How Will Malta Decide Its Eurovision Song Now That We Have Our Singer?
Now that she’s been crowned X Factor Malta’s first winner, Michela Pace will soon be preparing to fly to Tel Aviv for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.
When the X Factor Malta was announced back in June 2018, it was also announced that the competition would replace Malta’s contest to choose the island’s Eurovision representative. That meant that whoever won the X Factor would go on to act as Malta’s entry for the ESC. This obviously attracted lots of criticism when it was announced, and still continues to earn some now that the show is over.
It is unclear how Michela’s song will be chosen for the contest
In previous years, most people would vote for a song rather than a person, as the Malta Song Contest included original songs written specifically for the Eurovision. This year with the X Factor it was quite the opposite, as contestants mostly performed cover songs and the public voted for their favourite singers.
When asked by a representative of the ESC, Michela said she was unsure what direction she would follow for the creation of her entry.
X Factor Malta producer Anton Attard told the Times of Malta that “nothing had yet been established on the process or timings for choosing the song, including whether this would be an internal selection”
Apparently now that the show is over, the X Factor production team no longer has a say in the process, and it is now back in the hands of PBS. However, no further clarification has been provided.
Several people have since started a petition calling for runner-up Owen Leuellen to join Michela at the Eurovision, however it is unclear as to if the rules would allow for this. The petition currently has over 3,900 signatures.