# Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Malta competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which was held on 11 December 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia. Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) was responsible for the country's participation in the contest, and organised a national final to select the Maltese entry.

## Background

Prior to the 2022 contest, Malta had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since their first participation in the inaugural 2003 contest. Malta participated in every contest, with the exception of the 2011 and 2012 contests. Malta has won the contest twice: in 2013 with "The Start" performed by Gaia Cauchi, and in 2015 with "Not My Soul" performed by Destiny Chukunyere. In the 2021 contest, Malta was represented by the song "My Home" performed by Ike and Kaya. The song placed 12th out of 19 entries with 97 points.

## Before Junior Eurovision
### Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Malta's participation in the contest was confirmed by PBS in June 2022. PBS organised the national final Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 to select the Maltese entry.

#### Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 24 June 2022 and 15 August 2022. For the preliminary selection, PBS nominated a professional jury, which judged the studio versions of all submissions. While applicants can submit more than one song, only one submission per lead artist can make the final participant list, unlike the previous edition. The final list of participants was revealed on 1 September 2022.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Aaliyah Cassar | "Infinity" | Muxu, Cyprian Cassar |
| Andrea Camilleri | "Spark" | Philippa Naudi, Bettina Muchmore |
| Cassidy Gauci | "Light Up" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Dario Bezzina |
| Cesca Galea | "See the Invisible" | Aldo Spiteri, Bradley Spiteri |
| Charelle Micallef | "The Extra Mile" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Aldo Spiteri, Bradley Spiteri |
| Emma Kate Formosa | "Bounce" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Philip Vella |
| Gaia Gambuzza | "Diamonds in the Skies" | Matthew James Borg |
| Geneve | "With You by My Side" | Genève Dimech, Maria Abdilla |
| Isis Jade Miller | "Unbreakable" | Christina Magrin |
| Kayleen | "Shooting Star" | Rita Pace, Aldo Spiteri, Bradley Spiteri |
| Kaylyn Mallia | "Here I Am" | Christina Magrin |
| Kensley Ciappara | "Tliet Xadini" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Kaya |
| Ma Girlz | "Stereo" | Dana McKeon |
| Naomi Busuttil | "Little Cheeky" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Kaya |
| Rih and Bri | "Karma" | Aidan Cassar, Cyprian Cassar |
| Shanzay Mangion | "Heartbeat" | Emil Calleja Bayliss, Elton Zarb |

#### Final

The final took place on 2 October 2022 at the Rediffusion House in Gwardamanġa, hosted by Ryan and Josmar . The winner was selected by the votes of a jury panel (75%) and public televoting (25%). The jury consisted of singer Mary Rose Mallia, Maltese Eurovision Song Contest 1997 entrant Debbie Scerri, Maltese Eurovision Song Contest 2004 entrant Ludwig Galea and presenter Roderick Azzopardi Custo. The interval act featured performances by former Maltese Junior Eurovision entrants Eliana Gomez Blanco (2019), Gianluca Cilia (2017), and Ike and Kaya (2021). "Diamonds in the Skies" performed by Gaia Gambuzza was announced as the winner of the national final.
Final – 2 October 2022 :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
| 1 | Emma Kate Formosa | "Bounce" | 3 |
| 2 | Naomi Busuttil | "Little Cheeky" | — |
| 3 | Cassidy Gauci | "Light Up" | — |
| 4 | Kaylyn Mallia | "Here I Am" | — |
| 5 | Aaliyah Cassar | "Infinity" | — |
| 6 | Cesca Galea | "See the Invisible" | — |
| 7 | Isis Jade Miller | "Unbreakable" | — |
| 8 | Shanzay Mangion | "Heartbeat" | — |
| 9 | Geneve | "With You by My Side" | — |
| 10 | Ma Girlz | "Stereo" | — |
| 11 | Kensley Ciappara | "Tliet Xadini" | — |
| 12 | Charelle Micallef | "The Extra Mile" | — |
| 13 | Andrea Camilleri | "Spark" | 2 |
| 14 | Rih and Bri | "Karma" | — |
| 15 | Kayleen | "Shooting Star" | — |
| 16 | Gaia Gambuzza | "Diamonds in the Skies" | 1 |

## At Junior Eurovision

After the opening ceremony, which took place on 5 December 2022, it was announced that Malta would perform fourth on 11 December 2022, following Kazakhstan and preceding Italy.

### Voting

The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition was used, where the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten.
The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 9 December 2022 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on Sunday 11 December at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for three songs. They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points.