Country Malta Selected song "My Dream" | Selected entrant Thea Garrett | |
Selection process The GO Malta Eurosong 2010
50% Jury
50% Televoting Selection date(s) Weekly semi finals
9 December 2009–
13 January 2010
Final
20 February 2010 Semi-final result Failed to qualify (12th, 45 points) | ||
Malta selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 on February 2010 in The GO Malta EuroSong 2010 competition, organised by the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), the Maltese broadcaster. At the final of the contest held on 20 February Thea Garrett was chosen by jury and televoting to represent Malta with the song "My Dream".
Contents
The GO Malta Eurosong 2010
Malta's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was selected by the GO Malta Eurosong 2010 contest. 36 songs were selected in an open call for songs by PBS, which could be submitted until 30 October. In a change from previous years only Maltese nationals could submit songs to the selection process - this change however caused some criticism, especially from Grace Borg, former chairwoman of the Maltese Eurovision selection. It has been announced that songwriters can enter more than one composition, however artists may only perform one song.
36 artists were chosen to compete in six semi-finals, held between 9 December and 13 January. The votes of a professional jury and televoting selected twenty songs to progress to the final of the contest, held on 20 February 2010. The winner again selected by both jury and televoting, with each getting a 50% say in the final result. The semi-finals were incorporated into the new talent show L-Isfida (The Challenge).
In November it was announced that plans for the competition were paralysed by legal disputes between PBS and Grace Borg. Despite this the Maltese Head of Delegation, Joe Dimech, has denied that the whole national selection process was in danger, and that PBS were consulting legal advice. New dates for the national selection were to be made after missing their planned start date of 9 November for the first stage of the contest. On 18 November a Maltese court ruled in favour of PBS, in that they could prohibit foreign composers from competing in the GO Malta EuroSong 2010, finally allowing the Maltese selection process to continue.
On 19 November PBS revealed details on their selection process: 123 entries were received by PBS for the contest, considerably less than last year's total due to PBS rules allowing only one song per singer and allowing only Maltese songwriters to submit entries. From 2 to 4 December an international jury selected 36 songs from the submitted entries, and three days later the qualifiers performed in front of a different jury.
Semi-finals
On 4 December after three days of judging PBS released the names of the 36 competing songs. These include two former Eurovision representatives: Mike Spiteri (1995) and Miriam Christine (1996), as well as many names familiar to the Maltese Eurovision selection process.
After judging the 36 songs on 4 December PBS later announced the running order and semi-final allocation of each of the 36 songs. The six semi-finals were held weekly from 9 December to 13 January, during the L-Isfida talent show, hosted by Claudette Pace from the Audiovision TV Studios in Hamrun.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final was held on 9 December 2009. Televoting was open from the end of the show until Saturday 12 December at 16:30 CET.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final was held on 16 December 2009. Televoting was open from the end of the show until Saturday 19 December at 16:30 CET.
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final was held on 23 December 2009. Televoting was open from the end of the show until Saturday 26 December at 16:30 CET.
Semi-final 4
The fourth semi-final was held on 30 December 2009. Televoting was open from the end of the show until Saturday 2 January 2010 at 16:30 CET.
Semi-final 5
The fifth semi-final was held on 6 January 2010. Televoting was open from the end of the show until Saturday 9 January 2010 at 16:30 CET.
Semi-final 6
The sixth semi-final was held on 13 January 2010. Televoting will open from the end of the show until Saturday 16 January 2010 at 16:30 CET.
Final
The final of the GO Malta EuroSong 2010 was held on 20 February at the Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Keith Demicoli and Pauline Agius, with Owen Bonnici presenting from the Green Room. 20 songs were selected from the 36 finalists, and were revealed on 16 January. The draw for the running order in the final was held on 17 January.
A number of guests performed during the final: Sirusho, the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008; Mary Spiteri, who came third for Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 1992; and last year's, Malta EuroSong winner, Chiara.
The winner was Thea Garrett with the song "My Dream", written by Jason Paul Cassar and Sunny Aquilina, who received maximum points from both the jury and televoting public, gaining nearly double the points of runner-up Glen Vella, with Tiziana Calleja finishing in third place.
Promotion
Thea Garrett will take part in a wide promotional tour on April, in order to promote her Eurovision entry "My Dream". Her tour will begin on 15 April, where she will visit Slovakia, appearing on a national breakfast show and on a state radio station. Afterwards she will visit the Netherlands, performing at the "Eurovision in Concert" festival in Zaanstad on 24 April. Afterwards she will fly to Belgium, where she will perform on the "Studio TVL" show on regional TV channel TV Limburg and at a Eurovision party in Antwerp.
Garrett also recorded a Maltese version of "My Dream", entitled "Ħolma" (Dream).
Meanwhile, as of 24 April, Eurovision commentator Valerie Vella will host "Euromix" on PBS, which will preview the video-clips of the 39 Eurovision entries.
At Eurovision
Malta competed in the first semi-final of the contest, on 25 May, and failed to qualify to the final..