Malta | |
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Member station | PBS |
National selection events |
|
Appearances | |
Appearances | 29 (24 finals) |
First appearance | 1971 |
Best result | 2nd: 2002, 2005 |
Worst result | Last: 1971, 1972, 2006 |
External links | |
Malta's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 |
Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 29 times since its debut in 1971, although the history of National song contests organized in the Maltese islands dates back to 1960 when the first Malta Song Festival took place. Malta has never won the contest, although it has twice finished second and twice finished third. At first, the island state sent songs in its native language, Maltese, but it failed to rank highly, finishing last in its first two attempts in the contest in 1971 and 1972 and withdrew after the 1975 contest.
Malta's return to the contest in 1991, after a 16-year absence, proved to be more successful, with eight consecutive top 10 placings (1991-1998) and finishing in the top 10 in 12 out of 15 contests from 1991-2005. These results included third-place finishes in 1992 for Mary Spiteri and in 1998 for Chiara and second-place finishes in 2002 for Ira Losco and in 2005 for Chiara, who in 2009 became the first performer to represent Malta at three contests, finishing 22nd. Malta's two seconds and two thirds, make it the most successful country not to win the contest.
In the last 10 contests, Malta has only once reached the top 10, when Gianluca Bezzina finished eighth in 2013. Fabrizio Faniello, who had previously finished ninth in 2001, finished last in the 2006 final, and since then the country has failed to qualify from the semi-final round five times, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2015.