Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country  Malta
National selection
Selection process Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Selection date(s) Semi-final:
21 November 2014
Final:
22 November 2014
Selected entrant Amber
Selected song "Warrior"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result Failed to qualify
(11th, 43 points)
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Warrior", written by Elton Zarb and Matt Muxu Mercieca. The song was performed by Amber. The Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) organised the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in order to select the Maltese entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The show consisted of a semi-final round and a final where "Warrior" performed by Amber eventually emerged as the winner after scoring the maximum amount of points from both a jury panel and a public televote. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals, Malta failed to qualify to the final, placing eleventh out of the 17 participating countries with 43 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-seven 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 2005 with the song "Angel" performed by Chiara. In 2014, Malta qualified to the final and placed 23rd with the song "Coming Home" performed by Firelight.

PBS confirmed that Malta would compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 on 11 July 2014.[2] On 14 July 2014, PBS announced that the Malta Eurovision Song Contest national final would take place one week after their hosting of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 on 15 November 2014. The national final made use of the same venue and stage utilised for the junior contest.[3]

Before Eurovision

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 21 and 22 November 2014, respectively, at the Malta Shipbuilding in Marsa.[3] Both shows were broadcast on TVM and hosted by Daniel Chircop and Lyona Xuereb Gatt.[4]

Format

The competition consisted of twenty songs competing in the semi-final on 21 November 2014 where the top fourteen entries qualified to compete in the final on 22 November 2014. Five judges evaluated the songs during the shows and each judge had an equal stake in the final result.[5] The sixth set of votes were the results of the public televote, which had a weighing equal to the votes of a single judge. Ties in the final results were broken based on the entry which received the higher score from the judges.[3] The five members of the jury that evaluated the entries during both the semi-final and final consisted of:

  • Ola Melzig (Sweden)
  • Francesco Biasia (Italy)
  • Gohar Gasparyan (Armenia)
  • Owen Galea (Malta)
  • Adriana Zarb Adami (Malta)

New rules and regulations for the competition allowed for the artist, author and composer of the winning entry to change parts of the winning song or the entire song for the Eurovision Song Contest.[3]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 28 and 29 August 2014 to the PBS Creativity Hub in Gwardamanġa. Artists were also required to submit a cover version of another song along with their entry application in order to allow the jury to assess the quality of the voice of the artist.[3] 134 entries were received by the broadcaster.[6] Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist(s) 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 two in the semi-final and one in the final. 2014 national final winners Firelight were unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous winners from competing in the following competition.[3] On 26 September 2014, PBS announced a shortlist of 48 entries that had progressed through the selection process.[7] The twenty songs selected to compete in the semi-final were announced on the TV program Xarabank on 3 October 2014.[8] In mid-October 2014, the participants filmed promotional videos for their entries which were released on 20 October 2014 in order to present the competing songs to the public.[9]

Among the selected competing artists were former Maltese Eurovision entrants Ludwig Galea (performing as part of the group Trilogy) who represented Malta in 2004, Glen Vella, who represented Malta in 2011, and Gianluca Bezzina (performing as part of the group L-Aħwa), who represented Malta in 2013. Daniel Testa represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Among the songwriters, Boris Cezek co-wrote the 2013 Maltese entry; 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, while Gerard James Borg also co-wrote the 2014 Russian entry; Alexander Rybak represented Norway and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2009; Jan van Dijk co-composed the 1990 Portuguese entry; Charlie Mason co-wrote the 2012 Italian entry and the winning 2014 Austrian entry.

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 21 November 2014 where twenty songs competed for fourteen qualifying spots in the final. A draw was held to determine which entries would open and close the show; "Home" performed by Lyndsay Pace was drawn to open the show and "Love and Let Go" performed by Ekklesia Sisters was drawn to close the show.[10] The remaining positions in the running order were determined by the producers of the show.[11] The show was opened with a guest performance by Maltese Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 representative Federica Falzon performing the song "Diamonds".[12]

Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Result
1 Lyndsay Pace "Home" Boris Cezek Eliminated
2 Iona Dalli "Could Have Been Me" Philip Vella Eliminated
3 Franklin "Still Here" Alexander Rybak Finalist
4 Christabelle "Rush" Elton Zarb, Muxu Finalist
5 Jessika "Fandango" Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Finalist
6 Chris Grech "Closed Doors" Chris Grech, Edward Mifsud, Peter Borg, David Cassar Torreggiani Finalist
7 Karen DeBattista "12, Baker Street" Jan van Dijck, Emil Calleja Bayliss Finalist
8 Daniel Testa "Something in the Way" Måns Ek, Charlie Mason Finalist
9 Glen Vella "Breakaway" Kevin Borg, Simon Gribbe Finalist
10 Raquel "Stop Haunting Me" Elton Zarb, Muxu Eliminated
11 Domenique "Take Me As I Am" Aidan O'Connor, Sara Biglert, Christian Schneider, Madeleine Jangklev Eliminated
12 Lawrence Gray "The One That You Love" Elton Zarb, Lawrence Gray Finalist
13 Deborah C "It's OK" Elton Zarb, Muxu Finalist
14 Danica Muscat "Close Your Eyes" Elton Zarb, Emil Calleja Bayliss Eliminated
15 Corazon "Secretly" Corazon Mizzi Eliminated
16 L-Aħwa "Beautiful to Me" Erik Anjou Finalist
17 Amber "Warrior" Elton Zarb, Muxu Finalist
18 Trilogy "Chasing a Dream" Joe Julian Farrugia, Paul Abela Finalist
19 Dominic "Once in a While" Elton Zarb, Rita Pace Finalist
20 Ekklesia Sisters "Love and Let Go" Philip Vella Finalist

Final

The final took place on 22 November 2014 where the fourteen entries that qualified from the semi-final were performed again and the votes of a five-member jury panel (5/6) and the results of public televoting (1/6) determined the winner.[5] A draw was held at a press conference following the semi-final in order to determine which entries would open and close the show; "Breakaway" performed by Glen Vella was drawn to open the show and "Something In The Way" performed by Daniel Testa was drawn to close the show.[13] The remaining positions in the running order were determined by the producers of the show.[14] The show was opened with a guest performance by Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst performing "Rise Like a Phoenix".[15] The interval act also featured Wurst performing the song "Heroes" and 2014 Maltese Eurovision entrants Firelight performing "Coming Home", "Talk Dirty" and "Backdrop of Life".[12]

After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "Warrior" performed by Amber was the winner with the maximum score of 72 points.[16]

Draw Artist Song Composer(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 Glen Vella "Breakaway" Kevin Borg, Simon Gribbe 35 4 39 3
2 Karen DeBattista "12, Baker Street" Jan van Dijck, Emil Calleja Bayliss 0 0 0 14
3 Dominic "Once in a While" Elton Zarb, Rita Pace 11 0 11 12
4 Trilogy "Chasing a Dream" Joe Julian Farrugia, Paul Abela 9 3 12 10
5 Chris Grech "Closed Doors" Chris Grech, Edward Mifsud, Peter Borg, David Cassar Torreggiani 33 2 35 4
6 Ekklesia Sisters "Love and Let Go" Philip Vella 13 10 23 7
7 Jessika "Fandango" Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg 12 6 18 9
8 Deborah C "It's OK" Elton Zarb, Muxu 12 0 12 11
9 Amber "Warrior" Elton Zarb, Muxu 60 12 72 1
10 L-Aħwa "Beautiful to Me" Erik Anjou 10 1 11 13
11 Franklin "Still Here" Alexander Rybak 18 8 26 5
12 Christabelle "Rush" Elton Zarb, Muxu 40 7 47 2
13 Lawrence Gray "The One That You Love" Elton Zarb, Lawrence Gray 13 5 18 8
14 Daniel Testa "Something in the Way" Måns Ek, Charlie Mason 24 0 24 6
Juries
Draw Song Sweden
O. Melzig		 Italy
F. Biasia		 Armenia
G. Gasparyan		 Malta
O. Galea		 Malta
A. Zarb Adami		 Total
1 "Breakaway" 8 6 8 7 6 35
2 "12, Baker Street" – – – – – 0
3 "Once in a While" 1 2 5 3 – 11
4 "Chasing a Dream" 4 3 – 2 – 9
5 "Closed Doors" 7 7 10 5 4 33
6 "Love and Let Go" 3 1 4 – 5 13
7 "Fandango" – – – 4 8 12
8 "It's OK" 2 4 6 – – 12
9 "Warrior" 12 12 12 12 12 60
10 "Beautiful to Me" – – 7 – 3 10
11 "Still Here" 6 5 – 6 1 18
12 "Rush" 10 10 2 8 10 40
13 "The One That You Love" – – 1 10 2 13
14 "Something in the Way" 5 8 3 1 7 24

Preparation

In March 2015, the Maltese broadcaster announced that the Eurovision version of "Warrior" would be released after the song had undergone remastering. The composers of "Warrior", Elton Zarb and Matthew (Muxu) Mercieca, worked with Gordon Bonello and Kevin Abela to produce the new version of the song. A 57-piece orchestra was used for the recording. To present the new version, the official music video for the song was filmed, which was produced by Gordon Bonello, Rodney Gauci, Neville Grech and Charles Ahar. The video was recorded at a 400 year old abandoned house in Rabat, Malta. The video and new version of the song were premiered on 9 March 2015 at the PBS Creativity Hub in Gwardamanġa and then released online.[17][18]

At Eurovision

Amber at a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[19] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[20] On 26 January 2015, a special 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 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[21]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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 5, following the entry from Montenegro and before the entry from Norway.[22]

All three shows were televised in Malta on TVM, with commentary by Corazon Mizzi.[23] The Maltese spokesperson, who announced the Maltese votes during the final, was previous 2004 contest entrant Julie Zahra.[24]

Semi-final

Amber at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

Amber took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 16 May,[25][26] followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[27]

The stage show featured Amber on stage alone in a long black dress with lace sleeves and a black ribbon around her waist. As the song progressed, the background LED screens transitioned between blue flame-like effects exploding outwards from a sphere and orange and red flames. The performance also utilised pyrotechnics in the form of shooting flames.[25][26]

At the end of the show, Malta failed to qualify to the final and was not announced among the top ten nations.[28] It was later revealed that Malta placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 43 points—11 points shy of qualifying to the final.[29]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could 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 were released shortly after the grand final.[30]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Malta had placed twelfth with the public televote and fifth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Malta scored 32 points, while with the jury vote, Malta scored 84 points.[31]

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:[29][32][33][34]

Points awarded to Malta

Points awarded by Malta

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Maltese jury:[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Malta Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (11 July 2014). "Malta: PBS confirms participation in Eurovision 2015!". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roxburgh, Gordon (14 July 2014). "Malta to select their 2015 entry in November". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Qendro, Helio (12 November 2014). "Malta: MESC 2015 hosts revealed". esctoday.com. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  5. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (21 November 2014). "The 14 qualifiers for the Maltese Final". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Martin, Ivan (27 September 2014). "Malta's singing nuns". Times of Malta. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (26 September 2014). "48 songs through to second phase in Malta". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Zarb, Noel (10 September 2014). "Eurovision 2015: Xarabank to announce Malta finalists on 3 October". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Juhász, Ervin (20 October 2014). "Full versions of the Maltese semi final songs released". ESCBubble. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Juhász, Ervin (5 October 2014). "Lyndsay to open, and Ekklesia sisters to close Malta Eurovision!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Manta, Matteo (28 October 2014). "Malta Eurovision running order revealed!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  12. 1 2 Ristić, Aleksandar (19 November 2014). "Preparations for MESC in full swing". ESCBubble.
  13. ↑ Juhász, Ervin (21 November 2014). "Meet the 14 finalists of Malta Eurovision Song Contest!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Farrugia, Antoine (22 November 2014). "MESC 2015: Qualifiers and Running Order Revealed". escflashmalta.com. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Zarb, Noel (7 November 2014). "Malta: Conchita Wurst to Open the national final!". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  16. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (22 November 2014). "Amber to represent Malta". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  17. ↑ Borg, Luke (6 March 2015). "Malta: A whole new Warrior on 9 March". esctoday.com. Esctoday.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  18. ↑ D'Anastasi, Daniel (9 March 2015). "Jitnieda l-video uffiċjali tal-kanzunetta "Warrior"". tvm.com.mt. TVM. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  19. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Brey, Marco (25 January 2015). "Tomorrow: The semi-final allocation draw". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (23 March 2015). "Running order of Semi-Finals revealed". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  23. ↑ Bartolo, Chucky (21 May 2015). "Amber battles it out for a place in Saturday's Eurovision final". Malta Today. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  24. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" - Voting order revealed". eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  25. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (13 May 2015). "Time for the Maltese Warrior". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  26. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (16 May 2015). "Amber is all set to go". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  27. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (20 May 2015). "Time for the juries to make up their minds". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  28. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (21 May 2015). "Line-up is now complete for the Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  30. 1 2 Bakker, Sietse (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  31. ↑ Adams, Willy Lee (25 May 2015). "Semi final split results: Who the jury hurt at Eurovision 2015". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  32. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  33. ↑ "Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  34. ↑ "Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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