Jason Micallef and (top) his Facebook post about the shifting of the timing of the Eurosong festival. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Jason Micallef smells a scandal in the national broadcaster’s decision to shift the Eurosong festival to November but the Valletta 18 chairman is not saying what it is.

In a post on his Facebook wall, Mr Micallef, who is also chairman of One TV, the Labour Party station, described the move as “a unilateral decision” by Public Broadcasting Services chief executive Anton Attard.

Mr Micallef has often criticised the government for retaining Mr Attard at the helm of PBS despite having formerly been part of the Nationalist Party’s inner circle.

And in the latest tirade, Mr Micallef hoped that the festival decision was “not vitiated by scandalous decisions”.

If I get hold of the facts, I will be at the forefront saying the November festival is vitiated and null

In an enigmatic way, Mr Micallef continued: “If I get hold of the facts, I will be at the forefront saying the November festival is vitiated and null.”

Attempts to contact Mr Micallef on his mobile phone yesterday proved futile.

His reference was to the decision taken by PBS last month for the Eurosong festival  through which Malta’s Eurovision representative is chosen  to be held in November instead of the following February.

PBS had explained that the decision to change the date was taken to allow enough time to make the necessary arrangements for the song that will be picked.

The festival this year will only choose the winning singer, who would then represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest with a song that may not necessarily be the same as that sung during the Malta festival.

But the festival will also be held at the same venue where Malta will host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, just a week later.

While avoiding a response to Mr Micallef’s comment, a spokesman for PBS yesterday explained the reasoning behind holding the festival on November 22 instead of in February, saying it was primarily to have more time to prepare for Malta’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

“Secondly, having the two contests on consecutive weekends means that a number of costs can be shared between the two events, thus increasing the economic viability of these projects.

“Moreover, this arrangement will also allow PBS to make use of the state-of-the-art Junior Eurovision technical infrastructure for the Eurovision National Final, which will result in a higher quality show, benefiting local music artists, composers and lyricists.”

ksansone@timesofmalta.com