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No televoting in the semi final
Malta: Song for Europe 2008 rules published
The rules state that every singer has to be of Maltese nationality (or have a dual citizenship) and may submit one or two songs. The composers and authors of the songs may be either of Maltese nationality or from countries where Maltese composers and authors would also be allowed to participate. Songs can be submitted on 12th and 13th November between 9:00 and 16:00 local time. Every composer and author can submit as many songs as he or she wants and each song can also be submitted twice with two different singers.
The selection of the Maltese entry for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in four phases:
- From all submitted songs, up to 35 entries are chosen for the second phase. If one song has been submitted with two different singers, only one version can reach the second phase.
- In the second pahse, 16 songs will be chosen to reach the semi final.
- These sixteen songs will be joined by another two chosen during the Opportunity 2 competition and performed in the semi final, the first televised phase. In 2008, no televoting will be held in the semi final; instead the eight best songs will be chosen by a jury of seven experts.
- In the national final, the remaining eight songs will compete and televoting (80%) and a jury (20%) will choose the winner.
You can read the complete rules, including information on how to submit a song, here (external link).
Despite a second place in 2005, Malta was not succesful the last two years: Fabrizio Faniello finished last in Athens in the final with I do; Olivia Lewis finished 25th in the semi final in 2007 with Vertigo, thus not reaching the final. Therefore, the winner of Malta Song for Europe will have to enter the semi final in Belgrade.
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The Maltese Committe never learns!!! These rules are ideal to choose a song for a festival, NOT A FARSE, like the Eurovision Farse Contest has become.
Please change the rules, or at least add this fundamental paragraph: YOU HAVE TO BE EITHER GAY, A CLOWN OR A DRUG ADDICT!!!
Well, I loved Vertigo and I don't understand at all why she didn't qualify... Yes, maybe the performance was too much and they shoud have concentrated more on Olivia's singing but still, the song itself was extraordinary...
In 2006, the one point was still too much, horrible Faniello deserved a big ZERO!
In 2005, I liked Chiara but well, her song was very unoriginal...
So of all the recent entries, Olivia's was the very best to me...
And no, the selection process is not the problem!
If malta wants to win they should hire someone like Timbaland, as the majority of their songs, especially in last years msfe were soooooooooooo babyish and stupid. They really need to switch on mtv more often and have a clear idea of what is in fashion, instead of sticking to the same old 80s style. Ira is the ideal choice for the maltese.
@ drusus
bia towards the east, as in most of the east not listening to the west
yes, turkey and albania voted for malta
but albania uses a jury
that only leaves the turkish who televoted for olivia
i am just saying that the east is taking over
malta was my personal favourite of the whole contest, i thought her performance was amazing, and was so supprised when she didnt qualify
and if you cant see the bias towards the east, u must be dreaming
how come not one western country passed to the semi, and of the ones who are in the final, the highest came in the bottom 10?
you must be blind if u can't see it, maybe you should go to specsavers
Why is Malta making things so difficult with all those rules: what nationality the composers and singers are, not allowing the reigning winner to participate, complicated rules about who wins, discussions in the national parliament, etc.
The next year would not be a maltese song chosen from the maltese public cause the jury are all foreigners. The Malta Song board shoul say this in the rules.
@ Kevin - you must be draming : bias towards the east ?? Oh well, and what about the points from the West ? Why didn`t the West gave many pts to Olivia ? Weren`t even most of her few points given by Turkey and Albania ? Hope you`ll see what a joke that theory is...almost no pints from the west but pts from Turkey and Albania do not lool like a " bias towards the east " for sure. Maybe the performance simply wasn`t that good ( too much and too confusing ) ? maybe Europe ( unlike some fans ) simply didn`t like the song ? Maybe Olivia didn`t sung that well ( as our commentator said ) ? Just something to think about before blaming others. It will not help Malta if we say " everything was fine, don`t change anything "....like Terence said, it needs something original, something fresh and innovative and not the same faces and composers again and again. The ESC changed and one has to react and find the right answer - that`s the right spirit. Do not fear competition, be yourself, vote for the songs and not ( only ) for the ( big ) names. Sometimes, song and name fit ( 05 ) sometimes they don`t ( 06 & 07 ) and a less known singer would have done better.
To be honest, I'm not looking forward to next year's NF AT ALL...
I'd love to see something innovative for a change, but I'm dreading it'll include the same old faces, same old clichéd disney-stuff...
@ Bjorn Lin
Olivia unfortunately is not allowed to enter this year anyway as she is the reigning Maltasong champion.
Good luck Malta one of my favourite ESC nations........bring in the big guns and take us to Valetta in 2009
Malta has a tendency to get too worked up at Eurovision and that is when things fall apart for them. Calm and classy, like Chiara in 2005 and Ira Losco in 2002, that is when the Maltese fare well. That is something to keep in mind for the Maltese organisers...
i have loved all of malta's songs since 2004
but 2006 performance was bad
vertigo was one of the best in 2007
i feel sorry for malta
however i dont think the problem was the selection process, it was the bias towards the east
The rules should also include: Olivia Lewis is not aloud to compete , as her career mostly consists of competing in Song for Europe again ad again!
But good luck to Malta, one of my fav ESC countries. Hopefully they will send true quality as they used to do once...
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