Embarrassing vid captures PBS chairman out of his senses at Eurovision party

The government-appointed chairman of the Public Broadcasting Services, Joe Mizzi, was captured on film in an embarrassing display at the Eurovision Song Contest's after-party.

Visibly not in control of himself, Mizzi - captured on a mobile phone by onlookers - made a scene of himself at the after-party of the Dusseldorf final by first struggling up the stairs with the help of other guests, then holding himself up with some difficulty, before falling flat on his face.

As PBS chairman, Mizzi is also one of the top officials that leads the Maltese Eurovision Song Contest crew to the annual song festival. But his ambassadorship was put to the test on the night of the ESC after-party, when he appeared unable to stand up straight and act composed and in control.

In the unedited collation of several clips, Mizzi appears entering into an establishment along with the guests from other ESC countries, appearing rather groggy. The camera then points to the floor, only to reveal Mizzi being helped up by one of the ESC guests at the club.

"Where you from?" asks a helpful stranger assisting Mizzi up two flights of stairs. "Malta," Mizzi says, to his helper's glee, who parrots his answer out loudly, "Malta... the nation of Malta."

In subsequent clips, Mizzi is drifting around the nightclub's cloakroom unaccompanied by his PBS crew.

Mizzi is then seen to be just struggling to keep himself upright, as he rests against some railings. He appears to be so unconscious that he does not realise he is being filmed up close, so much so that even his accreditation tag gets in focus.

But the most embarrassing point in the film is when Mizzi, apparently not in total control of his senses, is hanging on to the railings with both arms, leaning forward and outwards. Onlookers can be heard sniggering at the scene, but nobody comes to his assistance and instead people just walk past him. A camera flash also indicates he has been photographed by curious onlookers.

Then suddenly he falls flat on his face, swinging by his arm to fall violently on his back. Mizzi lies with his arms outstretched, clearly unable to make heads or tails of his state of mind. Four people come to assist him and lift him up, but Mizzi is still looking groggy. He is then captured walking down the stairs in small steps, leaving the nightclub to go back to his hotel.

Mizzi, who was alerted to the video's contents by MaltaToday on Friday, has not denied having had a drink or two at the after-party. "Yes, I took two glasses of wine and four glasses of Jaegermeister. I don't have a drink problem. I rarely drink. Everybody has these kinds of bad moments," Mizzi said. "Our work had been done by then. I take full responsibility for my actions."

Mizzi said he collapsed because he had been in Cyprus, and had spent one day travelling to Dusseldorf. "I had a bug. I didn't drink more than I should have. It was an unfortunate incident."

When asked whether he had seen a doctor, he said he waited a day to see if he was fit for travel. However, Mizzi did not depart from Dusseldorf with the rest of the PBS crew, having decided to stay an extra night in the hotel and leave the next day. "I was not feeling well... obviously drink did not help."

Asked if he felt his position was still tenable, given the contents of the video, Mizzi said he would wait for further developments. "If my superiors think I shouldn't stay on, I will go by that decision."

Education minister Dolores Cristina, under whom PBS falls, said on Saturday she would look into the case. "I will be talking personally to the Chairman."