Those of you who follow us regularly will know that we, at Eurovision Ireland, have been looking at the highs and lows of each country in the years they have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Today, we are focusing on Malta .

Malta in Eurovision

Malta has participated in the contest 30 times , making their debut in 1971 when Joe Grech represented the island with the song “Marija l-Maltija . Sadly for Malta their debut ended with them finishing last . They have never won the contest but currently hold the honour of being the best performing country to have never won the contest , with two second places and two third places. However, fortunes have been very mixed for them since the introduction of the Semi Finals in 2004, with failure to qualify for the final occurring 9 times .

Malta’s Lows at Eurovision

Malta have had their share of low points in the contest but perhaps the lowest came in 2007 in Helsinki, Finland, when Olivia Lewis represented the nation with her song “Vertigo”. Unfortunately, the voting public weren’t impressed and Malta failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 25th place .This is Malta’s worst result to date .

Malta also had another last place in 1972 just a year after the debut entry in 1971 .Helen and Joseph represented the country in Edinburgh with ” L ‘lmhabba”.

In 2003 in Riga , Latvia, Lynn Chircop represented the nation with her song “To dream again “. Unfortunately , she finished in 25th place , only 4 points ahead of the UK’s entry, Jemini, who finished last with the dreaded “nil points”.

In 2006 Fabrizio Faniello returned to the contest in Athens, hoping to do better than his 9th place in the 2001 contest in Copenhagen. Sadly for him and Malta, it wasn’t a happy return when he came 24th with only 1 point in the Grand Final.

Malta’s Highs at Eurovision

Malta have come close to winning the contest twice,when they finished in the runner’s up spot. The first second place came in 2002, when Ira Losco represented her country with her gentle song ” 7th Wonder”. Ira was just pipped to the post by Latvia’s Marie N with her cabaret style song “I wanna”.

Ira returned to the contest in 2016 , but was unable to emulate or better her second place , finishing in 12th place in the Grand Final with “Walk on Water”.

In 2005 , Malta came very close again to victory. Chiara had already achieved a credible third place at the contest in Birmingham in 1998 with her gentle ballad “The one that I love”. She returned to the contest in Kyiv with her song “Angel”. This time she came even closer by finishing in the runners up spot behind winner , Greece.

Way back in 1992, at the contest , which was then held in Malmø, Sweden.Mary Spiteri also came third for Malta with her song “Little Child”,

Malta’s last top 10 placing came in 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands . Destiny came to Rotterdam on the back of success in Junior Eurovision when she won the contest in 2015 with “Not my Soul”,carrying high hopes of Malta achieving their first ever win. Despite being a big favourite in the run up to the contest to win and an upbeat performance in both the semi final and Grand Final , sadly Destiny finished in 7th place but it was still Malta’s best result for some years .

So that completes our look back at the highs and lows of Malta at Eurovision. What do you think? Do you think these results were deserved or not ? Would you like to see Malta win the contest at some time in the future.

Let us know what you think of Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest by leaving us a comment in the box below . You can also find us on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : Eurovision Ireland, Eurovision.TV Wikipedia

Image Source : Eurovision.TV, Eurovision Library ,ESC Fans channel You Tube ,Wikipedia