In an article published on MaltaToday and Illum, two popular local newspapers, one story seemed to focus on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Anton Attard, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Broadcasting Services commenting that the return to the competition follows an approach by a major sponsor. He commented that the broadcaster had decided to stop participating within the event back in 2010 not because of unsuccessful results but because of financial reasons with the Eurovision Song Contest proving to be a better support strategy for the local music scene.
Nevertheless, the issue at hand has been the actual choice, that of Gaia Cauchi, a student of Gillian Attard's elite La Voix Academy which also boasted several finalists in this years' edition of the Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza Teenage Talent competition. Attard said that there wasn't enough time to hold a festival for the selection of the artist and the entry noting that proceedings have to commence around '6 months before hand'. Should the Malta Junior Eurosong had taken place, it would have cost around €30,000 which would have also seemingly been covered by the sponsor it seems.
music-news.com commented on the issue stating that whilst Gaia is a worthy representative and shows stunning vocal verstaility, a competition should have still taken place as this 'approach is unfair on other young singers'. Nevertheless, the issue at hand seems to have been time and should Malta continue to participate in this illustrious event, indicatiosn denote that a possible competition would be returning next year. In the meantime, no news about the recent rumours that Malta intends to host in 2014 were mentioned. Stay tuned to music-news.com for all of the latest news.
Sources:
www.escflashmalta.com