A new version of Aidan Cassar's 'Dai Laga', the Malta song entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, is being released in order to substitute the original version and prevent a breach of Eurovision rules.

In a press release, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) explained that Dai Laga had elements which could have gone against the rules of the European Broadcasting Union and therefore asked for the advice of EBU regarding whether this could be the case.

"With the assistance and advice of the EBU, PBS is sure that the concern was not about the originality of the melody, but rather, the use of a  particular  'stem' or 'sample' purchased from the composer of the song through a website," they said.  

They explained that the composer has composed a new version of the song, with the same melody and rhythm to the previous one however, with a new instrumental to replace the 'stem' or 'sample' in question.

Last week, PBS CEO Charles Dalli confirmed to this newsroom that they were looking into the possibility of the breach.

The song, which is apparently an original composition from Aidan, appeared to use the production sample titled '(Justin Bieber, Major lazer type) Come Alive Prod By Lttb' that can be bought on BeatStars.com for $30.

Eurovision rules clearly stipulate that "the compositions (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially released before 1 September 2017." However, the original production was first released on YouTube on 14 August 2016 and uploaded to BeatStars on 18 September 2016.

While it may seem that the use of samples is strictly prohibited under competition rules, it appears that this could be allowed should the ESC Executive Supervisor authorise its eligibility.