Aussievision’s Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2026 song rankings

After a three-year non-qualification streak, Malta made a triumphant return to the Eurovision Song Contest final in Basel last year, with Miriana Conte and her fan-favourite Eurovision entry Serving.

Now, aiming to qualify for the Eurovision Grand Final for the second year in a row, Maltese broadcaster TVM has unveiled the eighteen songs competing in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) 2026, all hoping to become the country’s next Eurovision representative in Vienna.

The semi-final of MESC 2026 is being held on Thursday 15 January 2026 (Friday morning for Australia), where 12 songs will qualify to the MESC 2026 final from 18 semi-finalists.

The final of MESC 2026 is being held on Saturday 17 January 2026 (Sunday morning for Australia) at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta’ Qali, where the winner will be decided by a 50/50 split of jury and public votes.

Twelve members of the Aussievision team have listened to all eighteen entries and scored them Eurovision-style, from 12 points down to 1.

So who topped the rankings? Read on to discover which songs impressed our team the most.

18. Mychael Bartolo Chircop – My Sweet Angel – 6 points

17. Rhiannon Micallef – Hold Myself Up – 15 points

=15. Chess Galea – Shout It Out – 17 points

=15. Franklin Calleja – Guide You Home – 17 points

14. Janice Mangion – Univers – 18 points

13. Liston – Mela – 19 points

12. Adria Twins – Nerġa’ nqum – 23 points

11. Kelsy Attard – Perfectly Broken – 24 points

Highs: 8 points from Liv; 7 points from Hayley.

Lows: 0 points from Cooper, Joel, John Christian, Kyriakos, Laura, Paul, and Srdjan.

“Okay, look, I have a soft spot for Mark. I loved his song last year. His personality and mannerisms on stage are just so endearing that I can’t help but smile. This song is probably not suited for qualifying at Eurovision, but it has a sweetness and tenderness that I just really enjoy.” ~Rebecca

Highs: 8 points from Hayley; 7 points from Fleur.

Lows: 0 points from Cooper, Dale, Kyriakos, Laura, and Liv.

“This song stands out from the crowd in an excellent way – an industrial pop-rock song that could make it pop on the night.” ~Paul

Highs: 10 points from Kyriakos and Rebecca; 7 points from Paul.

Lows: 0 points from Dale, Fleur, John Christian, and Srdjan; 1 point from Hayley and Liv.

“This song is AMAZING! Everybody will be moving their body -ody -odies when listening to this. It’s simple, to the point, and I bet this is going to be electric live!” ~Kyriakos

“What a stunning voice! The blend of African and disco sounds is just so groovy. It’s a simple song, but that doesn’t make it any less pleasing to listen to. I don’t know how well this would do at Eurovision, simply because both of those genres have historically not done all that great in recent years, but personally, I’m really in love with this.” ~Rebecca

Highs: 12 points from Joel; 10 points from Hayley and Liv.

Lows: 0 points from Fleur, John Christian, Laura, and Paul; 1 point from Cooper, Dale, and Kyriakos.

“See, this is exactly the kind of song that Måns Zelmerlöw should have brought to Melfest last year instead of that rinse-and-repeat Heroes rehash. On The Borderline is polished, radio-friendly pop that will make Eurovision richer for its inclusion.” ~Joel

“There is a wonderful familiarity to On The Borderline for me. As a millennial nearly hitting her thirties, this reminds me of inspirational songs from my senior school days and makes me want to get up and achieve something. In saying that – if a song makes me think of 2014, it is 10 years out of date…” ~Liv

“This song feels very complete – very “full” and well produced. It also feels like it has taken ingredients from other songs – possibly Måns Zelmerlöw’s Heroes and Kurt Calleja’s 2012 Eurovision song – this is not a bad thing! While I like it, I feel it may be a song that would get lost in the crowd in a semi-final.” ~Hayley

Highs: 8 points from Laura and Srdjan; 7 points from Liv.

Lows: 0 points from Hayley and John Christian; 1 point from Rebecca.

“This song is the Mediterranean cousin of Lighter (Norway 2025). The wheel has not been reinvented here, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a wonderful slice of Med-pop that should work well on any stage.” ~Laura

Highs: 12 points from Rebecca; 10 points from Laura and Paul.

Lows: 0 points from Hayley and Joel; 2 points from Fleur, John Christian, Kyriakos, and Liv.

“Lablab was a guilty pleasure of mine last year, and honestly, this is a fantastic glow-up! It’s just magnificently fun. I can taste the drama on my tongue. If I close my eyes, I can already see the ideas for staging, the backlit dancers, and Madonna-esque vogueing. Very promising song from Stefan and his team!” ~Rebecca

“There are a lot of songs at Eurovision and in national finals that sound like they would fit in perfectly on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but I think this is definitely one of the better ones. I love the cheeky lyrical nods to Miriana Conte being censored, and the instrumental breaks leave plenty of opportunities for some cool staging moments and choreography – might we see a glambot camera at Eurovision for the first time ever outside of the Malmö 2024 postcards? Shantay you SLAY!” ~Laura

“If you mix Aly Ryan’s Wear Your Love with the Maltese swagger that Miriana Conte brought in last year, you’ve got this banger of a song. This is definitely a pop banger that sounds quite polished and ready to be played loudly at a club. Great song that is on repeat.” ~Paul

Highs: 12 points from Hayley; 10 points from Fleur.

Lows: 0 points from Paul; 2 points from Joel and Rebecca.

“This song absolutely SLAPS! Love the deep driving bass in this – it is going straight to my coveted Eurovision playlist!” ~Hayley

Highs: 12 points from Liv and Paul; 10 points from Cooper and Srdjan.

Lows: 0 points from Hayley, John Christian, and Kyriakos; 1 point from Joel.

“This song throws the kitchen sink at this and is the strongest contender this year. It’s a sea shanty, it’s pop-rap, it’s got a flute-hook, and it changes tempo in the last twenty seconds of the song that is reminiscent of Joost Klein’s Europapa. This should be a riot on stage!” ~Paul

“Oh Matt Blxck…every year you bring something marvellously ridiculous to MESC, and it works a charm on me each time. This is in desperate need of a revamp if it wins and goes to Eurovision as the production sounds like it was worth 2€, but with the right approach, this could have Soarele și luna success (with buckets more camp).” ~Liv

“As someone who’s definitely never liked a Matt Blxck MESC entry ever, this one is actually pretty good. I will say the production is what I’m loving on this; almost every part of this entry is so fun, except the horrid rap in the second verse, it’s diabolical. Other than that, the breakdown of the ethnic flute really carries Matt through this song.” ~Cooper

“This song is just pure fun and would be good to have in the mix at Eurovision, a style of song we don’t usually get from Malta.” ~Srdjan

Highs: 12 points from Cooper, Dale, Fleur, and Laura; 10 points from Joel.

Lows: 0 points from Hayley, Rebecca, and Srdjan; 3 points from Kyriakos.

“I can’t help but love this girly pop banger from Kelsie. It sounds like something between Blackpink and Tate McRae, which is no surprise from the songwriters (some who have worked extensively in K-pop). It’s repetitive, but it’s catchy AF. This is the first song I listened to, and I was very much like “Malta did THIS?” Wow!” ~Dale

“Damn, Kelsie’s come to MESC with a banger! This is a club anthem in Valletta, and I hope it can be pulled off live, as we’ve seen many times before, this type of song can fall apart very easily. There’s a definite trend of HEAVY EDM production in a lot of national finals this year, but so far this is one of my favourites of the efforts.” ~Cooper

“Let a Girl Breathe can be a bit of a Vegemite song with its distorted high-pitched vocals, but I love the K-pop-esque flavour of this track; it sounds fresh and modern while also being a very different direction for Malta to go in at Eurovision, which I also appreciate. If Kelsie Borg can pull off the live performance, we have a serious contender on our hands!” ~Laura

“There’s so much going on in this song…I really enjoy all the elements individually, but put together? It’s a terrible mess, waaaaay too much! Or is it? I can’t tell if I actually like it or hate-like it. Either way, it’s bold and in-your-face, and would be a great follow-up to Kant.” ~Joel

Highs: 12 points from John Christian, Kyriakos, and Srdjan; 10 points from Dale.

Lows: 0 points from Cooper; 3 points from Laura.

“Love this entry! It’s sophisticated, a nice build-up, and it has a big moment. I can clearly see it on the Eurovision stage! Aidan has really come a long way, and I think we might just see his dream of representing Malta at the Contest happen, though he has some super tough competition this year. Good luck, Aidan!” ~Kyriakos

“This is a surprising delight from Aidan. I’ve felt his other songs were a little overhyped, but this is just beautiful. A throwback nostalgic song that wouldn’t be out of place in a film set on the Mediterranean in the 50s or 60s. However, what Aidan does well is take it to another place in the final minute to a decent finale to make it more of a competition song.” ~Dale

“One of my favourite songs from the national final season so far, this song is a major tempo change for Aidan and an upgrade from the 2 songs he competed with previously. Could be a major jury contender in May if chosen.” ~Srdjan

So there you have it, the Aussievision team is backing Aidan with Bella as our winner of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Do you agree?

You can watch the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2026 final live on the TVM website here. For those on CET time, it starts at 8:30pm. In Australia, you can watch at the following times:

• Perth: Sunday 18 January at 3:30am

• Darwin: Sunday 18 January at 5:00am

• Brisbane: Sunday 18 January at 5:30am

• Adelaide: Sunday 18 January at 6:00am

• Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart: Sunday 18 January at 6:30am.

For continued updates on all the Eurovision Song Contest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and TikTok. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet