Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Participating broadcaster	Public Broadcasting Services (PBS)
Country	Malta
National selection
Selection process	Malta Song for Europe 2000
Selection date(s)	14–15 January 2000
Selected artist(s)	Claudette Pace
Selected song	"Desire"
Selected songwriter(s)	Philip Vella Gerard James Borg
Finals performance
Final result	8th, 73 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1999 • 2000 • 2001►

Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Desire", composed by Philip Vella, with lyrics by Gerard James Borg, and performed by Claudette Pace. The Maltese participating broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2000. The competition consisted of a final, held on 14 and 15 February 2000, where "Desire" performed by Claudette Pace eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a seven-member jury.

Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 2000. Performing during the show in position 7, Malta placed seventh out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 48 points.

Prior to the 2000 contest, the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA) until 1975, and the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) since 1991, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Malta 12 times since MBA's first entry in 1971. After competing in 1975, Malta was absent from the contest beginning in 1976.^[1] After returning in 1991, it had competed annually. By 2001, its best placing was third and this was achieved on two occasions: in 1992 with the song "Little Child" performed by Mary Spiteri and in 1998 with the song "The One That I Love" performed by Chiara.^[2]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, PBS organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster had selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for its 2000 participation.^[3]

Malta Song for Europe 2000 was the national final format developed by PBS to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. 224 entries were received by the broadcaster for the competition after artists and composers were able to submit their entries, and sixteen songs were selected to compete and announced on 11 December 1999 at a press conference held at the Corinthia St. George's Hotel in St. Julian's. One of the selected songs, "(You Will Always Be) Deep Inside My Heart" written by Paul Zammit Cutajar, was withdrawn and replaced with "The Only One" performed by former Maltese Eurovision entrant Paul Giordimaina who represented Malta in 1991.^[4]

The final took place on 14 and 15 January 2000 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in the nation's capital city of Valletta, hosted by Stephanie Farrugia, Miriam Dalli and Charles Saliba and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well as on Super One Radio and its website super1.com.^[5] Sixteen entries competed and the votes from a seven-member jury panel determined the winner. The interval act of the show on 14 January, alternatively entitled Marru L-Ewropa, featured guest performances by former Maltese Eurovision entrants, while the interval act of the show on 2 February featured performances by Eurovision winner Johnny Logan (1980 and 1987).^[6] After the votes from the jury panel were combined, "Desire" performed by Claudette Pace was the winner.^[7][8]

The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000. According to Eurovision rules, the participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), the countries with the highest average scores between the 1995 and 1999 contests, and any countries which had not competed in the 1999 contest.^[9] On 21 November 1999, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Norway.^[10][11] Malta finished in eighth place with 73 points.^[12]

The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM.^[13] PBS appointed Valerie Vella as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Maltese televote during the final.^[14]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest.

Points awarded to Malta[15] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points  Croatia  Cyprus  Macedonia  Russia 7 points  Romania 6 points 5 points  Turkey 4 points  Latvia 3 points  Denmark  Germany  Ireland  Israel  Sweden 2 points  Austria  Norway  United Kingdom 1 point  Belgium  Estonia  Netherlands  Spain

Points awarded by Malta[15] Score Country 12 points  Russia 10 points  Ireland 8 points  Denmark 7 points  Estonia 6 points  United Kingdom 5 points  Netherlands 4 points  Sweden 3 points  Norway 2 points  Austria 1 point  Cyprus

• Maltese National Final 2000