| Year: | 1973 |
| Country: | Malta |
| Preselection: | Song for Europe 1973 |
| Final Result: | Withdrawn |
| Next: | 1975 |
Malta intended to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, which took place on 7 April in Luxembourg City. Malta was drawn to perform in 6th, but after deeming the quality level of the songs in their national final to be too low and organising another selection which also didn't meet MBA's required level, they withdrew.
Song for Europe was the national final format developed by MBA which determined the song that would represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. The competition consisted of two parts, and was almost identical in format to Malta's 1971 and 1972 national finals. The first part was the Malta Song Festival 1972, where the top 6 songs would then go on to the Song for Europe contest. The two contests were organised by two separate organisations; the Malta Song Festival was organised by the Malta Song Festival Board, while Song for Europe was organised by the Malta Broadcasting Authority. The use of Malta Song Festival as part of Malta's national final was a cooperation between the two organisations, which lead to the broadcaster not actually being in control of the songs in its own national final. A new rule in Malta Song Festival gave MBA the right to decide after Malta Song Festival 1972, whether the songs are of high enough quality to be sent to the Eurovision Song Contest, and allowed them to withdraw their participation if they felt the song quality was too low.[1]
The Malta Song Festival Board received 62 submissions, of which 2 were invalid, and were tasked with selecting 14 to compete in Malta Song Festival 1972. The composers of the chosen songs would then select a singer out of a pool of shortlisted singers that the Malta Song Festival organisers chose, but no singer could be chosen to sing two different songs.[2] Already, during the selection period, MBA was having doubts that the song quality of Malta Song Festival 1972 was high enough, but since the Malta Song Festival 1972 rules stated that a decision on participating had to be taken after the contest, no action was taken.[3] Evident of MBA's doubts about the song quality is that only 13 songs were chosen to compete in Malta Song Festival 1972 by the Malta Song Festival Board, instead of the intended 14.[4] [5]
Jon Lukas was meant to participate with "Issebbaħ il-jiem" but was replaced with Marika Bugeja as he was unable to be in Malta at the time.[6]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmelo Borg | "Vagabond" | ||
| Carmen Vella | "X'ħajja din" | ||
| Carmen Xerry | "Nibdew mill-ġdid" | R. Agius, A. Sant | |
| Doreen Galea | "Hawn u hemm" | ||
| Edwin Galea | "Konna kuntenti t-tnejn" | F.X. Pisani, A.M. Cassola | |
| Enzo Gusman | "Mal-jum il-ħsieb" | ||
| Joe Cutajar | "Mingħajr imħabba" | R. Agius, A. Sant | |
| Marika Bugeja | "Issebbaħ il-jiem" | ||
| Mary Rose Mallia | "Iż-żernieq" | M. Rose Pisani | |
| Merga | "Bħal fjuri" | E. Cassar | |
| Pauline Grech Galdes | "Infittxek" | ||
| The Links | "Viva l-karnival" | E. Vella | |
| Vanna Bugelli | "Fjur taħt il-qatra" |
Malta Song Festival 1972 was held on 23 September 1972 at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, hosted by Mary Grech and Norman Hamilton, and the top six, as voted by a jury, qualified to Song for Europe 1973.[7]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmen Xerry | "Nibdew mill-ġdid" | Advanced | |
| 2 | Marika Bugeja | "Issebbaħ il-jiem" | Eliminated | |
| 3 | Carmen Vella | "X'ħajja din" | Eliminated | |
| 4 | Joe Cutajar | "Mingħajr imħabba" | Advanced | |
| 5 | Mary Rose Mallia | "Iż-żernieq" | Advanced | |
| 6 | Pauline Grech Galdes | "Infittxek" | Eliminated | |
| 7 | The Links | "Viva l-karnival" | Advanced | |
| 8 | Vanna Bugelli | "Fjur taħt il-qatra" | Eliminated | |
| 9 | Merga | "Bħal fjuri" | Advanced | |
| 10 | Carmelo Borg | "Vagabond" | Eliminated | |
| 11 | Doreen Galea | "Hawn u hemm" | Eliminated | |
| 12 | Enzo Gusman | "Mal-jum il-ħsieb" | Eliminated | |
| 13 | Edwin Galea | "Konna kuntenti t-tnejn" | Advanced |
Shortly after Malta Song Festival 1972, MBA announced that they would not use the six songs that qualified from Malta Song Festival in Song for Europe 1973, as they deemed that the standard of songs was below the European standard, and instead would open a new submission period to find six new songs.[8] MBA received 35 submissions, but after an evaluation of the songs, it was deemed that they were also of a not high enough standard and decided to not go ahead with Song for Europe 1973.[9] [10] Eventually MBA decided to withdraw from the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest.[11]