The first show in the Maltese selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 aired tonight, with eight singers competing for their place in the competition.
The singers performed for the three coaches (Destiny Chukunyere, Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur and Gaia Cauchi). If the coaches wanted a participant to join their team, they pressed their red button and their chair turned. If only one coach turned around, then the participant automatically joined that coach’s team. If more than one coach turned around, the participant chose which team they would like to join. If no coaches turned around, then the participant was eliminated.
Destiny Chukunyere is a returning coach, who first represented Malta at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, winning the competition in Sofia with “Not My Soul”. She later returned to the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam in 2021, finishing seventh with “Je me casse” with 255 points. Gaia Cauchi is a new coach, and is best known for winning Junior Eurovision 2013 for Malta with “The Start”. Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur is also a new coach who is a musician, composer and arranger.
The singers who competed in the first Blind Auditions show were:
Nina Grima Wood (12) – All coaches turned, joined Gaia Cauchi’s team
Slavin Schembri (12) – No coaches turned
Skye Gilson (11) – All coaches turned, joined Destiny Chukunyere’s team
Emma Farrugia (14) – All coaches turned, joined Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur’s team
Martina Micallef (10) – No coaches turned
Roan Pirotta (13) – Destiny Chukunyere turned
Leona Debono (10) – No coaches turned
Beppe Caruana (11) – Gaia Cauchi turned
The coaches’ teams at the end of show one were:
Aleandro Spiteri
Destiny Chukunyere
Skye Gilson (11)
Roan Pirotta (13)
Gaia Cauchi
Nina Grima Wood (12)
Beppe Caruana (11)
The Voice Kids 2026 airs on weekdays on TVM from 20:45 CEST. The show is presented by Maxime Pace, who will present the show for the second year in a row.
Eliza Borg represented Malta at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with “I Believe”. She placed 11th in Tbilisi, scoring 92 points.
Malta debuted in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 and has gone on to win the contest twice. In 2013, on their return to the competition in Kyiv, Gaia Cauchi won the contest with “The Start”. She was the first winner of a Eurovision event for Malta. In 2015, Destiny Chukunyere took victory in Sofia with the song “Not My Soul”. The country has hosted the contest in 2014 and 2016, and will host again in 2026. This will make Malta the first country to host Junior Eurovision three times.