 2010’s festival were submitted by the same five composers – one composer alone submitted 32 songs – had to change.
Some 30 people turned up for the yesterday’s UKAM meeting, which started with a recital of the Hail Mary, and the media were asked to leave during the second half of the meeting “to allow members the chance to freely air their grievances”.
Mr Anastasi’s send-off message to the media was an appeal to “please” differentiate between those who really sought to help local artists and those who wished to exploit them.
Earlier, he opened the meeting by expressing his surprise at the new rules since UKAM had held a meeting with the previous CEO and it had been agreed that the participation of foreign composers and authors would be ruled out.
“We have been informed that what had been agreed with the previous CEO has gone up in smoke. Is it our fault the PBS board has since changed? It’s shameful we were not even informed about the changes to the regulations,” he said.
During the meeting, members lamented how since the Festival tal-Kanzunetta Maltija had been dismantled, this was the only remaining showcase of national Maltese talent.
They also complained that the processing fee to compete in the festival had risen to €250 from €100 last year, when artists usually faced an average cost of €700 to €1,000 to take part and put a package together.
However, the regulations show that the prize money for the winning song has gone up to €7,500 (from €5,000 last year). In all, the prize money for the top three places increased by €7,500.
The members were also upset that this year, during the first phase judges would only be able to form their opinion based on a CD and not a live performance of the song.
The Malta Eurovision Festival, a name that also irked UKAM because it excluded the word “song”, will be held in February, and the winner will go on to represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany in May.