Prior to the 2019 Contest, Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 31 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 2018, Malta failed to qualify to the final, placing 13th in the second semi-final with the song "Taboo" performed by Christabelle.
The first season of X Factor Malta, the Maltese version of the British television music competition The X Factor created by Simon Cowell, was used as the platform for the selection of Malta's entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, and the winner also secured a record contract with Sony Music Italy. The season premiered on 7 October 2018 and was broadcast on Television Malta.
Selection process
Firstly, a producer audition round was held from 13 to 15 July at Fort St Elmo, which the show's producers assessed the auditioning acts and determined who would progress to the judges auditions. The chosen auditionees were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges, which were filmed at Fort St Angelo from 1 to 8 August and broadcast from 7 October via the X Factor Malta YouTube channel and on the Facebook page of Vodafone Malta. The four judges were:
Ira Losco
Howard Keith Debono
Ray Mercieca
Alexandra Alden
120 contestants were selected to progress to the bootcamp round, which they were split into the four category groups - Boys, Girls, Overs and Groups, and were given one song to sing a cappella. 30 acts were eliminated, and the remaining acts each selected a song from the Wall of Songs, which they had to perform with three others who had selected the same song. In the final challenge, the remaining acts - including newly formed groups - performed a song of their own choice. The jury then selected 12 acts from each category to go through to the Six Chair Challenge, filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard on 11 and 12 October 2018, where 24 acts advanced to the Judges' Houses, broadcast on 23 and 30 December 2018. During the Judges' Houses round, the four judges eliminated 3 acts from each category, meaning that a total of 12 acts advanced to the live shows.
Finalists
Key:
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 28 January 2019, 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 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2019 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 11, following the entry from Croatia and preceding the entry from Lithuania. The song passed to the final round of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, when it was announced as the last entry to make it through from the second semi-final, where songs were announced in random order.
Semi-final
Malta performed eleventh in the second semi-final, following the entry from Croatia and preceding the entry from Lithuania. At the end of the show, Malta was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Malta placed eighth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 157 points: 50 points from the televoting and 107 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 will be released shortly after the grand final.
Points awarded to Malta
Points awarded by Malta
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Maltese jury:
