"Reġina" (; ) is a song by Maltese singer
Aidan released on 12 February 2023. The song was disqualified from representing
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 but reached number two on
Malta's singles charts.
Background and release
"Reġina" was produced by
Boban Apostolov
Boban Apostolov (, born 1984) is a Macedonian composer, songwriter, arranger and record producer.
Biography
Boban Apostolov was born in 1984 in Yugoslavia. At the age of six, he began to play violin in the music school Ilija Nikolovski – L ...
and features lyrics in three different languages: Maltese, English and Spanish.
The song was dedicated to Aidan's mother.
The song was described as "one of the favourites" to win the competition by Giulia Magri of the ''
Times of Malta
The ''Times of Malta'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Malta. Founded in 1935, by Lord and Lady Strickland and Lord Strickland's daughter Mabel, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Malta. It has the widest circu ...
'' and as the "straight-up winner from the get go" by ''Culture Fix'' but was disqualified from the competition due to unauthorised social media posts.
Aidan was later asked to perform as an interval act during the final of the national competition under the condition that he did not sing his disqualified entry.
On 12 February 2023, a day after the national final, Aidan made the song available on streaming platforms and released a live performance video in which he wore the designer outfit that he would have worn had he not been disqualified.
"Reġina" was featured in his debut album ''
This Is Aidan'' released in March 2023.
Critical reception
The song reached number two on
Malta's weekly singles charts behind the winning song of Malta's national competition, "
Dance (Our Own Party)" by
the Busker, and placed number nine on Malta's yearly chart of 2023.
''Culture Fix'' praised the song's "pulsating grooves" and Aidan's "confident vocal turn".
Charts
Weekly charts
Yearly charts
References
{{Aidan (singer)
2023 singles
2023 songs
Aidan (singer) songs
English-language Maltese songs
Song recordings produced by Boban Apostolov
Songs in Maltese
Songs written by Aidan (singer)
Songs written by Boban Apostolov
Spanglish songs