Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017


Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Breathlessly" written by Philip Vella, Sean Vella and Gerard James Borg. The song was performed by Claudia Faniello. The Maltese entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine was initially selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services. The national final was held on 18 February 2017 and "Breathlessly" performed by Claudia Faniello eventually emerged as the winning entry after receiving the most votes from the televote.
Malta was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 4, "Breathlessly" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.

Background

Prior to the 2017 Contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-nine times since its first entry in 1971. 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 2015, Malta failed to qualify to the final with the song "Warrior" performed by Amber. In 2016, Malta placed twelfth with the song "Walk On Water" performed by Ira Losco.
For the 2017 Contest, the Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services, broadcast the event within Malta and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. Malta has selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure Malta Eurovision Song Contest, a method that was continued for their 2017 participation.

Before Eurovision

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The national final took place at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, Malta and it was hosted by Daniel Azzopardi and Charlene Mercieca. It was broadcast on TVM as well as online at the broadcaster's website tvm.com.mt, and broadcast on TVM as well as online at the broadcaster's website tvm.com.mt.

Format

The competition consisted sixteen entries competing in a national final which took place on 18 February 2017. The winner was decided solely by a public televoting.
The Maltese selection was undergoing a lot of changes for the 2017 contest. On 28 December, John Bundy, the chief executive of the Public Broadcasting Services, confirmed that the winning song would be the country’s official Eurovision song for the contest in Kiev and it wouldn't be replaced like in 2016. It was revealed that Malta Eurovision Song Contest would no longer have a semi-final and there would only be a final instead. The broadcaster also had the right to shortlist only one song per artist, so there wasn't a repeat of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2016 where Ira Losco entered with two songs - “Chameleon” and “That’s Why I Love You”. The voting system was also changed by removing the jury vote in favour of 100% televoting result.

Competing entries

Tvm.com.mt announced the 60 songs selected among 156 songs which applied to participate in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017. An eleven-person expert panel assessed the songs and selected 16 finalists. They were revealed on 21 December 2016.

Final

The final was held on 18 February 2017. It took place at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, Malta and it was hosted by Daniel Azzopardi and Charlene Mercieca. The show consisted of 16 competing acts and the winner was decided solely by a public televoting. Claudia Faniello with the song "Breathlessly" was selected as the winner. In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by the 2016 Junior Eurovision entrant Christina Magrin and 2016 Eurovision entrant Ira Losco.
DrawArtistSongSongwriterTelevotePlace
1Klinsmann Coleiro"Laserlight"Dreher Emanuel, Stefan Moessle, Mathias Strasser33210
2Raquela Dalli Gonzi"Ray of Light"Boris Cezek, Dean Muscat5518
3Deborah C & Josef"Tonight"Jonas Gladnikoff, Primož Poglajen, Michael James Down, Sara Ljunggren, Angie Laus5727
4Kevin Borg"Follow"Kevin Borg, Simon Gribbe2,5023
5Jade Vella"Seconds Away"Kevin Borg, Simon Gribbe16614
6Crosswalk"So Simple"Boris Cezek, Dean Muscat24512
7Franklin Calleja"Follow Me"Ivan Grech, Cyprian Cassar, Muxu1,3035
8Rhiannon"Fearless"Cyprian Cassar, Rhiannon Micallef28811
9Miriana Conte"Don't Look Down"Cyprian Cassar, Muxu15616
10Shauna Vassallo"Crazy Games"Cyprian Cassar, Muxu15915
11Janice Mangion"Kewkba" Mark Scicluna, Emil Calleja Bayliss4,5442
12Cherton Caruana"Fighting to Survive"Boris Cezek, Dean Muscat3409
13Maxine Pace"Bombshell"Noel Cohen, Michael Macallister, Julie Hardy, Erin Bowman6276
14Richard Edwards"You"Richard Micallef18613
15Brooke Borg"Unstoppable"Christian Schneider, Aidan O'Connor, Sara Biglert, Brooke Borg2,0004
16Claudia Faniello"Breathlessly"Philip Vella, Sean Vella, Gerard James Borg4,9961

Promotion

Claudia Faniello made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Breathlessly" as the Maltese Eurovision entry. On 2 April, she performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French. Between 3 and 6 April, Faniello took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where she performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue. On 8 April, Claudia Faniello performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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 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 31 January 2017, 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 11 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2017 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. Originally, Malta was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Macedonia and before the entry from Romania. However, following Russia's withdrawal from the contest on 13 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Malta's performing position shifted to 4.

Semi-final

The Maltese performance featured Claudia Faniello wearing a glittery silver full-length tight-fitting formal dress, taking inspiration from her music video of the song "Breathlessly". The LED backdrops were mostly dark blue. Claudia appeared on the LED backdrop, sometimes with just a close-up of her face and sometimes with a full body shot. The chandelier was prominent, which was also taking inspiration from the setting of the music video.

Points awarded to Malta

Points awarded by Malta

Jury members

The following five members comprised the Maltese jury: