Prior to the 2023 contest, Malta had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest seventeen times since their first participation in the inaugural 2003 contest. Malta participated in every contest, with the exception of the 2011 and 2012 contests. Malta has won the contest twice: in 2013 with "The Start" performed by Gaia Cauchi, and in 2015 with "Not My Soul" performed by Destiny Chukunyere.[3] In the 2022 contest, Malta was represented by the song "Diamonds in the Skies" performed by Gaia Gambuzza. The song placed last with 43 points.[4]
Before Junior Eurovision
Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Malta's participation in the contest was confirmed by PBS in May 2023. PBS organised the national final Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 to select the Maltese entrant.[5][6] Unlike the previous editions, the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 selected an artist to represent Malta exclusively, with the song chosen afterwards.[7] Artists were able to submit two covers version songs which showcase their singing abilities between 21 May 2023 and 16 June 2023,[6] and the 24 semi-finalists were revealed on 3 July 2023 following a preliminary selection by a jury nominated by PBS.[6][8]
Semi-finals
The semi-finals were broadcast on 22 and 29 July 2023, hosted by Ryan and Josmar. The allocation for the semi-finals was announced on 7 July 2023.[9] The 12 finalists were announced on 5 August.[10] The announcement took place as part of a special broadcast, during which a recap of all competing acts was played and the finalists were selected by the votes of a five-member jury panel (80%) and public televoting (20%).
The final took take place on 12 August 2023, hosted by Ryan and Josmar. The show featured pre-recorded performances by the finalists and a live results reveal segment after the votes had been counted. The winner was selected by the votes of a jury panel (80%) and public televoting (20%). The jury consisted of Maltese Eurovision Song Contest 2017 entrantClaudia Faniello and Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 finalists Matt Black and Ryan Hili.[11] The interval act featured last years winner Gaia Gambuzza, who performed her song "Diamonds in the Skies". Yulan Law was announced as the winner of the national final. Law had already attempted to represent the country thrice in the past, and has also been a finalist on the Maltese versions of The Voice Kids and Got Talent.[12][13][14]
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 took place at Palais Nikaïa in Nice, France on 26 November 2023.
Voting
The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition was used, where the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten.[16]
The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 24 November 2023 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on 26 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for three songs.[17] They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points.
At the end of the show, Malta received 51 points from juries and 43 points from online voting, placing 10th.[18]
