Malta Song Festival 1960

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The first edition of the Malta Song Festival was held at the Radio City Opera House in Ħamrun on Thursday 10, Friday 11, and Saturday 12 November 1960.

Victor Aquilina and Marlene Lauri hosted the event, which was produced by the Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara (ŻĦN). Each evening's proceedings started at 6:30pm and ended at 9:15pm. The final night was broadcast live on the Rediffusion cable radio service. Recorded excepts from the festival were also broadcast on RAI TV and BBC General Overseas Service.

Live music and musical accompaniment was provided by two orchestras. The first consisted of 16 musician under the direction of Giarlando Valente while the other was a 7-piece band led by Dominic Vella. Stage design was by Charles Cassano.

A variety show was presented during the vote counting.

During a press conference, which took place on 30 October 1960 at the Anglo-Maltese League Club on Merchant Street in Malta, ŻĦN president Alfred Cassar explained that the Malta Song Festival would follow the model established for such contests by the Sanremo Festival.

A souvenir programme was available for sale several days before the event, selling for 6 pence. Tickets were available from the venue, the ŻĦN Head Quarters, and Cassar & Cooper. Discounted tickets were available for ŻĦN members.

Organising Committee

These were the members of the ŻĦN organising committee:

This board administered a budget of £600 put forward by the ŻĦN for the organization of this event.

Songs

54 songs were submitted to the ŻĦN Head Quarters in Blata l-Bajda ahead of the contest. Following a preliminary elimination stage, 20 songs were selected to be performed during the semifinals at the Radio City in November.

Semifinals

There were two semifinals; one on Thursday and the other on Friday evening. 10 songs were performed during each semifinal. Out of these 20 songs only 10 made it to the final on Saturday.

Qualifying songs from the first semifinal:

Qualifying songs from the second semifinal:


The Final

Out of the 10 songs selected for the final, eight were in Italian, one was in English and another was in Maltese.


Winners

Rediffusion provided prizes for the songwriters of top three songs, starting at £30 for the winner and moving down to £10 for third place.

The singer of the winning song received a trophy from the Screen and Radio Times magazine. All singers and songwriters received a certificate of participation.

L-Għada tal-Festa...ma' Vitorin (Joseph Ciappara) sung by Frans Fenech placed 4th with 41 points.

Terry L. Bencini won a trophy for best singer.

Prizes were presented by the famous Maltese tenor Oreste Kirkop

Voting Semi-Final

Voting during the semifinals was divided as follows:

50% expert jury,
25% members of the press
25% public votes

Voting for the Final

Voting for the final was set up this way:

50% expert jury,
25% members of the press & theatre audience
25% televoting from Rediffusion subscribers

See also

Malta Song Festival editions
* 1960s: 1960 - 1961 - 1962 - 1963 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969
* 1970s: 1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979
Festival Internazzjonali tal-Kanzunetta Maltija editions
* 1980s: 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989
* 1990s: 1990 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999
* 2000s: 2000 - 2001 - 2002
* 2010s: 2013
Mużika Mużika - Festival Kanzunetta Maltija editions
* 2020s: 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 
Malta Eurovision Song Contest editions
* Malta Song Festival - 1970s: 1971 - 1972 - 1975
* Festival tal-Kanzunetta Maltija għall-Ewropa: 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 
* Malta Song for Europe - 1990s: 1997 - 1998 - 1999
* Malta Song for Europe - 2000s: 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
* Malta EuroSong: 2009 - 2010
* Malta Eurovision Song Contest: 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - (2019-2021 see X Factor Malta) - 2022 - 2023
Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest
* 1970s: 1971 - 1972 - 1975
* 1990s: 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999
* 2000s: 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 
* 2010s: 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019
* 2020s: 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 -