Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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Eurovision Song Contest 2018
CountryFlag of Malta.svg  Malta
National selection
Selection processMalta Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Selection date(s)3 February 2018
Selected artist(s) Christabelle
Selected song"Taboo"
Selected songwriter(s)
Placement
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th)
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄201720182019►

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.

Contents

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]

ArtistSongSongwriter(s)
Aidan "Dai Laga"Aidan Cassar
Avenue Sky"We Can Run"Jonas Gladnikoff, Matthew Ker, Glen Vella
Brooke"Heart of Gold" Borislav Milanov, Dag Lundberg, Niklas Lif, Brooke Borg
Christabelle "Taboo"Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg, Matthew Mercieca
Danica Muscat"One Step at a Time" John Ballard, Ruth Mussie, Jerusalem Yemane, Irena Krstva, Kian Fakhary
Deborah C"Turn It Up"Christian Schneider, Aidan O'Connor, Sara Biglert, Erik Grönwall
Dwett"Breaking Point"Elton Zarb, Matthew Mercieca
Eleanor Cassar "Back to Life"Jonas Gladnikoff, Michael James Down
Jasmine Abela"Supernovas" Charlie Mason, Jonas Thander
Lawrence Gray "Love Renegade"Cyprian Cassar, Matthew Mercieca
Matthew Anthony"Call 2morrow" Jonas Gladnikoff, Tom Wiklund, Peder Eriksson
Miriana Conte "Rocket"Cyprian Cassar, Matthew Mercieca
Petra"Evolution"Elton Zarb, Matthew Mercieca
Rhiannon"Beyond Blue Horizons"Rhiannon Micallef, Cyprian Cassar
Richard and Joe Micallef"Song for Dad"Cyprian Cassar, Richard Micallef
Tiziana Calleja"First Time"Tina Stenberg

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
DrawArtistSongJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
1 Aidan "Dai Laga"348424
2Miriana Conte"Rocket"951412
3Jasmine Abela"Supernovas"256318
4Matthew Anthony"Call 2morrow"266327
5Danica Muscat"One Step at a Time"21316
6Dwett"Breaking Point"3121510
7 Lawrence Gray "Love Renegade"34715
8Richard and Joe Micallef"Song for Dad"3167982
9Tiziana Calleja"First Time"481214
10 Eleanor Cassar "Back to Life"1917365
11Rhiannon"Beyond Blue Horizons"951411
12Brooke"Heart of Gold"3747843
13 Christabelle "Taboo"60731331
14 [a] Deborah C"Turn It Up"0131313
15Avenue Sky"We Can Run"115169
16Petra"Evolution"276336
Detailed Jury Votes
DrawSong
R. Ósk
J. Bors
K. Duraj
M. Popova
B. Santori
Total
1"Dai Laga"10863734
2"Rocket"459
3"Supernovas"8102525
4"Call 2morrow"3546826
5"One Step at a Time"22
6"Breaking Point"213
7"Love Renegade"33
8"Song for Dad"54107531
9"First Time"44
10"Back to Life"2178119
11"Beyond Blue Horizons"1629
12"Heart of Gold"638101037
13"Taboo"121212121260
14"Turn It Up"0
15"We Can Run"11
16"Evolution"7734627

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 ESC2018 - Malta 06.jpg
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]
ScoreTelevoteJury
12 points
10 pointsFlag of Romania.svg  Romania
8 points
7 pointsFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 pointsFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
2 pointsFlag of Moldova.svg  Moldova
1 pointFlag of Denmark.svg  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]
DrawCountryJuryTelevote
D. CassarO.J. SalibaA. KitcherA. BondinE. ZarbRankPointsRankPoints
01Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1122411256
02Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 81178139214
03Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 1415971710115
04Flag of San Marino.svg  San Marino 137105783112
05Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 225463838
06Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1717813111683
07Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 61661437474
08Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 9131216101165
09Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 7436147210
10Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 1681115141417
11Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 101417101215101
12Flag of Malta.svg  Malta
13Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1112151781311
14Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 1210149161213
15Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 3613221047
16Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 4341196516
17Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 1591612151712
18Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 5513155692
Detailed voting results from Malta (Final) [17]
DrawCountryJuryTelevote
D. CassarO.J. SalibaA. KitcherA. BondinE. ZarbRankPointsRankPoints
01Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 13221611261721
02Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 21241419182125
03Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 23231820192324
04Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 12131112111365
05Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 189129810115
06Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 19211915252214
07Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 687677417
08Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 26251722202426
09Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 22169181616101
10Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 25192026232619
11Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 10111510151274
12Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 2418421221118
13Flag of France.svg  France 333333813
14Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 475766583
15Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 11122613241592
16Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 91010898356
17Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 14172125131816
18Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 2042314109247
19Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 15152424172022
20Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 556554712
21Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 17262523212523
22Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 768445638
23Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 16202216141920
24Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 8141317121411
25Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 21211112210
26Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 12122210112

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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 "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.