Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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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)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th)
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 2018 2019►

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Taboo" written by Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg and Muxu. The song was performed by Christabelle. The Maltese entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a final held on 3 February 2018, where "Taboo" performed by Christabelle eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

Malta was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2018. Performing during the show in position 12, "Taboo" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final on 12 May. It was later revealed that Malta placed thirteenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 101 points.

Background

Prior to the 2018 contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty 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 the 2005 contest with the song "Angel" performed by Chiara.[2]

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

Before Eurovision

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The competition consisted of a final held on 3 February 2018 at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Colin Fitz and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well as on the broadcaster's website tvm.com.mt.[3]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 30 June 2017 and 1 September 2017. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of one in the final. 2017 national final winner Claudia Faniello was unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous winner from competing in the following competition.[4] 129 entries were received by the broadcaster. On 15 September 2017, PBS announced a shortlist of 30 entries that had progressed through the selection process. The sixteen songs selected to compete in the final were announced on 11 October 2017. Among the selected competing artists was former Maltese Eurovision entrant Richard Micallef who represented Malta in the 2014 contest as member of the group Firelight.[5]

Final

The final took place on 3 February 2018. Sixteen entries competed and the 50/50 combination of votes of a five-member jury panel and the results of public televoting determined the winner. The show was opened with a guest performance of "Breathlessly" performed by 2017 Maltese Eurovision entrant Claudia Faniello, while the interval act featured further performances by Faniello as well as performances by 2017 Maltese Junior Eurovision entrant Gianluca Cilla, the Analise Dance Studio and the Kinetic Dance Studio.[6][7] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "Taboo" performed by Christabelle was the winner.[8] Each point awarded by the public televote equated to approximately 37 votes. The five members of the jury that evaluated the entries during the final consisted of:

Final – 3 February 2018
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 Aidan "Dai Laga" Aidan 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 and 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 "Heart of Gold" Borislav Milanov, Dag Lundberg, Niklas Lif, Brooke Borg 37 47 84 3
13 Christabelle "Taboo" Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg, Muxu 60 73 133 1
14[a] 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
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song R. Ósk J. Bors K. Duraj M. Popova B. Santori Total
1 "Dai Laga" 10 8 6 3 7 34
2 "Rocket" 4 5 9
3 "Supernovas" 8 10 2 5 25
4 "Call 2morrow" 3 5 4 6 8 26
5 "One Step at a Time" 2 2
6 "Breaking Point" 2 1 3
7 "Love Renegade" 3 3
8 "Song for Dad" 5 4 10 7 5 31
9 "First Time" 4 4
10 "Back to Life" 2 1 7 8 1 19
11 "Beyond Blue Horizons" 1 6 2 9
12 "Heart of Gold" 6 3 8 10 10 37
13 "Taboo" 12 12 12 12 12 60
14 "Turn It Up" 0
15 "We Can Run" 1 1
16 "Evolution" 7 7 3 4 6 27

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Lisbon Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and the final of 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (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, an 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.[9]

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 before the entry from Hungary.[10]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Malta on TVM. The Maltese spokesperson, who announced the top 12 points awarded by the Maltese jury during the final, was Lara Azzopardi.

Semi-final

Christabelle during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Christabelle took part in technical rehearsals on 1 and 4 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[11]

The Maltese performance featured Christabelle wearing a tight black long sleeved turtle neck and a black leather skirt with an uneven hemline, and performing together with one dancer. The performance began with Christabelle standing in the centre of a cube prop with four diagonal double-sided screens, displaying videos of people in a box, with an augmented reality heart appearing over her chest and a globe image appearing during the first verse. In the second verse, Christabelle came out of the cube for the dancer to take her place for the remainder of the performance. The performance also utilised lasers and pyrotechnics.[12][13] Christabelle was joined by four off-stage backing vocalists: Anna Azzopardi, Josef Tabone, Pamela Bezzina and Petra Zammit. The dancer featured during the performance was Anthea Zammit who previously represented Malta at the Eurovision Young Dancers 2015.[14][15]

At the end of the show, Malta was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Malta placed thirteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 101 points: 8 points from the televoting and 93 points from the juries.

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.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Malta

Points awarded to Malta (Semi-final 2)[16]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points  Romania
8 points
7 points  Australia
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points  Australia
2 points  Moldova
1 point  Denmark

Points awarded by Malta

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Maltese jury:[18]

  • Elton Zarb (jury 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
Detailed voting results from Malta (Semi-final 2)[16]
Draw Country Jury Televote
D. Cassar O.J. Saliba A. Kitcher A. Bondin E. Zarb Rank Points Rank Points
01  Norway 1 1 2 2 4 1 12 5 6
02  Romania 8 11 7 8 13 9 2 14
03  Serbia 14 15 9 7 17 10 1 15
04  San Marino 13 7 10 5 7 8 3 1 12
05  Denmark 2 2 5 4 6 3 8 3 8
06  Russia 17 17 8 13 11 16 8 3
07  Moldova 6 16 6 14 3 7 4 7 4
08  Netherlands 9 13 12 16 10 11 6 5
09  Australia 7 4 3 6 1 4 7 2 10
10  Georgia 16 8 11 15 14 14 17
11  Poland 10 14 17 10 12 15 10 1
12  Malta
13  Hungary 11 12 15 17 8 13 11
14  Latvia 12 10 14 9 16 12 13
15  Sweden 3 6 1 3 2 2 10 4 7
16  Montenegro 4 3 4 11 9 6 5 16
17  Slovenia 15 9 16 12 15 17 12
18  Ukraine 5 5 13 1 5 5 6 9 2
Detailed voting results from Malta (Final)[17]
Draw Country Jury Televote
D. Cassar O.J. Saliba A. Kitcher A. Bondin E. Zarb Rank Points Rank Points
01  Ukraine 13 22 16 11 26 17 21
02  Spain 21 24 14 19 18 21 25
03  Slovenia 23 23 18 20 19 23 24
04  Lithuania 12 13 11 12 11 13 6 5
05  Austria 18 9 12 9 8 10 1 15
06  Estonia 19 21 19 15 25 22 14
07  Norway 6 8 7 6 7 7 4 17
08  Portugal 26 25 17 22 20 24 26
09  United Kingdom 22 16 9 18 16 16 10 1
10  Serbia 25 19 20 26 23 26 19
11  Germany 10 11 15 10 15 12 7 4
12  Albania 24 18 4 21 22 11 18
13  France 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 13
14  Czech Republic 4 7 5 7 6 6 5 8 3
15  Denmark 11 12 26 13 24 15 9 2
16  Australia 9 10 10 8 9 8 3 5 6
17  Finland 14 17 21 25 13 18 16
18  Bulgaria 20 4 23 14 10 9 2 4 7
19  Moldova 15 15 24 24 17 20 22
20  Sweden 5 5 6 5 5 4 7 12
21  Hungary 17 26 25 23 21 25 23
22  Israel 7 6 8 4 4 5 6 3 8
23  Netherlands 16 20 22 16 14 19 20
24  Ireland 8 14 13 17 12 14 11
25  Cyprus 2 1 2 1 1 1 12 2 10
26  Italy 1 2 1 2 2 2 10 1 12

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Due to technical difficulties in the performance, Deborah C was allowed to perform again following Petra performing "Evolution".

References

  1. ^ "Malta Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Malta Country Profile". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. ^ Weaver, Jessica (3 February 2018). "Watch now: Malta selects their act for Eurovision 2018". Esctoday. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Who will represent Malta in 2018? 16 finalists revealed!". eurovision.tv. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  6. ^ Stanton, John (3 February 2018). "#MALTA: Live blog of MESC #AllAboard at 20.45 CET". Eurovision Ireland. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  7. ^ Saliba, Norma (2 February 2018). "Se jkun wieħed mill-aqwa Eurovision li qatt rajna fl-aħħar snin – il-Ministru Owen Bonnici". TVM (in Maltese). Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  8. ^ Mercereau, Damien (21 February 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : Malte désigne Christabelle Borg" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Lisbon 2018: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Day 4: Christabelle stuns with innovative staging and exceptional rehearsal – REVIEW". escXtra. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Day 7: Christabelle commands the arena for Malta – PREDICTION & REVIEW". escXtra. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Malta". Six on Stage. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Anthea Zammit: 'My grandma instilled in me my love for reading and hunger for knowledge'". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  18. ^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.