Malta’s BELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BELLA, BELLA, BELLA!

Malta’s Eurovision 2026 pick is Aiden with “Bella”, a multilingual entry in English, Maltese, and Italian. We run the timeline of his previous contest attempts, controversies, and comebacks, before giving an honest reaction to the song and its presentation. The track feels sweet and retro, but the styling swings hard into leather-and-cowboy territory, and we’re not convinced the message matches the music.

If you like smart pop culture with a side of politics, press play, share this with a mate, and leave a review. Do you think Malta’s “Bella” needs a staging rethink, or is the mixed message the whole point?

#eurovision #eurovisionsong contest #eurovisionpodcast #eurovisionaustralia #eurovisionfunny

Transcript

Malta Heads For The Polls

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So Malta is heading into a general election in May of 2026. Ooh, don't they know better than to book things during Eurovision Month? The campaign is laser focused on the cost of living, taxes, and social policy, because nothing says everything's fine. Like a nation collectively stress testing its grocery budget while the biggest stuff just sort of smolders politely off camera. And about that bigger stuff, a 2025 EU rule of law report described Malta's democracy as quote stagnating with serious problems tackling high-level corruption and political interference. Ooh, stagnating. It's such a diplomatic word. That's the EU equivalent of showing up at your house seeing smoke pouring out of the windows and saying, hmm, gee, we have noticed a warmth situation occurring. Let's not forget Edward Sicoluna. He has been reinstated as the governor of the Central Bank of Malta after he finger waggle voluntarily suspended himself in July of 2024 after initially resisting Cole's step down after being charged with alleged declaration of duty, which was tied to his time as finance minister, with accusations that he enabled the fraudulent privatization of three public hospitals. Yes, the finance minister just somehow accidentally didn't notice the three public hospitals were privatized. Well, yeah, so that guy has just been reinstated as governor of the central bank. Because apparently in some places, accountability is more of a ooh, seasonal decoration than a stick to policy. This was known as the Vitals Scandal. After concession was granted to Vitus Global Healthcare to run St. Luke's, Karen Grek, and Gozo General Hospitals. Previously, the government had said that his suspension was in the national interest. And now, after some quote, recent developments, Cabinet welcomed his return. Which is a bold way to say, well, we looked for accountability, uh, and the vibe said, eh. If you're thinking, okay, surely that's the last scandal for Malta, ha, adorable. Enter the fake ID residency permit scandal, which has been linked to all manner of other allegations, from fraud to human trafficking. Meanwhile, in parliament, the opposition was calling for inquiries into Malta's prison system after recent deaths. But the government listed it as not urgent, with opposition asking how many deaths and terror? With members of the opposition asking, just exactly how is death and terror in Malta's prison somehow not counted as an urgent situation for the government? You know, quick admin question. What exactly is your threshold for urgent death and terror? Not and you know, maybe we might be looking at different dictionaries. Besides all of this, Malta's economy has been growing strongly. Well, congratulations on all the kickbacks. Apparently, you're keeping the country afloat. With Malta having around approximately 4% GDP growth in 2025 that is faster than most EU countries. It says it's driven by tourism, high employment, financial services, and weirdly, online gaming. Malta has basically said, yes, look, the politics are a bit messy, as are our prisons, but look, the spreadsheet is green, so everyone relax. But the long-term challenges are not subtle. The EU has ordered Malta to shut down its golden passport scheme. Who else was coming up with this idea? Hmm. Basically, it's citizenship for investment. Basically, if you buy into Malta businesses, shove enough cash in, then you will be granted citizenship into Malta. Well, the EU and its law has shown up and said, no, sorry, you know what? So financially, the overall situation is looking good for Malta, unless, of course, you need a public hospital or you end in prison. Then 2026 may not be your year. Has this influenced their choices at Eurovision? Well, they are sending Aiden, who is singing the song Bella. Bella will be sung in a combination of English, Maltese, and Italian. And this song, well, it seems we have another relationship falling to an end. I should have, I should have started a chart at the beginning, see how many relationships were busting up this Eurovision. Aiden was born on the 17th of December 1999. In 2015, he competed in the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Then in 2018, he moved up to the adult Eurovision Song Contest. However, following reports that the song, originally described as an original composition, had used a publicly available production beat, and that could possibly violate Eurovision rules. So it was revamped and re-released, so there was no possibility that it could be disqualified. Turns out the song only came fourth anyway. After this, he went on to have a crack at X Factor Malta. Let's not forget, in 2020, he wrote for Leah Miffsard, who placed second in the Malta Junior Eurovision song contest. Then in 2021, he had similar problems when it was suggested that one of his songs had similar chord progressions. He denied the beat and the melody were plagiarized. He came back in 2022 and again tried for the multi-Eurovision song contest. This time he placed second. Although the song went on to top the multi's radio airplay charts for three weeks. He came back in 2023 for the multi-Eurovision Song Contest and got himself disqualified from the contest. Allegedly, it was due to social media posts about his song, which was not allowed by the public broadcaster. He threatened the broadcaster with legal action, but went on to perform a medley of his songs as the interval act. In 2023, he released his debut album, This Is Aiden, following it up in 2025 with a seven-track EP called Wild, Wild, Wild. 2026 comes around again, and he is back to the Malta Eurovision Song Contest. This time his song wins, and this year he will be representing Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest, where he will be performing his song Bella. Let's take a peek. Look, I'm gonna be honest, my cat may have run through the recording of this episode and went directly across my roadcaster. So Model Comeback! Do do do do do do. It's live podcasting. We'll make it work. Look, I understand that his latest album is wild, wild, wild. And his new song is called Cowboys Don't Cry. He definitely had a Western theme. I don't see that it necessarily applies to this song. First of all, I've watched the video and I've watched the national final performance. He is wearing, look, a sleeveless top with rhinestones and leather bands, and he looks very much like a male stripper. And some of his opening dance moves, it's very stripper-esque. Don't get me wrong, I am here for Magic Mike. I'm not sure it works for this song though. Also, if you watch the official video for this, why is his shirt off? I'm not sure. The song itself has a sweet, lovely, 60s, fun, frolicky romance to it. I'm not sure where the leather clad, sexualized cowboy comes from. Okay, I'm I'm only halfway through. Maybe, maybe something's gonna make sense in a minute. Let's keep going. This is an interesting one. Like Malta, this is very much a mixed message and I think a mixed result. This is a sweet, lovely song. I don't know, it just the costuming I find very sexy, cowboy writhing, distracting. Hopefully, there will be some changes on the night for the live production. Look, I like this. This is a sweet little song. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of. I'm not sure this is guaranteed an automatic entry through. Look, it's a sad, simple fact. Every year we have to pick ones that may not go through. I think, oh, I'd hate it not to go through. It is a sweet little song, but it's not on my list of definites. But well, fingers crossed, let's see what else Europe has to offer.