Last week, the third edition of the Maltese Song Festival Muzika Muzika was held. Again, this prestigious event took place at the MFCC, Ta’ Qali for 3 consecutive nights between Thursday and Saturday.
The show was hosted by Clare Agius, Keith Demicoli and Moira Delia and also broadcasted on local television channel TVM. About 300,000 people watched it on the local channel, whilst approximately 6,500 were present at the live shows.
During the first evening, 20 songs competed, amongst which 12 of them were chosen by means of televoting and a jury. On the second evening, all participants sang popular Maltese songs in duet with established and/or veteran Maltese singers. The third evening was the grand finale when all 12 songs which had made it to the final were interpreted once again.
After the usual voting from the jury and the public, the winner was announced. This year’s edition was won by Gianluca Bezzina with the track ‘Sabiha‘ (which means ‘Pretty’). It was followed by the song ‘Jekk Mhux Int‘ in second place, sung by Drakard and Lisa Gauci whilst singer Jasmine arrived in third place with the song ‘M’Hawnx Bhalek‘. These participants will be receiving monetary prizes of Eur20K, Eur10K and Eur5K respectively.
Third place winner Jasmine also won the Best Interpretation Award whilst Maestro Ryan Paul Abela was recognised for Best Musical Arrangement for the song ‘Fuq Pultruna’.
This spectacular festival is becoming increasingly popular year after year thanks to all the hard work of all those involved in this high level production. It also enhances the magnificent and unique Maltese language whilst also boosting Maltese music altogether.