Music of Malta

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Popular Gozitan musicians known as Id-Dudi, 1910s. Photo Mikiel Farrugia Popular Gozitan musicians known as Id-Dudi, 1910s. Photo Mikiel Farrugia.jpg
Popular Gozitan musicians known as Id-Dudi, 1910s. Photo Mikiel Farrugia

The music of Malta ranges across a spectrum of genres such as traditional folk music, metal and various forms of electronica.

Contents

History

Għana is the traditional folk music of Malta.

Malta organises its own Malta Song Festival yearly since 1960. [1]

In 1971 Joe Grech was the first singer to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest. Andy Partridge from XTC was born on Malta in 1953. Later, Thea Garrett won the Malta Song for Europe 2010 called My Dream. Lynn Chircop represented Malta at Eurovision 2003 with the pop song "To Dream Again". It was sung in Riga with 5 additional backing singers on the stage. Chircop got 4 points at the end of the voting process. Morena is another artist who is a winner of Malta Song for Europe 2008 called VODKA. Klinsmann participated in Malta Song for Europe in 2007 (She Gives me Wings) and 2008 (Go finalist song). Claudia Faniello was the second runner up in Malta Song for Europe 2008 who participated with the songs Caravaggio and Sunrise. Chiara represented Malta in Eurovision a total of 3 times: 1998, 2005, 2009. Gaia Cauchi represented and won for Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. Gianluca Bezzina represented Malta in 2013. Destiny Chukunyere represented and won for Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015. Chukunyere represented Malta at Eurovision 2020 after winning the Maltese version of X Factor.

Bibliography

Artists

Bitterside Bitterside.jpg
Bitterside
Gianluca Bezzina Gianluca Bezzina, ESC2013 press conference 02.jpg
Gianluca Bezzina
Ira Losco ESC2016 - Malta Meet & Greet 10.jpg
Ira Losco
Emma Muscat Emma Muscat, Turquoise Carpet 2022.png
Emma Muscat
Abysmal Torment Abysmal Torment Line Up 2019.png
Abysmal Torment
Julie Zahra Julie Zahra photo by Andy Booth 2013-11-07 06-35.jpg
Julie Zahra

See also

Instruments

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 35 times since its debut in 1971. The contest is broadcast in Malta on the PBS channel, TVM. Malta has yet to win the contest, but is the only non-winning country to have achieved four top three results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest</span>

Malta has entered the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eighteen times since debuting at the first contest in 2003. Maltese broadcaster PBS has been responsible for the country's participation, and organises a televised national final to select the country's entrant. Malta did not participate in 2011 and 2012, and selected the entrant internally instead of using a national final in 2013 and 2014.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "I Do" written by Aldo Spiteri and Fabrizio Faniello. The song was performed by Fabrizio Faniello, who had previously represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest in the 2001 edition where he achieved ninth place with the song "Another Summer Night". The Maltese entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece was selected through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2006, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of two phases: Opportunity 2 and Malta Song for Europe 2006. In the final of Malta Song for Europe 2006, held on 4 February 2006, "I Do" performed by Fabrizio Faniello emerged as the winning entry after gaining the most votes from a public televote with 7,729 votes.

Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza is Maltese song competition held on a day near September 21. All songs are performed in the Maltese language and is one of the most anticipated events on the Maltese musical calendar. The event first took place back in 1983 in a span of four years until 1987 before returning just 10 years later in 1997 going on to take place each and every year since then. Several local stars like to submit their entries into such a prestigious musical event due to the fact that the songs are written in Maltese. In recent years there were a number of winners who went on to be successful both locally and abroad. Below you could find the list of the past winners.

L-Għanja tal-Poplu is a popular Maltese song competition first organized by Youth Travel Circle (YTC) on 5 May 1973 at the St. Albert College in Valletta. The founder of YTC is Rev. Maurice Mifsud. Initially the contest had to register as YTC members. From 1987 onward, the contest took a national dimension. The competing songs are sung primarily in Maltese and are written either by the singers themselves or other songwriters. In the 1990s the contest started being transmitted on local television stations. This contest is today organised by the voluntary organisation L-Għanja tal-Poplu and is also supported by Arts Council Malta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Faniello</span> Maltese singer

Claudia Faniello is a Maltese singer. She represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Breathlessly" She came 3rd with the song Gmielek in the maltese festival MuzikaMuzika 2022

Philip Vella is a Maltese musical composer. He has won the main national festivals of Malta several times such as the Malta Song for Europe, International Festival of Maltese Song as well as L-Għanja tal-Poplu festival. He has successfully competed in International festivals in the Netherlands, finalist in the Belgian Song for Eurovision competition in 2006, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Romania as well as six times representing Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest, placing 2nd in 2002 in Estonia with the song "7th Wonder", in 2000 in Sweden with the song "Desire", in 2004 in Turkey with the song ‘On Again... Off Again’ and in 2007 in Finland with the song "Vertigo" that received over 31,000 televotes in Malta. For 2008 he composed the song "Vodka" sung by Morena.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Tomorrow" written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat. The song was performed by Gianluca. The Maltese entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2013, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 1 and 2 February 2013, respectively, where "Tomorrow" performed by Gianluca eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a seven-member jury and a public televote.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Coming Home" written by Richard Micallef. The song was performed by Firelight. The Maltese entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2014, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 7 and 8 February 2014, respectively, where "Coming Home" performed by Firelight eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

Mużika Mużika is the national song festival of Malta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaia Cauchi</span> Maltese singer

Gaia Cauchi M.Q.R. is a Maltese singer. She represented Malta at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and won the contest with her song "The Start".

Malta participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 on 26 November 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Maltese entrant for the 2017 contest was selected through a national final, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) on 1 July 2017, while their song was selected internally. Each of the ten participants performed covers of non-Eurovision candidate songs during the national final. Gianluca Cilia was declared winner with his cover of Perdere l'amore.

Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, held on 12 May 2001 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Maltese entry was selected through the Malta Song for Europe contest, where the winner was Fabrizio Faniello with the song "Another Summer Night". Malta performed 21st out of the 23 countries competing in the contest and placed ninth with 48 points.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "To Dream Again" written by Alfred Zammit and Cynthia Sammut. The song was performed by Lynn Chircop. The Maltese entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia was selected through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2003, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 7 and 8 February 2003, respectively, where "To Dream Again" performed by Lynn Chircop eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Taboo" written by Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg and Muxu. The song was performed by Christabelle. The Maltese entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a final held on 3 February 2018, where "Taboo" performed by Christabelle eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

X Factor Malta is the Maltese version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The first season premiered on 7 October 2018 and has since been broadcast on Television Malta. The show was used to determine the artist that would represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019 and 2020. In July 2020, it was announced that the show would be replaced by Malta's Got Talent, but after a one-year hiatus, a third season began in October 2021. Season four started on 08 October 2023.

Malta participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Gliwice, Poland. Their entrant was selected through a national selection, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) on 20 August 2019.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "I Am What I Am" performed by Emma Muscat. The Maltese entry for the 2022 contest was initially selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round, a special show and a final, held on 17, 18 and 19 February 2022, respectively, where "Out of Sight" performed by Muscat eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a six-member jury and a public televote. On 14 March 2022, PBS announced that Muscat would ultimately perform "I Am What I Am" in Turin; the song was released to the public on the same day.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Dance " performed by the band The Busker. The Maltese entry for the 2023 contest was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of three quarter-final rounds, a semi-final round and a final, held between 13 January and 11 February 2023, where "Dance " performed by the Busker eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

References

  1. Ciantar, Philip (2021-04-21). Studies in Maltese Popular Music. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-37914-3. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Rediffusion radio service established for itself a central role in the promulgation of local song festivals, such as the Malta Song Festival... ...Spread over several evenings, the festival was held for the first time at the Radio City Hall in Hamrun between 10 and 12 November 1960.