Malta Independence Day: Aussievision ranks (almost) every Jessika Muscat MESC entry

Today, 21 September, is National Independence Day in Malta, celebrating 61 years since the small island nation gained independence from the British Empire in 1964.

Malta holds a special place in the hearts of the Aussievision team - as the country with the largest Maltese diaspora outside of Malta, there are close ties between the two countries, and our team have been big fans of several Maltese entries over the years.

To celebrate Malta's Independence Day this year, we turn our attention to a true Eurovision icon - Jessica Muscat, better known to Eurovision fans as "Jessika that represented San Marino in 2018".

As one half of "Jessika and Jenny B", Jessika rocked the Lisbon stage in 2018 with her song Who We Are after winning the Sammarinese national final 1 in 360.

While Jessika and Jenny B sadly did not make it to the 2018 Eurovision Grand Final, representing San Marino fulfilled a long-held dream of Jessika's to make it to the Contest - a dream that she pursued relentlessly across many years.

Jessika has participated in no less than 15 Maltese national finals with a mindboggling 18 songs - including one Junior Eurovision national final, and one participation as part of supergroup JVF.

What better way to celebrate Malta than to celebrate the work of one of its greatest artistic exports?

Seven members of the Aussievision team ranked 16 of the 18 Jessika Muscat MESC entries, using the standard Eurovision scoring system (from 12 points down to 1 point).

Unfortunately, we were unable to source a recording of two of Jessika's three submissions to MESC 2017, Immortal and Let There Be Light, and so they have not been included in our team's ranking. Who We Are has also not been included in the ranking, to focus solely on Jessika's contributions to MESC.

Check out the top 10 below!

10. Ultraviolet (MESC 2013, 8th in the Grand Final) - 18 points

Highs: 10 points from Dale

Lows: 0 points from Craig, Fleur, Liv and Sam

"The bouncing piano pop is actually well put together and well performed? It feels a bit Take That circa late 2000s, so probably quite contemporary for a national final in 2013." ~Dale

9. Down Down Down (MESC 2011, 15th in the Grand Final) - 19 points

Highs: 8 points from Joel

Lows: 0 points from Kyriakos, 1 point from Craig and Sam

8. Tangled (The GO Malta Song for Europe 2008, DNQ) - 26 points

Highs: 12 points from Joel, 7 points from Liv

Lows: 0 points from Fleur, Kyriakos and Sam

"My 12 points goes to her dancing-in-the-same-spot energy, and the oh-so-2008 outfit. At least this tune has a catchy beat, and the live vocals aren’t nearly as bad as all her other songs (the last 30 seconds are atrocious though)" ~Joel

7. Edge of Tomorrow (MESC 2017, DNQ) - 27 points

Highs: 12 points from Kyriakos, 8 points from Craig

Lows: 0 points from Dale, Joel and Sam, 1 point from Liv

"What a banger! this is top tier. Edge of Tomorrow shows how far Jessika has come as an artist. I could picture this being a smashing performance at Eurovision." ~Kyriakos

6. Hey You (GO Malta Eurosong 2009, DNQ) - 28 points

Highs: 10 points from Sam

Lows: 0 points from Dale, 1 point from Kyriakos

"One of the few songs on the list with any personality and uniqueness. I also like her blue eye make up and dress!" ~Sam

5. Kaleidoscope (MESC 2022, 17th in the Grand Final) - 29 points

Highs: 7 points from Kyriakos

Lows: 2 points from Craig, 3 points from Dale and Liv

4. Festa (No Time for Siesta) (MESC 2025 as part of JVF, 5th in the Grand Final) - 46 points

Highs: 10 points from Craig, 8 points from Dale, Liv and Sam

Lows: 2 points from Kyriakos, 3 points from Joel

"This would go off a wedding reception after everyone's just sat through 10 hours speeches and too many proseccos. Jessika feels at home in this setting, and in some ways is the glue that holds this odd supergroup together. Honestly wouldn't object to seeing JVF give it another crack in a year or two - maybe Jessika can finally make to Eurovision for her home nation?" ~Craig

3. Fandango (MESC 2015, 9th in the Grand Final) - 48 points

Highs: 10 points from Joel, 8 points from Fleur

Lows: 5 points from Dale

"I almost found myself unironically liking this song at times." ~Joel

2. Smokescreen (GO Malta Eurosong 2009, DNQ) - 52 points

Highs: 12 points from Liv, 10 points from Fleur and Kyriakos

Lows: 0 points from Joel

"When I first heard Smokescreen I presumed it was fresh out of the 90s, then I remembered Jessika would have been in junior school so it must be more recent. It's a real time capsule of an entry and I believe her best vocal performance at a national final! Which if you've heard her back catalogue is saying something (I won't elaborate further)." ~Liv

"This is giving me a little bit of Carrie Underwood country vibes. This is one of Jessika's more polished and genuinely emotive song from the lot." ~Kyriakos

"This is alright and would have done reasonably well in the mid-90s. The song suits her voice a bit better than some of the other songs." ~Fleur

1. Hypnotica (MESC 2014, 8th in the Grand Final) - 66 points

Highs: 12 points from Craig, Dale, Fleur and Sam, 10 points from Liv, 8 points from Kyriakos

Lows: 0 points from Joel

"This actually feels relatively on trend for the time, and I'm sure it went off in all the gay bars of Valetta. I'm more here for the dance/"trance" moment and it's something I may actually listen to again after this ranking. Maybe." ~Dale

"Honestly not a bad little Loreen pastiche - sitting through all of Jessika's NF attempts in order, this is the first one where she feels like she's come into her own as an artist and a popstar. Not to relitigate national final results from over a decade ago, but 8th place in the final is a robbery!" ~Craig

"This is something that I expect to hear at Melfest and was pleasantly surprised that the songwriters are Maltese, although I was shocked that they are same ones that wrote 'Tangled' and a fair few of the others actually. I'm calling it the "Euphoria effect" given the timeframe Regardless, this is by far the standout of the La Muscat chansons." ~Fleur

"The song’s genre is the early 2010s EDM that I love. This is the only reason this is top of my list." ~Sam

"There is some heavy inspiration from Euphoria here and what do you know; the production on Hypnotica is the best of the bunch! Copy the ultimate Eurovision gemplate and regurgitate something half decent." ~Liv

The Best of the Rest

The remainder of our team's ranking is as follows:

11. The Flame (MESC 2016, 7th in the Grand Final) - 17 points

=12. Dance Romance (MESC 2012, DNQ) - 10 points

=12. Unapologetic (MESC 2023, DNQ) - 10 points

14. Fake (GO Malta Eurosong 2010, DNQ ) - 7 points

15. Precious Time (Junior Song for Europe 2004, 16th in the Grand Final) - 3 points

16. Let Me Dream (Malta Song for Europe 2006, Eliminated in Grand Final) - 0 points

Will Jessika be back at MESC 2026, and will she ever get her chance to represent her home country at the Eurovision Song Contest? One thing's for sure - our team certainly hopes so!

Happy Independence Day to all of our readers based in Malta.

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