With Gaia clinching the Junior Eurovision Song Contest trophy, will Malta be organising the next one in winter? Not necessarily, according to Public Broadcasting CEO Anton Attard, although “there is a lot of goodwill”.
“It does not mean that we are the automatic organisers, but it means that if we want to, we can – we have the right of first refusal,” he said.
As of yesterday morning, discussions started between the EBU, the Malta government and PBS. “We’re discussing it and looking at the logistics of organising and the decision will be taken in the coming weeks, but there is lots of will from Malta’s side to do it,” he said.
He pointed out that the Eurovision show is technically of “a very high standard” and would require “a lot of resources” but was “doable”. Saturday’s arena in Kiev had a seating capacity of 3,000, and Mr Attard believes that finding a similar venue in Malta should not be a problem.
Details of cost, he said, would be communicated once the decision is taken.
There is lots of will from Malta’s side to do it
Apart from the possibility of organising the show in Malta, Mr Attard said that Saturday’s win should be an eye opener for the ‘senior’ Eurovision contest.
He pointed out that Gaia had been handpicked to sing.
Malta last took part in the Junior Eurovision song contest in 2010 and the singer used to be chosen from a local song festival.
When the opportunity to take part this year came up, no local contest was held. “I had heard Gaia sing on Xarabank and realised her potential – she is an amazing artist with a fantastic stage presence even at such a young age, so then I had a discussion with her coach, Gillian Attard,” he said.
Doing away with a local contest meant there was a lot of time and effort dedicated to writing a song specifically for the Eurovision. “It is a much calmer process,” he said.
In the light of Gaia’s success, Mr Attard is suggesting a change in the process by which the Maltese Eurovision contestant is chosen – separating the song from the singer.
Mr Attard believes that the best way would be to hold a contest to choose a singer, but the winning song would not be the one to make it to Europe.
“A song would then be written specifically for the singer.”