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Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest

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Malta
Malta
Participating broadcasterTVM
Participation summary
Appearances31 (24 finals)
First appearance1971
Highest placement2nd: 2002, 2005
For the most recent participation see
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 31 times since its debut in 1971. The contest is broadcast in Malta on the PBS channel, TVM. Malta has yet to win the contest, but is the only non-winning country to have achieved four top three results.

Malta finished last on its first two attempts in 1971 and 1972, and had a 16-year absence from the contest between 1975 and 1991. Malta's return proved more successful, reaching the top 10 in 12 out of 15 contests from 1991 to 2005, including third-place results for Mary Spiteri (1992) and Chiara (1998) and second-place results for Ira Losco (2002) and Chiara (2005). Since finishing last for the third time in 2006, Malta has struggled to make an impact, with its only top 10 result being Gianluca Bezzina's eighth-place in 2013.

History

Malta first participated at Eurovision in 1971, although the history of National song contests organized in the Maltese islands dates back to 1960 when the first Malta Song Festival took place. Malta has never won the contest, although it has twice finished second and twice finished third. At first, the island state sent songs in its native language, Maltese, but it failed to rank highly, finishing last in its first two attempts in the contest in 1971 and 1972 and withdrew after the 1975 contest.

Malta's return to the contest in 1991, after a 16-year absence, proved to be more successful, with eight consecutive top 10 placings (1991-1998) and finishing in the top 10 in 12 out of 15 contests from 1991-2005. These results included third-place finishes in 1992 for Mary Spiteri and in 1998 for Chiara and second-place finishes in 2002 for Ira Losco and in 2005 for Chiara, who in 2009 became the first performer to represent Malta at three contests, finishing 22nd.[1][2] Malta's two seconds and two thirds, make it the most successful country not to win the contest.

In the last 12 contests, Malta has only once reached the top 10, when Gianluca Bezzina finished eighth in 2013. Fabrizio Faniello, who had previously finished ninth in 2001, finished last in the 2006 final, and since then the country has failed to qualify from the semi-final round seven times, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Together with France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Malta is one of the few countries that has not missed a contest since 1991. All of Malta's entries since 1991 have been sung in its other official language, English, which it was one of the few countries allowed to use in the contest between 1977 and 1999, being a former British colony which (as seen below) has had a close relationship with the UK within the contest. The only use of the Maltese language was three lines in the 2000 entry "Desire", performed by Claudette Pace. The Maltese broadcasters of the show are the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). All shows are transmitted live on TVM (Malta) and Radio Malta. Also, along with Croatia and Sweden it was the only country never to be relegated, under the previous rules of the contest, that wasn't a part of the Big Four.

Contestants

Table key
  Winner
  Second place
  Third place
  Last place
  Withdrew/Disqualified
Year Artist Language Song Final Points Semi Points
1971 Joe Grech Maltese "Marija l-Maltija" 18 52 No semi-finals
1972 Helen and Joseph Maltese "L-imħabba" 18 48
1973 Did not participate
1974 Enzo Guzman Maltese "Paċi fid-Dinja" Withdrew No semi-finals
1975 Renato English "Singing This Song" 12 32
1976 Enzo Guzman English "Sing Your Song, Country Boy" Withdrew
Did not participate between 1977 and 1989
1990 Mary Rose Mallia English "Our Little World of Yesterday" Withdrew No semi-finals
1991 Paul Giordimaina and Georgina English "Could It Be" 6 106
1992 Mary Spiteri English "Little Child" 3 123
1993 William Mangion English "This Time" 8 69 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994 Chris and Moira English "More Than Love" 5 97 No semi-finals
1995 Mike Spiteri English "Keep Me In Mind" 10 76
1996 Miriam Christine English "In a Woman's Heart" 10 68 4 138
1997 Debbie Scerri English "Let Me Fly" 9 66 No semi-finals
1998 Chiara English "The One That I Love" 3 165b
1999 Times Three English "Believe 'n Peace" 15 32
2000 Claudette Pace English, Maltese "Desire" 8 73
2001 Fabrizio Faniello English "Another Summer Night" 9 48
2002 Ira Losco English "7th Wonder" 2 164
2003 Lynn Chircop English "To Dream Again" 25 4
2004 Julie and Ludwig English "On Again... Off Again" 12 50 8 74
2005 Chiara English "Angel" 2 192 Top 12 Previous Year
2006 Fabrizio Faniello English "I Do" 24 1 Top 11 Previous Year
2007 Olivia Lewis English "Vertigo" Failed to qualify 25 15
2008 Morena English "Vodka" 14 38
2009 Chiara English "What If We" 22 31 6 86
2010 Thea Garrett English "My Dream" Failed to qualify 12 45
2011 Glen Vella English "One Life" 11 54
2012 Kurt Calleja English "This Is the Night" 21 41 7 70
2013 Gianluca Bezzina English "Tomorrow" 8 120 4 118
2014 Firelight English "Coming Home" 23 32 9 63
2015 Amber English "Warrior" Failed to qualify 11 43
2016 Ira Losco English "Walk on Water" 12 153 3 209
2017 Claudia Faniello English "Breathlessly" Failed to qualify 16 55
2018 Christabelle English "Taboo" 13 101
2019
  • NOTE:
a. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.
b. ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark - 12 points - instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. Israel and Norway both received 2 points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast..

Voting history

As of 2018, Malta's voting history is as follows:

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Further information: Marcel Bezençon Awards

Press Award

Year Song Performer Final Result Points Host city
2005 "Angel" Chiara 2nd 192 Kiev

Commentators and spokespersons

Year(s) Commentator Spokesperson
1971 Victor Aquilina —
1972 Norman Hamilton
1973 Charles Saliba Malta did not participate
1974
1975 Norman Hamilton TBC
1976-1990 No broadcast Malta did not participate
1991 Toni Sant Dominic Micallef
1992 TBD Anna Bonanno
1993 TBD Kevin Drake
1994 Charles Arrigo John Demanuele
1995 Enzo Gusman Stephanie Farrugia
1996 Charles Saliba Ruth Amaira
1997 Gino Cauchi Anna Bonanno
1998 Stephanie Farrugia
1999 Charlo Bonnici Nirvana Azzopardi
2000 Valerie Vella
2001 Alfred Borg Marbeck Spiteri
2002 John Bundy Yvette Portelli
2003 Sharon Borg
2004 Eileen Montesin Claire Agius
2005 Valerie Vella
2006 Moira Delia
2007 Antonia Micallef Mireille Bonello
2008 Eileen Montesin Moira Delia
2009 Valerie Vella Pauline Agius
2010 Chiara Siracusa
2011 Eileen Montesin Kelly Schembri
2012 Ronald Briffa and Elaine Saliba Keith Demicoli
2013 Gordon Bonello and Rodney Gauci Emma Hickey
2014 Carlo Borg Bonaci Valentina Rossi
2015 Corazon Mizzi Julie Zahra
2016 Arthur Caruana Ben Camille
2017 No Commentary Martha Fenech
2018 Lara Azzopardi

Conductors

All conductors are Maltese except Vince Tempera.

  • Anthony "Twanny" Chirchop (1971, 1994)
  • Charles Camilleri (1972)
  • Italy Vince Tempera (1975)
  • Paul Abela (1991–92, 1996)
  • Joseph Sammut (1993)
  • Ray Agius (1995, 1997)

Prior to 1999, the Maltese entry was performed without orchestral accompaniment in 1998.[3]

Photogallery

References

  1. ^ Klier, Marcus (2009-02-08). "Malta: Eurovision entrant chosen". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Sanz Martin, Jorge (2009-02-08). "Malta: Chiara bids in Eurovision 2009 for third time". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-02-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ http://andtheconductoris.eu/
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