Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 1 and 2 February 2013, respectively, at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali. Both shows were hosted by Elaine Saliba and Gordon Bonello with backstage commentary and interviews by Rodney Gauci and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well on the broadcaster's website tvm.com.mt, while the final was also broadcast on the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[3][4]

The competition consisted of twenty-four songs competing in the semi-final on 1 February 2013 where the top sixteen entries qualified to compete in the final on 2 February 2013. Seven judges evaluated the songs during the shows and each judge had an equal stake in the final result. The eighth set of votes were the results of the public televote, which had a weighting equal to the votes of a single judge. Ties in the final results were broken based on the entry which received the higher score from the judges.

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 14 September 2012 and 31 October 2012. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of two in the semi-final and one in the final. 2012 national final winner Kurt Calleja was unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous winner from competing in the following competition.[5] 181 entries were received by the broadcaster. On 14 November 2012, PBS announced a shortlist of 69 entries that had progressed through the selection process. The twenty-four songs selected to compete in the semi-final were announced on the TVM programme Xarabank on 30 November 2012. Among the selected competing artists was former Maltese Junior Eurovision entrant Marilena who represented Malta in the 2004 contest as part of the group Young Talent Team.[6] On 21 December 2012, "Dress Rehearsal", written by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg and to have been performed by Saska Hunt, was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the song "Overrated" performed by Marilena.[7]

The semi-final took place on 1 February 2013. Twenty-four songs competed for sixteen qualifying spots in the final.[8][9] The running order for the semi-final was announced on 23 January 2013.[10] The show was opened with a guest performance by the 2012 Maltese Eurovision entrant Kurt Calleja performing "This Is the Night", while the interval act featured performances by 1994 Maltese Eurovision entrants Chris and Moira as well as the singer Alexandra Alden.[11] The seven members of the jury that evaluated the entries during the semi-final consisted of:

• Maria Muscat (Malta) – Journalist and television producer
• Alessandro Ragni (Italy) – External consultant for the Italian National Television (RAI)
• Gohar Gasparyan (Armenia) – Head of Delegation for Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Kleart Duraj (Albania) – Head of Delegation for Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Aleksandar Kostadinov (Croatia) – Head of Delegation for Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Walid Arfush (Ukraine) – Director of the Ukrainian National Television (NTU)
• Carlo Borg Bonaci (Malta) – Radio and television presenter

The final took place on 2 February 2013. The sixteen entries that qualified from the semi-final were performed again and the votes of a seven-member jury panel (7/8) and the results of public televoting (1/8) determined the winner. The show was opened with a guest performance by the DREAMS musical drama group, while the interval act featured guest performances by 2013 Swiss Eurovision entrants Heilsarmee performing "You and Me", Kurt Calleja and the local band Ġorġ u Pawlu.[12] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "Tomorrow" performed by Gianluca Bezzina was the winner.[13] The seven members of the jury that evaluated the entries during the final consisted of:

• Aleksandar Kostadinov (Croatia) – Head of Delegation for Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Noel Magri (Malta) – Co-organiser of the Malta Music Awards
• Alessandro Ragni (Italy) – External consultant for the Italian National Television (RAI)
• Anna Dalli (Malta) – Administration Coordinator at PBS
• Walid Arfush (Ukraine) – Director of the Ukrainian National Television (NTU)
• Olga Salamakha (Belarus) – Head of Delegation for Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Carlo Borg Bonaci (Malta) – Coordinator at Radio Malta

Gianluca made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Tomorrow" as the Maltese Eurovision entry. On 2 March, Gianluca performed "Tomorrow" during the Armenian Eurovision national final.[14] On 1 April, he performed during the 2013 Malta Music Awards and appeared during the TVM talk show programme Xarabank on 12 April. On 13 April, Bezzina performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Marlayne and Linda Wagenmakers.[15] On 16 April, he appeared in Bulgaria during the BNT programme Denyat otblizo s Maria Andonova and performed "Tomorrow" during several programmes in Romania the following day.[16] On 21 April, Bezzina performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Shadow Lounge in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[17]

Gianluca during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Gianluca took part in technical rehearsals on 8 and 11 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 15 and 16 May. This included the jury show on 15 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Maltese performance featured Gianluca wearing a white shirt, waistcoat and light brown jeans and performing together with two backing vocalists and three musicians playing the drums, guitar and ukulele. The performance began with the performers on the main stage followed by Gianluca walking out onto the catwalk stage and the backing performers walking to a park bench on the left of the stage which they sat on. The performance was concluded with Gianluca joining the backing performers for the closing lines of the song. The background LED screens projected the lyrics of "Tomorrow" in various animated forms.[20][21] The backing vocalists that joined Gianluca on stage were Louise Ann Bugeja Tate and Samaria Bezzina, while the musicians were Kenny D'Ugo, Gabriel Cassar and Chris Tate.[22]

At the end of the show, Malta was announced as having finished in the top 10 and consequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Malta placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 118 points.[23]

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Malta was drawn to compete in the first half.[24] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Malta was subsequently placed to perform in position 9, following the entry from Belarus and before the entry from Russia.[25]

Gianluca once again took part in dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Gianluca performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 18 May. Malta placed eighth in the final, scoring 120 points.[26]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Malta had placed ninth with both the public televote and the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Malta received an average rank of 10.97, while with the jury vote, Malta received an average rank of 9.54.[26] In the second semi-final, Malta placed seventh with the public televote with an average rank of 7.78 and first with the jury vote with an average rank of 3.40.[27]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Azerbaijan in the semi-final and the final of the contest.