‘This Isn’t The Path To Success’: Jason Micallef Criticises Attitude To Malta’s Eurovision Songs
Jason Micallef has cautioned that if Malta regards merely qualifying for the Eurovision final as a success, it will never achieve genuine victory.
“I will probably be alone with my clear constructive criticism, but I can never accept the argument that simply participating is good enough or that qualifying for the final for the first time in four years counts as a success,” Micallef said.
“We can never have true success with this mentality, and this is the truth.”
After Malta finished 17th at the Eurovision last weekend, Micallef critiqued the attitudes of media outlets, politicians and PBS in the build-up to Miriana Conte’s performance.
“Every year, we think that we’re going to do well, if not win, the Eurovision, but where does this illusion come from?” he questioned.
“First of all, the Maltese song is constantly played every single day. There are also positive interviews and stories, full of hope that this time we have a good chance of doing well. Local media quote international reports about what people overseas are saying about our song and everyone gets over-confident.”
“Objective and artistic criticism doesn’t exist in our local media.”
“Meanwhile, politicians enter the fray to continue making people believe that this time our entry will make us proud, as though anyone will say otherwise.”
“And then there is PBS, which is responsible for the selection of the artist and the song from start to finish.”
Micallef said that PBS was responsible for all aspects of Miriana Conte’s song – from her initial song title ‘Kant’ to its arguments with the EBU to the singer’s outfits, interviews and social media stunts.
“We ended up 17th in the final, and ninth in the semi-final. The jury and televoting of people basically remained the same as they did in previous years.”
“Just because a story or song goes viral on social media doesn’t mean that the jury or public will vote for you. Many people in Malta, including PBS, believes that this was going to happen.”
“However, the numbers and rankings never lie. The winning Austrian song was in a class of its own from the very start, as was the second-placed song (Israel) despite its country of origin. I am talking about the song, and not passing judgment about what is going on in Palestine.”
“The Italian and French songs also did well, because they were simple, good, melodic songs that were interpreted without excess effort.”
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