Malta have confirmed their participation in the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The 15th edition of the contest will take place in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi. The small island nation have won the contest twice, with Gaia Cauchi in 2013 and Destiny Chukunyere in 2015. Subsequently, Malta hosted the contest in 2014 and 2016. Furthermore, along with their confirmation of participation, PBS have revealed how their artist for the 2017 contest will be selected.
The selection will no longer take place on live TV
The most significant change is that the live artist selection final will not be televised this year. Instead, the ten finalists will perform for an expert panel behind closed doors. The announcement of the winner will then follow a couple of days afterwards. The full timeline for the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Selection 2017 is as follows:
- 24th March: Publishing of Application Form and Regulations
- 21st April: Deadline for Submissions
- 20th May: Announcement of 10 Finalists
- 10th June: Live Performances in front of Expert Jury
- 12th June: Announcement of Winning Artist
The full list of regulations and the application form for interested participants can be found here.
Aiming for a third victory
Georgia won the 2016 Junior Eurovision Song Contest last November following Mariam Mamadashvili’s sensational performance of Mzeo. As a result, Georgia pulled ahead of Malta and Belarus to become the country with the most Junior Eurovision victories. Malta will be hoping they can match Georgia’s three victories when the 2017 contest takes place on November 26th.
While we await Malta’s 2017 artist announcement, watch Christina Magrin’s performance of Parachute live from Valletta.
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