Following her announcement as a semifinalist for Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Alexandra Alden and her song “Magnolia” have been replaced by Dario Bezzina ft. Żeppi l-Muni and the song “Għażliet”.
Alexandra Alden replaced
The 2025 Eurovision season has already been marked by several withdrawals and replacements from national finals, including ones in Croatia and Ukraine. In most cases, this is due to a competing song having been performed prior to the official September 1st cutoff date; indeed, the winner of Montenegro’s national selection withdrew from Eurovision partly as a result of such allegations. Such is the case for Alexandra Alden. In her case, her song “Magnolia” had been performed publicly prior to the November 30th cutoff date set by Malta’s national broadcaster PBS.
“Għażliet”, by Dario Bezzina ft. Żeppi l-Muni, will replace “Magnolia” at MESC, and its ten-second snippet has already been uploaded alongside the other MESC entries on PBS’ website.
Malta’s Eurovision journey
Malta made its Eurovision debut in 1971, with Joe Grech performing “Marija I-Maltija” (Maria the Maltese Lass), finishing 18th with 52 points. Malta did not participate in Eurovision from 1975 until 1991, when they returned with the song “Could It Be” by Paul Giordimaina and Georgina, finishing 12th with 32 points. Since then, Malta has been at every Eurovision and finished in the top 10 an impressive 12 times. Their best result is second place, which they’ve achieved twice. The first time was in 2002, when Ira Losco sang “7th Wonder,” and the second time in 2005 with Chiara’s “Angel.”
Sarah Bonnici represented Malta in 2024 with her song “Loop”. When all was said and done, Sarah placed 16th in the second semifinal, garnering 13 points.
Malta have used competition shows to select their Eurovision entrant for years, and adopted the Malta Eurovision Song Contest branding in 2022. The show has undergone significant formatting changes every year of its existence. As of yet, a MESC winner has never reached the grand final at Eurovision.
What do you think of the artist replacement trend this year? Will Dario Bezzina and Żeppi l-Muni do better than Alexandra Alden might have? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all things Malta at Eurovision 2025!
News Source: TVM News
Photo Credit: PBS
Rory Gannon