OGAE MALTA reveals more breaking news from the Malta Eurosong 2010 selection:OGAEMALTA.com has learnt from inside informers that the boxes containing the submissions for the Malta Eurosong 2010 are still sealed. Organisers of the next Malta Eurosong edition at PBS were instructed not to open the boxes containing all submitted entries as yet. This also means that the officials at PBS are not in a position to confirm how many entries were submitted for the Malta Eurosong 2010.
The boxes containing all entries submitted by local composers, lyricists and singers were meant to be opened earlier this week. All participants are still awaiting details regarding the first selection phase, also referred to by the artists themselves as 'The Audition' phase.
Same axe of fate must have hit the members of the foreign judges who were meant to arrive in Malta in the coming days for the first selection phase.
Following a change in rules, only Maltese citizens could submit entries for the 2010 festival. Participants holding a dual citizenship, including a Maltese one, were given the green light to submit entries.
Red lights were shown to foreign participants. Former Maltasong chairperson, believed that this was unjust and not in line with EU regulations.
However, the Eurovision Song Contest is run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which is an affiliation of Public broadcasters independent from the European Union. EBU is a confederation of 75 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 43 associate broadcasters from a further 25.
Members of the EBU are various and these include amongst others: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Vatican City, Russia, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon and Egypt amongst others. Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Qatar are pending EBU members.
A court hearing, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph Micallef, upheld the application presented by Mrs Grace Borg against the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Maltese national broadcaster PBS, temporarily and put the case for hearing on November, 24 at 09:30am.
Stay tuned for more details as this issue plays out!