Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "7th Wonder", composed by Philip Vella, with lyrics by Gerard James Borg, and performed by Ira Losco. The Maltese participating broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2002. The competition consisted of a final, held on 15 and 16 February 2002, where "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) | |||
| Country |  Malta | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Malta Song for Europe 2002 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 15-16 February 2002 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Ira Losco | |||
| Selected song | "7th Wonder" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | ||||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 2nd, 164 points | |||
| Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 25 May 2002. Performing during the show in position 20, Malta placed second out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 164 points. This is, to date, Malta's joint best placing at the contest alongside 2005.
Background
editPrior to the 2002 Contest, the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA) until 1975, and the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) since 1991, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Malta fourteen times since MBA's first entry in 1971. After competing in 1975, Malta was absent from the contest beginning in 1976. They had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Their best placing in the contest thus far was third, achieved on two occasions: in 1992 with the song "Little Child" performed by Mary Spiteri and in 1998 with the song "The One That I Love" performed by Chiara.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, PBS organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster had selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for its 2002 participation.[2]
Before Eurovision
editMalta Song for Europe 2002
editMalta Song for Europe 2002 was the national final format developed by PBS to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. The competition was held on 15 and 16 February 2002 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, hosted by Peppi Azzopardi and Valerie Vella and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM).[3]
Competing entries
editArtists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition between 1 September 2001 and 9 November 2001. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as they possessed Maltese origin. Songs were required to be written in English, however, lyrics in other languages were also allowed as long as it does not exceed one line to a quatrain. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of two in the final.[4] 224 entries were received by the broadcaster.[5] The sixteen songs, selected to compete in the competition from a shortlist of 36 entries that had progressed through the selection process, were announced on 10 December 2001 at a press conference held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. The jury panel that selected the sixteen finalists consisted of Giuseppe Affallo (Spain), Derek Lloyd (United Kingdom), Munro Forbes (United Kingdom), Ismeta Dervoz (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Albert Galdes (Malta).[6]
Final
editThe final took place on 15 and 16 February 2002. Sixteen entries competed and the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel (5/8) and public televoting (3/8) determined the winner. The interval act of the show on 15 February featured performances by Italian singer Gilda Giuliani, Danish guitarist Kaare Norge and the Laura (who would represent Finland in 2002), while the interval act of the show on 16 February featured performances by the Alision White Dance Company, Fabrizio Faniello (who represented Malta in 2001), the band One (who would represent Cyprus in 2002) and Malene Mortensen (who would represent Denmark in 2002).[7] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco was the winner. 36,817 votes were registered by the televoting.[8][9]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nadine Axisa | "Think of You" | Marica Axisa, Joe Julian Farrugia | 59 | 15 | 74 | 6 |
| 2 | Lawrence Gray | "What Happened to Our Love" | Ray Agius, Alfred C. Sant | 42 | 48 | 90 | 4 |
| 3 | Andreana Debattista and Karl Spiteri | "Theresa" | Karl Spiteri | 48 | 24 | 72 | 8 |
| 4 | Ira Losco | "One Step Away" | Ray Agius, Philip Vella | 47 | 54 | 101 | 3 |
| 5 | Lawrence Gray | "Moment of Truth" | Paul Abela, Alfred C. Sant | 36 | 36 | 72 | 8 |
| 6 | Gunther Chetcuti | "Wanna Hold On" | Eugenio Schembri, Gunther Chetcuti | 47 | 27 | 74 | 6 |
| 7 | Olivia Lewis | "Give Me Wings" | Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan | 35 | 30 | 65 | 11 |
| 8 | Julie Zahra | "Secret to Share" | Mark Debono, Fiona Cauchi | 28 | 9 | 37 | 16 |
| 9 | Fiona | "Hide and Seek" | Paul Abela, Alfred C. Sant | 37 | 3 | 40 | 14 |
| 10 | Paula | "Dazzle Me" | Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg | 56 | 21 | 77 | 5 |
| 11 | Annalise Ellul | "A New Day Is Dawning" | Dominic Galea, Paul Callus | 39 | 33 | 72 | 8 |
| 12 | Ira Losco | "7th Wonder" | Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg | 100 | 60 | 160 | 1 |
| 13 | Nadine Axisa | "Romantic" | Ray Agius | 33 | 6 | 39 | 15 |
| 14 | Roger Tirazona | "When I'm Near" | Paul Abela, Joe Chircop | 23 | 18 | 41 | 13 |
| 15 | Karen Polidano | "When Comes My Lover" | John David Zammit, Ray Mahoney | 61 | 42 | 103 | 2 |
| 16 | Fiona | "Heaven in My Life" | Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan | 39 | 12 | 51 | 12 |
| Draw | Song | Juror | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | "Think of You" | 18 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 16 | 59 |
| 2 | "What Happened to Our Love" | 7 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 18 | 42 |
| 3 | "Theresa" | 1 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 48 |
| 4 | "One Step Away" | 6 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 47 |
| 5 | "Moment of Truth" | 5 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 36 |
| 6 | "Wanna Hold On" | 16 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 47 |
| 7 | "Give Me Wings" | 4 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 35 |
| 8 | "Secret to Share" | 3 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 28 |
| 9 | "Hide and Seek" | 2 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 37 |
| 10 | "Dazzle Me" | 14 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 3 | 56 |
| 11 | "A New Day Is Dawning" | 11 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 39 |
| 12 | "7th Wonder" | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 100 |
| 13 | "Romantic" | 8 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 33 |
| 14 | "When I'm Near" | 12 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 23 |
| 15 | "When Comes My Lover" | 9 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 61 |
| 16 | "Heaven in My Life" | 10 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 39 |
At Eurovision
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002.[10] The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom), the sixteen highest-scoring participating countries in the previous year's contest and any non-participating countries in the previous year's contest, up to 24 participants in total.[11] On 9 November 2001, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 20, following the entry from Turkey and before the entry from Romania.[12] Malta finished in second place scoring 164 points.[13]
The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM with commentary by John Bundy.[14][15] PBS appointed Yvette Portelli as its spokesperson to announce the Maltese votes during the show.
Voting
editBelow is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation, whose votes were based on a 50/50 combination of jury voting and televoting, awarded its 12 points to Cyprus in the contest.[16]
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References
edit- ^ "Malta Country Profile". EBU. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ Jensen, Charlotte (16 July 2020). "Eurovision 2002: Ira Losco in focus". EuroVisionary. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "MALTESE NATIONAL FINAL 2002". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Regulations". maltasong.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Maltese Song For Europe 2002 songs shortlisted". ESCOL. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "16 finalists announced for Malta Song for Europe 2002". maltasong.com. 11 December 2001. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Malta Song for Europe 2002". M3P. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Malta Song for Europe 2002". eurovisionworld.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "MaltaMedia: special feature". eurovisionmalta.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Tallinn 2002–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 28 September 2001. Retrieved 30 August 2022 – via myledbury.co.uk.
- ^ "Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 28 September 2001. Retrieved 30 August 2022 – via myledbury.co.uk.
- ^ "Final of Tallinn 2002". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2002". Times of Malta. 25 May 2002. p. 34.
- ^ "Television". Times of Malta. 25 May 2002. p. 35.
- ^ Rau, Oliver (6 May 2003). "Cheating at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002?". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 19 November 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Tallinn 2002". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.