Opinion: Aidan’s Ban Is Exactly Why Malta Keeps Struggling To Win Eurovision
If PBS wants Malta to keep drowning in Eurovision mediocrity, its decision to expel Aidan from the contest was right on the mark.
Aidan will not get a chance to represent Malta in Liverpool next May because he didn’t get permission from PBS before publishing certain social media posts.
It doesn’t seem as though the Reġina singer posted more than a few teaser posts, but PBS’s Eurovision regulations include a complete media and social media muzzle on artists in the run-up to the contest.
Singers who want to post about Eurovision are restricted to sharing PBS’ official content, with the logic being that any posts could unfairly influence the public and the jurors.
If this sounds completely ridiculous, it’s because it is.
While PBS should make sure all contestants are given equal exposure on its own platforms, the artists should be free to personally promote their songs as they see fit.
First of all, the blanket ban is ineffective. If singers want to give their song a boost on social media, they can easily do so with the help of third parties, fan accounts and people who genuinely like the song.
More importantly, promotion is actually part of the artistic process. It makes the industry extremely competitive, with not everyone granted a level playing-field, but the good thing about competition is that it incentivises people to improve themselves.
Banning singers from promoting themselves at all just helps push them backwards, right into a PBS-imposed straitjacket of mediocrity.
Eurovision singers should be free to be as creative as possible, including when it comes to self-promotion, not live in fear that PBS might disqualify them over an Instagram post.
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The more artists are restricted, the less creative they are likely to become. And the less creative they are, the less likely it is that they will triumph at Eurovision.
From Italy’s Zitti e Buoni to Portugal’s Amor Pelos Dois, history has shown that the only “recipe” to win the Eurovision is that your song must be the most memorable of the night.
A song’s winnability fluctuates year by year according to the euro-zeitgeist and the competition on offer, but it certainly helps to be original, and originality requires creativity.
Malta’s small size means we will always have fewer options to choose from but the talent is clearly out there and PBS should focus on harnessing it.
Aidan interviewed ahead of the first Eurovision quarter-final
It should certainly not add fresh, unnecessary and ineffective obstacles itself just because some singers might complain they are being outflanked by the competition at an early stage.
Maybe this incessant mentality that everything needs to be controlled is why Malta keeps failing to win Eurovision. PBS should forget about controlling and focus on creating. After all, we’ve tried pretty much everything else to win this damn contest, it’s definitely worth a shot…
Cover photo: Left: Aidan and other contestants in the first quarter-final (Photo: Malta Eurovision Song Contest), Right: Aidan singing in the first quarter-final
Should Aidan have been disqualified from the 2023 Malta Eurovision Song Contest?
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