Aidan’s lifelong dream of performing on Eurovision stage will finally come true – it’s “Bella” heading to Vienna 2026
Aidan has won Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) 2026 with the visually arresting ballad “Bella”, written in both English and Maltese, as well as carrying an Italian-language title, which stands for “beautiful”. The gentle, romantic, TV-orientated staging and powerful vocal delivery of “Bella” secured his ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
While holding the status of one of Malta’s most successful contemporary pop performers, Aidan Cassar, simply known as Aidan, had to go quite a path competing in the national Eurovision finals. He first took the MESC stage with “Dai Laga” in 2018 at the age of only 18. The song finished in the 4th place, but it was not until he competed with “Ritmu” that he became the runner-up and got remembered as a standout up-and-rising Maltese artist. The following year, Aidan’s journey at MESC 2022 got an abrupt ending: his competing entry “Regina”, a potential fan favourite, got disqualified due to social media exposure, breaching the broadcaster regulations. However, the singer still took the MESC 2023 stage – this time to perform an impressive interval act with a medley of his most popular tracks, to the delight of ever-growing army of his Maltese fans.
It was this year’s MESC edition that turned out to be victorious for Aidan. The final took place on 17 January 2026 at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Ta’ Qali, hosted by Malta’s ESC and JESC Eurovision stars, Destiny Chukunyere, Gaia Cauchi, and Keane Cutajar When it came to voting, Aidan with “Bella” snatched the highest jury votes, while Matt Blxck won the public vote with an ethnic dance song “Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute)”, continuing his strong televote track record. With the contest using a 50% jury / 50% public voting system, Aidan’s jury lead with 113 points and second highest televote score of 170 points ultimately secured his overall victory. Commenting on his win, Aidan told us right after his victory:
“I can’t believe it! Actually, the winning moment was so surreal! I didn’t know what was happening at all, at all. I just had someone putting in-ears in my ears, and at a point I was singing, […], some singers were hugging me and shouting my name but that’s all I recall.”
Watch our interview straight from MFCC stage below:
The winning song, “Bella”, got critically acclaimed among Eurovision fans beyond Malta as well. Thanks to the conceptual staging, impressive visual effects and the singer’s strong vocals, refined over the years, “Bella” arguably marks a more mature, experienced and confident side to Aidan’s signature style. His victory was widely viewed as the culmination of the continuous effort in the national finals and his highly successful career in the home country.
With “Bella,” Aidan will represent Malta in Vienna in May at Eurovision 2026. Watch our exclusive live footage of the his performance after receiving the MESC trophy below. Join us on Blog’o’Vision Facebook, Instagram and AlteRock Twitter! and share your thoughts!
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