Photo Credit: Adria Twins, TVM, Kantera, Kelsey Bellante
Malta’s national final MESC is back for another year and in this article, we take a look at the 24 acts competing in this year’s competition where the winner will represent Malta in Eurovision 2025.
Photo Credit: TVM
Originally, Alexandra Alden was on the list of artists competing but on December 16th 2024, TVM announced her disqualification as her song ‘Magnolia’ had been performed live before the 30th November 2024. She has been replaced by Dario Bezzina and Joseph L-Muni.
The Format
This year’s MESC will consist of three live shows; two Semi-Finals and a final. Each Semi-Final will have 12 acts competing and the Top 8 will advance to the Grand Final. These 16 acts will perform one more time hoping to impress the juries and the Maltese public. It is unknown, however, whether the ratio will be 50/50.
Semi-Final 1 will be on Tuesday 4th February, Semi-Final 2, will be on Thursday 6th February and the Final will be held on Saturday 8th February. You can watch the shows on TVM and all three events will begin at 8pm UK time, 9pm CET time.
These are the acts competing in each Semi-Final:
Photo Credit: TVM
Now we know the format and who’s taking part, let’s meet the artists!
Adria Twins
First up is the Adria Twins! Made up of Celine and Shaian, the Adria Twins are newcomers to the music scene but have already become fairly established names in the industry so could be one to watch. Their debut song ‘L-Isbaħ Stilla’ was an emotional tribute to their late father and became an instant hit in Malta making it to Number 1 in the Maltese music charts. Making their debut in MESC, they’ll be singing ‘Qalb Ma’ Qalb’.
Dario Bezzina and Joseph ‘Å»eppi’ L-Muni
Dario Bezzina is a singer, songwriter, and musician who’s been in the industry for 20 years. He first tried to represent his country in Junior Eurovision back in 2004, but he finished in second place. He has performed at numerous Maltese Music festivals and has made it to the MESC Semi-Finals three times.
Joseph ‘Å»eppi’ L-Muni is a singer who’s an emerging artist with a unique style. This will be his first MESC contest. Initially rejected from the 24-song lineup, the song they’ll be singing is ‘Għażliet‘ which is going to be one of the first songs in the Għana genre which is a traditional Maltese folk music genre, so already this is a culturally significant moment for Malta. Will we be hearing this genre of music in Eurovision as well?
Dre’ Curmi
Andre Curmi is the real name of Dre’Curmi who will be participating in his first MESC with the song ‘Te Amo’. As well as music, his passions include fitness and travelling. Will he be adding Switzerland to his travel destinations list performing at the biggest song contest in the world?
https://youtu.be/5vbdXUX7ezk?si=U7pbyzXVtBu4zB26
Haley Azzopardi
Haley Azzopardi has had various success as a singer and as a MESC contestant. She took part in Junior MESC 2015 and Sanremo Junior. She participated in the famous Mużika Mużika festival in 2022 finishing in the Top 20.
Her MESC record has improved over time, after being knocked out of the Quarter Finals in 2023 with ‘Tik Tok’, the following year she qualified for the MESC Final with ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ finishing in 12th place. Despite not making it to Eurovision 2024, she was still a part of it, as she was a member of the Maltese jury! This year, she’s back singing ‘Whistleblower’.
Justine Shorfid
Justine Shorfid tried her hand at representing Malta at Junior Eurovision 2016 but she did not place in the Top 3. She got her big break on X Factor Malta where she wowed the judges with her strong voice, and made it all the way to the Final, finishing in 2nd place, losing to Destiny.
After X Factor, she participated in different festivals such as Mużika Mużika 2023 where she finished in the Top 20. In her first MESC, she will be singing ‘Still I Rise’ where she hopes to rise to the top of the scoreboard in the MESC final.
JVF (Jessika, Victorio Gauci & Fabrizio Faniello)
Next, we have three very experienced performers in MESC and two of them have competed in Eurovision itself. Jessika and Fabrizio have appeared in Maltese selections almost yearly throughout the 2000s to now. Jessika represented San Marino in 2018, and Fabrizio Faniello represented Malta twice in 2001 and 2006. Victorio Gauci has taken part in numerous Maltese Eurovision selections in the mid-late 2000s. So with all this experience of competition, could they be the ones to watch? They’ll be singing the catchy ‘Festa (No Time For Siesta).
Kantera
Formed in 2020, Kantera are a band who aim to showcase traditional Maltese music with a modern twist. They like to sing in the Maltese tongue and the band use a variety of instruments.
In their short space of time, their unique sound has made a big impression in Malta already and they’re very popular with the public. Could their uptempo song ‘LalaRataTakeke LalaRataKabum‘ (try saying that three times fast!) be the one to beat?
Kelsy Attard
Kelsy Attard is a student and singer who is only 18 years old hoping to make an impact with her song ‘Love Me Loud‘. Her song is co-written by herself as well as Patrik Jean who eagle-eyed Eurofans may recognise as a contestant in the Swedish National Final Melodifestivalen.
https://youtu.be/zN64IX82REQ?si=pqY-rUwbnGRil1PT
Making her MESC debut as a solo artist, it’s Kelsey Bellante. She first made a name for herself on X Factor Lithuania where the judges were mesmerised by her rendition of ‘Listen‘ by Beyoncé in the auditions. She made it to the six-chair challenge, which was a huge achievement for a 16-year-old. She participated in the first series of X Factor Malta the following year, where she made it all the way to the live shows finishing in a respectable 8th place.
You might not be familiar with the name, but she is a part of the band ERBA who were a fan favourite with the song ‘Sirena’. However, she has been releasing new music with the band and as a solo artist ever since. She’ll be hoping that her catchy song ‘365‘ will be in the public and juries’s minds 24/7.
Krista Å ujak
One of the youngest competitors this year, Krista Å ujak is only 17 years old but she’s achieved a lot in her singing career. She was one of the finalists in the Sanremo Junior Malta competition back in 2017. Over the years, she has been developing her craft as an artist and started to release her own material. Now she’ll be taking part with her song ‘Unheard’ hoping to do well at her first MESC.
Kristy Spiteri
Kristy Spiteri is another young singing talent and multi-instrumentalist who has been singing from a young age. She won her first music festival at the age of 6, where she sang ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’. She continued to perform at various festivals in her younger years, achieving more success. She recently took part in the Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza 2023 festival, where she was one of the 20 finalists.
For MESC, she’ll be singing ‘Heaven Sent’ which combines pop with operatic elements showing off her range as a vocalist. The song has begun to make waves in the Eurovision sphere and was co-written by TEYA who had represented Austria in Eurovision 2023 with ‘Who The Hell Is Edgar?‘ but will it be enough to take her all the way to Switzerland?
Kurt Anthony Cassar
Kurt Anthony Cassar is a singer who has tried to represent San Marino on a number of occasions such as 2022 and 2023. He made it to the final in 2022 where he finished in 16th place, but was eliminated in the first round the following year.
Kurt also used to upload covers of different songs and invited guests to sing along with him such as another MESC contestant Raquella Dalli.
Now he’s trying his hand at representing his home country at Eurovision with the song ‘Miegħek Biss‘.
Kurt Calleja
One of the most famous names in this lineup is Kurt Calleja. Most eurofans will remember him from Eurovision 2012 where he represented Malta. He sang ‘This Is The Night’ finishing in 21st place in the final. He released follow-up singles but later took a break from performing.
After a few years, he took part in Mużika Mużika 2022 citing his major comeback to music by singing ‘Bla Tarf‘ where he won the prestigious festival. The song became one of the biggest hits in Malta that year.
Now he turns his attention to representing Malta at Eurovision again 13 years later with the song ‘Aziz/a’. He’s already an established name and still as popular as he was back then. Could he be one of the select few to represent Malta twice?
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a singer and musician who’s taken part in all MESCs since 2023, where she sang ‘Thankful’ and ‘Fading’ respectively. However, on both occasions, she failed to make it to the final. Will it be 3rd time lucky for her with her song ‘Wildflower?’
Mark Anthony Bartolo
Mark Anthony Bartolo had his breakthrough on X Factor Malta where he was mentored by Ira Losco and made it to Judges’ Houses. He has since become a regular at MESC, taking part in every contest since 2022. His fortunes have been mixed however; he achieved 11th place in the final in 2022 with ‘Serenity’, but in 2023 and 2024, he failed to qualify for the final. This year he’ll be singing ‘Hideaway‘.
Martina Borg
Martina Borg is a young singer who took part in the 4th season of X Factor impressing the judges with her original composition and she was through to the next round. Later in the competition, she joined forces with fellow contestant Kelsie and they became a duo for the remainder of the contest. They were mentored by Ira Losco and they made it to the live shows, finishing in 10th place.
She’ll be taking part in her first MESC as a solo artist performing ‘Yo Listen’ a song which she also co-wrote.
Matthew Cilia
Hoping to give the MESC audience something different is Matthew Cilia. He is a rock singer and like many of these artists has been a fan of Eurovision ever since they were young. Recently @Eurovision_Malta shared a video of him singing to Ira Losco‘s 2002 Eurovision entry ‘7th Wonder‘ when he was a toddler. 23 years later, he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ira and give Malta a great result at Eurovision.
It’s rare we hear a rock song like this in MESC, could this mean he could stand out to the public and the juries? We’ll have to find out on Saturday!
Miguel Bonello
Miguel Bonello has been singing from a young age and has taken part in many different international song festivals and even won Sanremo Junior Malta 2017 for his age category. He had taken part in X Factor Malta twice, but he was knocked out at the six-chair challenge on both attempts.
Miguel was also one of the finalists in the Mużika Mużika 2021 festival proving his talent and how he’d grown as an artist over the years.
Eurofans may remember him last year when he made his MESC debut singing ‘Better Off Alone’ but he was one of the unfortunate contestants in Semi-Final 3 where none of the acts made the final. Hoping to do even better this time, he’s singing ‘Breaking The Cycle‘. Unlike some of the entries, Miguel has been the sole writer and composer of his song.
Miriana Conte
Miriana Conte is a singer who’s had lots of experience from being a finalist on X Factor Malta and has taken part in multiple MESCs with this being her 5th attempt. Recently, in 2022, she finished in 6th place with ‘Look What You’ve Done Now‘ and finished in 9th place last year with ‘Venom‘.
This time, there’s definitely been a lot of hype for her ever since her song began to gain attention on TikTok thanks to its chorus. The uptempo bop ‘Kant’ (Sing) has raised eyebrows because of the lyrics ‘Serving Kant’. At the time of writing, the song has had 230,000 streams on Spotify in a matter of weeks which is huge for a Maltese artist. Will this momentum push her to finally win MESC and ‘serve Kant’ at Eurovision?
Nathan Psalia
Nathan Psalia started as a contestant on the X Factor in 2021 where he advanced to Judges Houses. He’s become a regular at recent MESCs taking part in every selection since 2023. He was also a backing singer back in 2022. His MESC record so far has been successful reaching the final on both occasions with his songs ‘Creeping Walls‘ and ‘Ghost‘. His best result has been 10th place, but he’ll be hoping for even better with his song ‘Concrete‘.
Raquella Dalli
Raquella Dalli is a singer, songwriter, and Italian and English teacher. She’s been singing for many years and according to her Facebook page, her song ‘Silenced’ is “A message of hope and resilience, a call to stand up for those who have been silenced“. She’ll be hoping that her message will resonate with enough people to take her to Eurovision.
Stefan Galea
Stefan Galea first tried his luck at representing Malta in a Eurovision event back in 2009 where he tried to represent his country in Junior Eurovision. He has shared the stage with pop star Ira Losco at her concert back in 2011. His fortunes in MESC have been mixed with his first attempt in 2016 resulting in him not making the final and this was the same last year. However, he qualified as a finalist in 2023 with his song ‘Heartbreaker’.
This year, he’s singing ‘Lablab (Talk Talk)‘ which was co-written by MESC fan favourite MATT BLXCK. Will this be a winning formula at MESC this time for both of them?
https://youtu.be/7_u54KXWwlI?si=APGKf5jFmT4evYyE
The Alchemists
The Alchemists are a band who have gained popularity over time thanks to their unique sound and by performing at various weddings across the island. They even performed at one of Malta’s biggest New Year’s Eve events in the country. Eurovision has been something they’ve wanted to pursue for a while and they’re now one step closer to making their dream a reality! Hoping to build on their momentum, their song is called ‘Rubble & Stone‘.
https://youtu.be/J_T80I1eat4?si=ojCRWtC49HeIDQeD
Victoria Sciberras
Last, but not least is Victoria Sciberras! She has been singing since she was a child and has made it to the finals of Sanremo Junior Malta back in 2014 and 2015, Over the years, she has taken part in various Maltese singing festivals. Now she’s ready to take the MESC stage with her debut single ‘Juno’ hoping to wow the juries and the public at home.
And that’s all 24 artists! Who are you supporting in MESC this week?
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