Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

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.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country Malta
National selection
Selection processMalta Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Selection date(s)Semi-final:
7 February 2014
Final:
8 February 2014
Selected entrantFirelight
Selected song"Coming Home"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Richard Micallef
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (9th, 64 points)
Final result23rd, 32 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Before Eurovision

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. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 7 and 8 February 2014, respectively, at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in the nation's capital city of Valletta.[1] Both shows were hosted by television presenter Moira Delia, 2002 Maltese Eurovision entrant Ira Losco and 2013 Maltese Eurovision entrant Gianluca Bezzina and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM).[2]

Format

The competition consisted of twenty songs competing in the semi-final on 7 February 2014 where the top fourteen entries qualified to compete in the final on 8 February 2014. 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 weighting 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]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 24 September and 31 October 2013. The entry fee for each submission was €150. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. 2013 national final winner Gianluca Bezzina was unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous winner from competing in the following competition.[4] 210 entries were received by the broadcaster.[5] On 19 November 2013, PBS announced a shortlist of 70 entries that had progressed through the selection process.[6] The twenty songs selected to compete in the semi-final were announced on the TVM programme Xarabank on 29 November 2013. In mid-December 2013, the participants filmed promotional videos for their entries which were released to present the competing songs to the public.[1]

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 2001Maltese 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. Twenty songs competed for fourteen qualifying spots in the final. The running draw to determine which entries would open and close the show took place on 2 December 2013 during a press conference. The remaining positions in the running order were determined by the producers of the show.[1] 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 local bands the Crowns and Red Electrick.[7]

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)
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Result
1 Amber "Because I Have You" Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan Finalist
2 Chris Grech "Oblivion" Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Finalist
3 Romina Mamo "Addictive" Ylva Persson, Linda Persson Eliminated
4 Jessika "Hypnotica" Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Finalist
5 Andreana "Now and Forever" Vinny Vella, Karl Spiteri Eliminated
6 Daniel Testa "One Last Ride" Stephen Rudden, Lawrence Peter Bridge Finalist
7 Raquel "Invisible" Gerard James Borg, Philip Vella Eliminated
8 Fabrizio Faniello "Just No Place Like Home" Johan Bejerholm Eliminated
9 Wayne William "Some Kind of Wonderful" Wayne Micallef Finalist
10 Ryan Paul Abela "City Lady" Paul Abela, Ryan Paul Abela, Joe Julian Farrugia Finalist
11 Christabelle "Lovetricity" Magnus Kaxe, Gerard James Borg Finalist
12 Pamela "Take Me" Boris Cezek Finalist
13 Sophie "Let the Sunshine In" Sophie DeBattista, Adam Pakard, Alex Dew Finalist
14 Franklin "Love Will Take Me Home" Glen Vella, Beatrice Eriksson, Marcus Frenell, Michael James Down Finalist
15 Miriam Christine "Safe" Mark Scicluna, Emil Calleja Bayliss Eliminated
16 Deborah C "Until We Meet Again" Elton Zarb, Matt Mercieca Finalist
17 Firelight "Coming Home" Richard Micallef Finalist
18 De Bee "Pin the Middle" Peter Paul Galea, Debbie Stivala Finalist
19 Davinia "Brand New Day" Elton Zarb, Matt Mercieca Finalist
20 Corazon "Ten" Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan Eliminated

Final

The final took place on 8 February 2014. The fourteen entries that qualified from the semi-final were performed again and the votes of a five-member jury panel (4/5) and the results of public televoting (1/5) determined the winner. 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 local bands Winter Moods and Ġorġ u Pawlu.[8] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "Coming Home" performed by Firelight were the winners.[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)
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Christabelle "Lovetricity" 14 4 18 8
2 Wayne William "Some Kind of Wonderful" 9 0 9 12
3 Davinia "Brand New Day" 4 3 7 13
4 Ryan Paul Abela "City Lady" 16 0 16 10
5 Franklin "Love Will Take Me Home" 20 5 25 7
6 Daniel Testa "One Last Ride" 31 10 41 3
7 Sophie "Let the Sunshine In" 11 0 11 11
8 Chris Grech "Oblivion" 6 1 7 13
9 Deborah C "Until We Meet Again" 28 0 28 5
10 Jessika "Hypnotica" 6 12 18 8
11 Pamela "Take Me" 21 6 27 6
12 Firelight "Coming Home" 56 7 63 1
13 Amber "Because I Have You" 30 2 32 4
14 De Bee "Pin the Middle" 38 8 46 2

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.[11] In the second semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Malta would open the semi-final and perform 1st, preceding Israel.[12] 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.[13] In the final, the producers of the show decided that Malta would perform 22nd, following Hungary and preceding Denmark.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16][17]

In Malta, the semi-finals and the finals were broadcast on TVM with commentary by Carlo Borg Bonaci.[18] The Maltese spokesperson revealing the result of the Maltese vote in the final was Valentina Rossi.[19]

Points awarded to Malta
Points awarded to Malta (semi-final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
  •  Macedonia
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Malta (final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Malta

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Maltese jury:[20]

  • 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.[21]

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.[22]

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

References
  1. Borg, Luke (3 December 2013). "Malta: National selection details revealed". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  2. Borg, Luke (26 January 2014). "Malta: Running order, Hosts…and more". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  3. Scott, Robin (26 September 2013). "Malta:PBS announces its 2014 selection process". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  4. Calleja Bayliss, Marc (24 September 2013). "MESC 2014: Regulations Officially Published by PBS". escflashmalta. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  5. Jiandani, Sanjay (2 November 2013). "Malta: PBS receives a record breaking 210 entries for national selection". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  6. Borg, Luke (19 November 2013). "Malta: 70 songs left in the race". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  7. Borg, Luke (7 February 2014). "Tonight: Malta Eurovision Song Contest Semi Final". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  8. Roxburgh, Gordon (7 February 2014). "Malta has decided their 14 finalists". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  9. Roxburgh, Gordon (8 February 2014). "Firelight to represent Malta". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  10. Vanhoutte, Olivier (8 February 2014). "MESC '14: The Grand Final - LIVE". escflashmalta. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  11. Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  12. Siim, Jarmo (24 March 2014). "Running order for Eurovision Semi-Finals decided". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  13. Brey, Marco (8 May 2014). "Second Semi-Final: The Winners' Press Conference". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  14. Storvik-Green, Simon (9 May 2014). "Running order for the Grand Final revealed!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  15. Roxburgh, Gordon (29 April 2014). "Firelight hoping to blaze a trail". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. Calleja Bayliss, Marc (29 March 2014). "Malta: Firelight Request Your Selfies for Backdrop". escflashmalta. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  17. Escudero, Victor M. (3 May 2014). "Malta's Firelight feeling at home". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  18. Calleja Bayliss, Marc (6 May 2014). "ESC 2014: Few Hours Away from Semi-Final One". escflashmalta. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  19. "Eurovision Song Contest 2014: ecco l'elenco degli spokesperson" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  20. Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  21. "Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Second Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  22. "Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
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