Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country	Malta
National selection
Selection process	Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Selection date(s)	Semi-final: 7 February 2014 Final: 8 February 2014
Selected entrant	Firelight
Selected song	"Coming Home"
Selected songwriter(s)	Richard Micallef
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (9th, 64 points)
Final result	23rd, 32 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Maltese entry was selected through Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2014, a national selection organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). Firelight represented Malta with the song "Coming Home", which came 9th the second semi-final and 23rd in the final.

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. On 24 September 2013, PBS published the rules and regulations for the competition, opening the submission period until the end of October 2013. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist(s) were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. The entry fee for each submission was €150. In the previous edition of the competition, a rule prohibited the winners of the last five contests from participating, however a modification to this rule for the 2014 edition prevented only the previous winner from 2013, Gianluca Bezzina, from participating.^[1]

Format

The competition consisted of twenty songs competing in a semi-final on 7 February 2014 where the top fourteen entries qualified to compete in the final on 8 February 2014. Both shows were hosted by television presenter Moira Delia, 2013 Maltese Eurovision entrant Gianluca Bezzina and 2002 Maltese Eurovision entrant Ira Losco.^[2] Five judges evaluated the songs during the shows and each judge had an equal stake in the final result. The sixth set of votes were the results of the public televote, which had a weighing equal to the votes of a single judge.^[3] Both the semi-final and the final took place at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta' Qali.^[4]

Competing entries

On 2 November 2013, PBS announced that 210 entries were submitted for the competition.^[5] In mid-November 2013, 70 entries were shortlisted by a selection panel.^[6] On 29 November 2013, the 20 semi-finalists were revealed during a special edition of the television show Xarabank.^[7] In mid-December 2013, the participants filmed promotional videos for their entries which were released to present the competing songs to the public.^[4]

Among the artists selected were former Maltese Eurovision entrants Miriam Christine who represented Malta in 1996 and Fabrizio Faniello who represented Malta in 2001 and 2006. Sophie DeBattista represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006 and Daniel Testa represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Among the songwriters, Paul Giordimaina represented Malta in 1991 and together with Fleur Balzan they co-wrote the 2011 Maltese entry, Glen Vella represented Malta in 2011, Paul Abela composed the 1991, 1996 and 2001 Maltese entries, Gerard James Borg and Philip Vella co-wrote the 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2008 Maltese entries, Boris Cezek co-wrote the 2013 Maltese entry, Stephen Rudden represented the United Kingdom as part of the group Love City Groove in 1995 and Johan Bejerholm co-wrote Azerbaijan's 2009 entry.

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 7 February 2014 where twenty songs competed for fourteen qualifying spots in the final. During a press conference from the organizing committee of the competition on 2 December 2013, a draw was held to determine which entries would open and close the show; "Because I Have You" performed by Amber was drawn to open the show and "Ten" performed by Corazon was drawn to close the show.^[4] The remaining positions in the running order were determined by the producers of the show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show also featured guest performances by Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest performing "Only Teardrops", 2014 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Maria Yaremchuk performing "Tick-Tock" and performances by local acts The Crowns and Red Electrick.^[8]

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

• Reuben Zammit (Malta)
• Ekaterina Orlova (Russia)
• Alessandro Capicchioni (San Marino)
• Victoria Romanova (Ukraine)
• Arthur Caruana (Malta)

Final

The final took place on 8 February 2014 where the fourteen entries that qualified from the semi-final performed again and the votes of a five-member jury panel (5/6) and the results of public televoting (1/6) determined the winner. During a press conference from the organizing committee of the competition following the conclusion of the semi-final, a draw was held to determine which entries would open and close the show; "Love Tricity" performed by Christabelle was drawn to open the show and "Pin the Middle" performed by De Bee was drawn to close the show. The remaining positions in the running order were determined by the producers of the show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show also featured guest performances by Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest performing "Rainmaker", 2014 Swiss Eurovision entrant Sebalter performing "Hunter of Stars", Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Gaia Cauchi and performances by local acts Winter Moods and Ġorġ u Pawlu.^[9]

The five members of the jury that evaluated the entries during the final consisted of:^[10]

• Peter Cossai (Malta)
• Ekaterina Orlova (Russia)
• Nicola Caligiore (Italy)
• Olga Salamakha (Belarus)
• Reuben Zammitt (Malta)

At the conclusion of the voting, Firelight was the winner of the competition with the song "Coming Home".^[11]

Juries

Song	P. Cossai	E. Orlova	N. Caligiore	O. Salamakha	R. Zammit	Total
Lovetricity	5	2	2	–	5	14
Some Kind of Wonderful	–	1	–	7	1	9
Brand New Day	–	–	4	–	–	4
City Lady	4	3	7	–	2	16
Love Will Take Me Home	–	4	5	8	3	20
One Last Ride	3	10	8	10	–	31
Let The Sunshine In	1	–	–	3	7	11
Oblivion	–	–	–	6	–	6
Until We Meet Again	8	12	3	5	–	28
Hypnotica	2	–	–	–	4	6
Take Me	6	5	1	1	8	21
Coming Home	12	8	12	12	12	56
Because I Have You	10	6	6	2	6	30
Pin the Middle	7	7	10	4	10	38

At Eurovision

Firelight at the second semi-final dress rehearsal

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Malta was drawn to compete in the first half of the second semi-final on 8 May 2014.^[12] In the second semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Malta would open the semi-final and perform 1st, preceding Israel.^[13] Malta qualified from the second semi-final and competed in the final on 10 May 2014. During the winner's press conference for the second semi-final qualifiers, Malta was allocated to compete in the second half of the final.^[14] In the final, the producers of the show decided that Malta would perform 22nd, following Hungary and preceding Denmark.^[15] In the second semi-final the public awarded Malta 12th place with 28 points with the jury awarding 3rd place with 113 points. Overall Malta placed 9th with 63 points. In the grand final Malta came 24th with 17 points in the televote and came 6th in the jury vote with 119 points. Resulting in an overall score of 32 points landing 23rd place.

The Maltese performance featured Firelight performing with instruments on stage. The LED screens transitioned from red and blue skies with black and white photos displayed on the cube screens.^[16] The black and white photos were 208 selfies that the Maltese broadcaster received after a public request was made asking fans to send in their photos in late March 2014.^[17][18]

In Malta, the semi-finals and the finals were broadcast on TVM with commentary by Carlo Borg Bonaci.^[19] The Maltese spokesperson revealing the result of the Maltese vote in the final was Valentina Rossi.^[20]

Points awarded to Malta

Points awarded by Malta

Semi-final 2 Points awarded in second semi-final: 12 points  Romania 10 points  Austria 8 points  Greece 7 points  Norway 6 points  Belarus 5 points   Switzerland 4 points  Ireland 3 points  Macedonia 2 points  Georgia 1 point  Poland

Final Points awarded in the final: 12 points  Italy 10 points  Austria 8 points  Romania 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Armenia 5 points  Russia 4 points  United Kingdom 3 points   Switzerland 2 points  Norway 1 point  Greece

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Maltese jury:^[21]

• Paul Abela – Chairperson – musician, composer, maestro
• Manolito Galea – sound engineer
• Elton Zarb – music producer
• Corazon Mizzi – television host, semi-professional singer/songwriter
• Pamela Bezzina – vocal coach, singer, vocal arranger

Semi-final 2

The Maltese votes in the second semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.^[22]

Semi-final 2 – Maltese Results
Draw	Country	P. Abela	M. Galea	E. Zarb	C. Mizzi	P. Bezzina	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Malta
02	Israel	9	7	13	13	12	14	11	14
03	Norway	5	5	11	3	7	5	6	4	7
04	Georgia	4	4	7	11	4	3	14	9	2
05	Poland	13	3	10	14	10	11	8	10	1
06	Austria	12	6	1	4	11	8	1	2	10
07	Lithuania	7	9	8	1	8	7	12	12
08	Finland	11	8	12	12	9	13	7	13
09	Ireland	10	13	5	9	14	12	3	7	4
10	Belarus	3	14	2	5	3	2	9	5	6
11	Macedonia	6	12	3	7	2	4	13	8	3
12	Switzerland	14	10	9	6	1	10	4	6	5
13	Greece	2	11	4	10	5	6	5	3	8
14	Slovenia	8	2	14	2	13	9	10	11
15	Romania	1	1	6	8	6	1	2	1	12

Final

The Maltese votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.^[23]

Final – Maltese Results
Draw	Country	P. Abela	M. Galea	E. Zarb	C. Mizzi	P. Bezzina	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Ukraine	10	13	14	24	18	19	18	21
02	Belarus	4	11	18	3	2	4	16	11
03	Azerbaijan	6	21	2	7	5	5	24	16
04	Iceland	22	20	22	21	25	25	22	24
05	Norway	9	8	17	15	10	11	8	9	2
06	Romania	2	3	1	5	9	3	7	3	8
07	Armenia	1	2	3	6	3	1	15	5	6
08	Montenegro	7	6	4	16	8	6	25	17
09	Poland	15	9	6	25	21	18	9	14
10	Greece	3	10	5	20	11	8	11	10	1
11	Austria	14	4	13	11	16	9	1	2	10
12	Germany	20	24	19	17	17	21	20	23
13	Sweden	21	5	12	14	7	10	3	4	7
14	France	23	19	24	18	22	24	23	25
15	Russia	8	7	21	1	6	7	10	6	5
16	Italy	5	1	7	2	4	2	2	1	12
17	Slovenia	19	12	16	4	12	12	21	18
18	Finland	25	18	23	19	19	23	14	20
19	Spain	13	14	8	23	13	14	12	12
20	Switzerland	24	22	11	12	1	13	6	8	3
21	Hungary	16	15	20	22	15	20	19	22
22	Malta
23	Denmark	17	16	15	10	14	16	13	15
24	Netherlands	18	23	25	13	24	22	5	13
25	San Marino	11	25	9	8	20	17	17	19
26	United Kingdom	12	17	10	9	23	15	4	7	4

See also

• Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2014

References

Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1971 1972 1973 to 1974 1975 1976 to 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Artists 1970s 1970 Joe Grech Helen and Joseph 1973 Enzo Guzman Renato Enzo Guzman 1977 to 1979 1980s 1980 to 1989 1990s 1990 Paul Giordimaina and Georgina Mary Spiteri William Mangion Chris and Moira Mike Spiteri Miriam Christine Debbie Scerri Chiara Times Three 2000s Claudette Pace Fabrizio Faniello Ira Losco Lynn Chircop Julie and Ludwig Chiara Fabrizio Faniello Olivia Lewis Morena Chiara 2010s Thea Garrett Glen Vella Kurt Calleja Gianluca Bezzina Firelight Amber Ira Losco
Songs 1970s 1970 "Marija l-Maltija" "L-imħabba" 1973 "Paċi Fid Dinja" "Singing This Song" "Sing Your Song, Country Boy" 1977 to 1979 1980s 1980 to 1989 1990s 1990 "Could It Be" "Little Child" "This Time" "More Than Love" "Keep Me In Mind" "In a Woman's Heart" "Let Me Fly" "The One That I Love" "Believe 'n Peace" 2000s "Desire" "Another Summer Night" "7th Wonder" "To Dream Again" "On Again... Off Again" "Angel" "I Do" "Vertigo" "Vodka" "What If We" 2010s "My Dream" "One Life" "This Is the Night" "Tomorrow" "Coming Home" "Warrior" "Walk on Water"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Malta did not compete)