Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with a song selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Malta
National selection
Selection processMalta Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Selection date(s)3 February 2018
Selected entrantChristabelle
Selected song"Taboo"
Selected songwriter(s)Johnny Sanchez
Thomas G:son
Christabelle Borg
Muxu
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th, 101 points)
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Background
Main article: Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 30 times since its first entry in 1971.[1] Malta briefly competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1970s before withdrawing for sixteen years. The country had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Malta's best placing in the contest thus far was second, which it achieved on two occasions: in 2002 with the song "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco and in 2005 with the song "Angel" performed by Chiara.

For the 2018 Contest, the Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), organised the selection process for the nation's entry. Malta has selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure Malta Eurovision Song Contest, a method that was continued for their 2018 participation.

Before Eurovision

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The show aired on the 3rd of February and was presented by the Maltese radio-presenter Colin Fitz.

Format

The competition consisted of sixteen entries competing in a national final which took place on 3 February 2018. The winner was decided by 50% televote and 50% jury voting.

Competing entries

On September 15, PBS announced the list of the 30 songs that had qualified for the last stage before the final. During the 27th, 29th and 30 September these songs competed behind closed doors, where a jury decided which 16 songs would qualify for the televised final.[2] They were revealed on 11 October 2017.

On January 19, a new version of "Dai Laga" was released, replacing the previous edition which was said to have breached EBU regulations due to it including some instrumental music that may have been bought via the internet by the composer. PBS asked the composer to remove the stem or provide a revised instrumentation.[3]

Final

The final was on 3 February 2018. It took place at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, Malta. All of the sixteen competing songs were released on 4 January 2018. The winner, Christabelle Borg with the song Taboo, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from jury members made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote.[4] Each point given during the televoting results equated to approximately 37 phone votes.

The five members of the jury that evaluated the entries during the final consisted of:

  • Regína Ósk (Iceland)
  • Jan Bors (Czech Republic)
  • Kleart Duraj (Albania)
  • Meri Popova (Macedonia)
  • Bruno Santori (Italy)
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 AIDAN "Dai Laga" Aidan Cassar 34 8 42 4
2 Miriana Conte "Rocket" Cyprian Cassar, Muxu 9 5 14 12
3 Jasmine Abela "Supernovas" Charlie Mason, Jonas Thander 25 6 31 8
4 Matthew Anthony "Call 2morrow" Jonas Gladnikoff, Tom Wiklund, Peder Eriksson 26 6 32 7
5 Danica Muscat "One Step at a Time" John Ballard, Ruth Mussie, Jerusalem Yemane, Irena Krstva, Kian Fakhary 2 1 3 16
6 Dwett "Breaking Point" Elton Zarb, Muxu 3 12 15 10
7 Lawrence Gray "Love Renegade" Cyprian Cassar, Muxu 3 4 7 15
8 Richard & Joe Micallef "Song for Dad" Cyprian Cassar, Richard Micallef 31 67 98 2
9 Tiziana Calleja "First Time" Tina Stenberg 4 8 12 14
10 Eleanor Cassar "Back to Life" Jonas Gladnikoff, Michael James Down 19 17 36 5
11 Rhiannon "Beyond Blue Horizons" Rhiannon Micallef, Cyprian Cassar 9 5 14 11
12 Brooke Borg "Heart of Gold" Borislav Milanov, Dag Lundberg, Niklas Lif, Brooke Borg 37 47 84 3
13 Christabelle Borg "Taboo" Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg, Muxu 60 73 133 1
14[lower-alpha 1] Deborah C "Turn It Up" Christian Schneider, Aidan O'Connor, Sara Biglert, Erik Grönwall 0 13 13 13
15 Avenue Sky "We Can Run" Jonas Gladnikoff, Matthew Ker, Glen Vella 1 15 16 9
16 Petra "Evolution" Elton Zarb, Muxu 27 6 33 6
  1. Due to technical difficulties in the performance, Deborah C was allowed to perform again following Petra performing "Evolution".

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Malta was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[5]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Malta was set to perform in position 12, following the entry from Poland and preceding the entry from Hungary.[6]

Semi-final

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Malta
Points awarded to Malta (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Malta

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Maltese jury:[7]

  • Elton Zarb – Chairperson – composer, musician, producer
  • Dorian Cassar – radio and TV presenter, business owner
  • Olwyn Jo Saliba – producer, video editor
  • Alexander Kitcher – event coordinator, technical director at Valletta 2018 Foundation
  • Amber Bondin – music artist, represented Malta in the 2015 Contest
Split voting results from Malta (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country Jury Televote
D. Cassar O. Jo Saliba A. Kitcher A. Bondin E. Zarb Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Norway1122411256
02 Romania81178139214
03 Serbia1415971710115
04 San Marino137105783112
05 Denmark225463838
06 Russia1717813111683
07 Moldova61661437474
08 Netherlands9131216101165
09 Australia7436147210
10 Georgia1681115141417
11 Poland101417101215101
12 Malta
13 Hungary1112151781311
14 Latvia1210149161213
15 Sweden3613221047
16 Montenegro4341196516
17 Slovenia1591612151712
18 Ukraine5513155692
Split voting results from Malta (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
D. Cassar O. Jo Saliba A. Kitcher A. Bondin E. Zarb Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine13221611261721
02 Spain21241419182125
03 Slovenia23231820192324
04 Lithuania12131112111365
05 Austria189129810115
06 Estonia19211915252214
07 Norway687677417
08 Portugal26251722202426
09 United Kingdom22169181616101
10 Serbia25192026232619
11 Germany10111510151274
12 Albania2418421221118
13 France333333813
14 Czech Republic475766583
15 Denmark11122613241592
16 Australia91010898356
17 Finland14172125131816
18 Bulgaria2042314109247
19 Moldova15152424172022
20 Sweden556554712
21 Hungary17262523212523
22 Israel768445638
23 Netherlands16202216141920
24 Ireland8141317121411
25 Cyprus21211112210
26 Italy12122210112

References
  1. "Malta Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/not-publish-mesc-30-songs-selected-next-phase/
  3. https://www.tvm.com.mt/mt/eurovision/news/change-instrumentation-one-finalist-songs-mesc-2018/
  4. Mercereau, Damien (21 February 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : Malte désigne Christabelle Borg" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  7. Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

See also
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