A new organisation will replace the former Malta Song Festival Committee. Among the line-up one notices Ms. Claudette Pace, Maltese Eurovision entry singer for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, Stockholm. New plans for a public semifinal will come into action as from Malta Song for Europe 2003.
The new board, led by Mr. Charlo' Bonnici, decided that in the forthcoming edition of the Malta Song for Europe Festival, the number of songs to be selected by the first adjudicating panel will be increased from 36 to 50 . Moreover, the number of finalists of the festival will also be increased to 24. These 24 songs will be interpreted on the first day of the festival to be held on 7th February 2003. A jury and the public would then have to choose 16 songs that will make it to the final night on Saturday 8th February. There again the same jury and the public will be able to select the winner from amongst those 16.
Maltasong's chairman announced that in its first meeting held yesterday afternoon, the board unanimously decided that the contract with Cap Sounds, the German company which handles the Maltese artists representing the country in the Eurovision Song Contest, will not be renewed for next year. Mr Bonnici said that in the coming weeks more details on the new arrangements will be announced.
Among the members of the new board are Mr Bonnici and Ms Claudette Pace, who represented Malta in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Desire'.
According to Mr Bonnici, Maltasong should be considered as a progression on the successes obtained in this field in the past years. Maltasong will now not only concentrate on the organisation of song festivals and Malta's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, but also on promoting Maltese singers, composers and authors both locally and abroad.
