Jan Smit: famous since age eleven!

Many people in The Netherlands know Jan Smit for a long time already. Not a surprise: Jan is from Volendam, a town northwards from Amsterdam. This fisherstown is known from it’s many musical talents. Three Eurovision participants come from Volendam: Bernadette, Maribelle and 3JS. Jan Smit became a star when he was 11 years old. He sang “Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen” about a grandmother who passed away. Jantje Smit (little Jan Smit) as his stage name was in these days, stole many grandmothers’ hearts.

In fact, lots of people in the Netherlands made fun of Jantje Smit. They didn’t take the boy too serious. People who want to make fun of him now still speak about Jantje Smit. But…. maybe it is a little bit too easy. Let us take you back to the 1st of january 2001, when a fire in a pub in Volendam made an end to the lives of 14 youngsters, of Jan’s peer group. Jantje Smit performed at the memorial service, while some of these youngsters were good friends of him. He sang “Ave maria”. If you can do thát in this situation, you are capable of something….


This is “Ave Maria”, but not the memorial service

Jantje became Jan and is now involved in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2011; as a commentator, but also as a member of the selection commitee since 2014.

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Martijn

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🇲🇹 Aidan will represent Malta

Malta will be represented by Aidan. He won the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest tonight. Three times before, he was involved in the Maltese national selection. In 2022 he even was the runner up. Aidan’s song “Bella” is written by himself. He composed it along with Joep van den Boom and former participant Sarah Bonnici. Malta will perform in the 2nd semifinal in Vienna. final date: 17 January Place: Malta Fairs and Convention Centre, Ta’Qali Hosts: Destiny Chunkunyere, Gaia Cauchi & Keane Cutajar 1 Janice Mangion Univers 34 10 l: Emil Calleja Bayliss  m: Cyprian Cassar & Mark Scicluna 2 Kelsie Borg Let A Girl Breathe 31 11 l: Linnea Gawell m: Jean Paul Borg & Linnea Gawell 3 Matt Blxck Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute) 268 2 l & m: Audun Agnar, Matthew Caruana & Matthew James 4 Denise Trophy 71 6 l: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb & Marcus Winther-John  m: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb, Marcus Winther-John & Owen Vos 5 Nathan Psaila Ganador 38 9 l & m: Nathan Psaila, Tchiach Ommar Abdulrahman, Tobi Verheij & Ynke Dingenen 6 Ema Achikuku (Don’t Think About It) 64 7 l: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss, Matthew Caruana & Peter Borg  m: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss & Matthew Caruana 7 Franklin Calleja Guide You Home 43 8 l & m: Franklin Calleja & Cyprian Cassar 8 Mychael Bartolo Chircop My Sweet Angel 136 3 l & m: Klinsmann Colero, Matthew Caruana, Mychael Bartolo Chircop & Remy Cooper  9 Mark Anthony Bartolo Mumenti sbieħ 87 4 l & m: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Matthew Caruana, Rony Janecek & Silje Montsko Blandkjenn  10 Aidan Bella 283 1 l: Aidan Cassar  m: Aidan Cassar, Joep van den Boom & Sarah Bonnici  11 Matthew & The Afterparty Brutality Mentality 84 5 l: Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  m: Danny Dalli, David Depasquale, Josh Wunderlich, Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  12 Adria Twins Nerġà nqum 21 12 l: Joe Julian Farrugia  m: Shaun Farrugia Malta Eurovision Song Contest’s semifinal results can be found below. Here you can see the performances of the semifinal and whether they advanced to the final or are eliminated. semifinal date: 15 January Place: Malta Fairs and Conventrion Centre, Ta’Qali Hosts: Destiny Chukunyere, Gaia Cauchi & Keane Cutajar 1 Aidan Bella advanced l: Aidan Cassar  m: Aidan Cassar, Joep van den Boom & Sarah Bonnici 2 Ema Achikuku (Don’t Think About It) advanced l: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss, Matthew Caruana & Peter Borg  m: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss & Matthew Caruana 3 Chess Galea Shout it out eliminated l & m: Chess Galea, Hannah Dorman, Niklas Rosström & Remy Cooper 4 Liston Mela eliminated l & m: Edward Abela, Joe Romano & Kelly Rose Moncado 5 Franklin Calleja Guide You Home advanced l & m: Franklin Calleja & Cyprian Cassar 6 Kelsy Attard Perfectly Broken eliminated l & m: Kelsy Attard, Melanie Wehbe, Rasmus Rex & Sarah Bonnici 7 Matthew & The Afterparty Brutality Mentality advanced l: Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  m: Danny Dalli, David Depasquale, Josh Wunderlich, Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia 8 Mark Anthony Bartolo Mumenti sbieħ advanced l & m: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Matthew Caruana, Rony Janecek & Silje Montsko Blandkjenn 9 Denise Trophy advanced l: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb & Marcus Winther-John  m: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb, Marcus Winther-John & Owen Vos 10 Kurt Anthony On The Borderline eliminated l & m: Edward Abela, Joe Romano & Kelly Rose Moncado 11 Rhiannon Micallef Hold Myself Up eliminated l & m: Kaya Campbell, Natálie Míšová, Noah Timman & Rhiannon Micallef 12 Stefan Galea Pose eliminated l & m: Owen Vos, Stefan Galea, Tchiah Ommar Abdulrahman & Ynke Dingenen 13 Matt Blxck Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute) advanced l & m: Audun Agnar, Matthew Caruana & Matthew James 14 Adria Twins Nerġà nqum advanced l: Joe Julian Farrugia  m: Shaun Farrugia 15 Kelsie Borg Let A Girl Breathe advanced l: Linnea Gawell m: Jean Paul Borg & Linnea Gawell 16 Mychael Bartolo Chircop My Sweet Angel advanced l & m: Klinsmann Colero, Matthew Caruana, Mychael Bartolo Chircop & Remy Cooper 17 Janice Mangion Univers advanced l: Emil Calleja Bayliss  m: Cyprian Cassar & Mark Scicluna 18 Nathan Psaila Ganador advanced l & m: Nathan Psaila, Tchiach Ommar Abdulrahman, Tobi Verheij & Ynke Dingenen

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January 18, 2026 No Comments
Eurovision 2026
Martijn

🇲🇹 Aidan will represent Malta

Malta will be represented by Aidan. He won the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest tonight. Three times before, he was involved in the Maltese national selection. In 2022 he even was the runner up. Aidan’s song “Bella” is written by himself. He composed it along with Joep van den Boom and former participant Sarah Bonnici. Malta will perform in the 2nd semifinal in Vienna. final date: 17 January Place: Malta Fairs and Convention Centre, Ta’Qali Hosts: Destiny Chunkunyere, Gaia Cauchi & Keane Cutajar 1 Janice Mangion Univers 34 10 l: Emil Calleja Bayliss  m: Cyprian Cassar & Mark Scicluna 2 Kelsie Borg Let A Girl Breathe 31 11 l: Linnea Gawell m: Jean Paul Borg & Linnea Gawell 3 Matt Blxck Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute) 268 2 l & m: Audun Agnar, Matthew Caruana & Matthew James 4 Denise Trophy 71 6 l: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb & Marcus Winther-John  m: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb, Marcus Winther-John & Owen Vos 5 Nathan Psaila Ganador 38 9 l & m: Nathan Psaila, Tchiach Ommar Abdulrahman, Tobi Verheij & Ynke Dingenen 6 Ema Achikuku (Don’t Think About It) 64 7 l: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss, Matthew Caruana & Peter Borg  m: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss & Matthew Caruana 7 Franklin Calleja Guide You Home 43 8 l & m: Franklin Calleja & Cyprian Cassar 8 Mychael Bartolo Chircop My Sweet Angel 136 3 l & m: Klinsmann Colero, Matthew Caruana, Mychael Bartolo Chircop & Remy Cooper  9 Mark Anthony Bartolo Mumenti sbieħ 87 4 l & m: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Matthew Caruana, Rony Janecek & Silje Montsko Blandkjenn  10 Aidan Bella 283 1 l: Aidan Cassar  m: Aidan Cassar, Joep van den Boom & Sarah Bonnici  11 Matthew & The Afterparty Brutality Mentality 84 5 l: Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  m: Danny Dalli, David Depasquale, Josh Wunderlich, Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  12 Adria Twins Nerġà nqum 21 12 l: Joe Julian Farrugia  m: Shaun Farrugia Malta Eurovision Song Contest’s semifinal results can be found below. Here you can see the performances of the semifinal and whether they advanced to the final or are eliminated. semifinal date: 15 January Place: Malta Fairs and Conventrion Centre, Ta’Qali Hosts: Destiny Chukunyere, Gaia Cauchi & Keane Cutajar 1 Aidan Bella advanced l: Aidan Cassar  m: Aidan Cassar, Joep van den Boom & Sarah Bonnici 2 Ema Achikuku (Don’t Think About It) advanced l: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss, Matthew Caruana & Peter Borg  m: Ema Vella, Emil Caleja Bayliss & Matthew Caruana 3 Chess Galea Shout it out eliminated l & m: Chess Galea, Hannah Dorman, Niklas Rosström & Remy Cooper 4 Liston Mela eliminated l & m: Edward Abela, Joe Romano & Kelly Rose Moncado 5 Franklin Calleja Guide You Home advanced l & m: Franklin Calleja & Cyprian Cassar 6 Kelsy Attard Perfectly Broken eliminated l & m: Kelsy Attard, Melanie Wehbe, Rasmus Rex & Sarah Bonnici 7 Matthew & The Afterparty Brutality Mentality advanced l: Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia  m: Danny Dalli, David Depasquale, Josh Wunderlich, Linnea Gawell & Matthew Cilia 8 Mark Anthony Bartolo Mumenti sbieħ advanced l & m: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Matthew Caruana, Rony Janecek & Silje Montsko Blandkjenn 9 Denise Trophy advanced l: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb & Marcus Winther-John  m: Denise Mercieca, Linnea Debb, Marcus Winther-John & Owen Vos 10 Kurt Anthony On The Borderline eliminated l & m: Edward Abela, Joe Romano & Kelly Rose Moncado 11 Rhiannon Micallef Hold Myself Up eliminated l & m: Kaya Campbell, Natálie Míšová, Noah Timman & Rhiannon Micallef 12 Stefan Galea Pose eliminated l & m: Owen Vos, Stefan Galea, Tchiah Ommar Abdulrahman & Ynke Dingenen 13 Matt Blxck Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute) advanced l & m: Audun Agnar, Matthew Caruana & Matthew James 14 Adria Twins Nerġà nqum advanced l: Joe Julian Farrugia  m: Shaun Farrugia 15 Kelsie Borg Let A Girl Breathe advanced l: Linnea Gawell m: Jean Paul Borg & Linnea Gawell 16 Mychael Bartolo Chircop My Sweet Angel advanced l & m: Klinsmann Colero, Matthew Caruana, Mychael Bartolo Chircop & Remy Cooper 17 Janice Mangion Univers advanced l: Emil Calleja Bayliss  m: Cyprian Cassar & Mark Scicluna 18 Nathan Psaila Ganador advanced l & m: Nathan Psaila, Tchiach Ommar Abdulrahman, Tobi Verheij & Ynke Dingenen

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January 18, 2026 No Comments
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