In January Ira Losco won the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with “Chameleon” — but then changed her musical colours and sang “Walk on Water” at Eurovision instead.

But on December 28 John Bundy — the chief executive of the Public Broadcasting Services — made it clear that such a change won’t be possible for Eurovision 2017, and that the winning song will be the country’s Eurovision song in Kyiv. Tweaks and minor changes? Fine. Total swaparoos? No.

The announcement came during a meeting with all 16 of this year’s finalists to introduce them to the rules and regulations of Malta’s February 18 final.

A draw was also conducted to determine which artists would perform first (it’ll be Klinsmann Coleiro) and last (that honour goes to Wiwi Jam participant Claudio Faniello).

“The public will decide who it wants to represent us in Ukraine in May,” Bundy said. “We are asking the singers to concentrate on the song, the voice and the sound of the song and forget what is happening behind them. The 16 singers will all be treated equally. These are all winning songs and that is why they need to all be treated the same. We have therefore created a special schedule for the equal promotion of every singer.”

This year’s final will be determined 100% by televoters, a significant first for a country that in recent years has relied heavily on jury input. Last year the jury vote accounted for 83% of the overall score.

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Poll

Since December 22 we’ve been running a poll asking our readers to name their winner in Malta.

As of December 29 at 13:30 GMT, we’ve counted 2,276 votes and last year’s runner-up Brooke Borg has a commanding lead with 23% of all votes. Many fans believe that in any other year her 2016 entry “Golden” would have won, but that the presence of Eurovision legend Ira Losco messed up her game.

Her 2017 entry “Unstoppable” is contemporary and catchy, and we know this blonde bombshell will give it even more life when she sings it live. She stands a very good chance of living up to the hype and slaying the pack.

https://youtu.be/06KwdngoDko

You can see the current results of our poll below. And you can cast your vote by clicking here.

  1. Brooke Borg – “Unstoppable” 23.42% (533 votes)
  2. Claudia Faniello – “Breathlessly” 9.8% (223 votes)
  3. Janice Magnion – “Kewkba” 8.88% (202 votes)
  4. Kevin Borg – “Follow” 8.79% (200 votes)
  5. Maxine Pace – “Bombshell” 7.64% (174 votes)
  6. Richard Edwards – “You” 6.02% (137 votes)
  7. Rhiannon Micallef – “Fearless” 4.57% (104 votes)
  8. Deborah C & Josef Tabone – “Tonight” 4.44% (101 votes)
  9. Jade Vella – “Seconds Away” 4.35% (99 votes)
  10. Franklin Calleja – “Follow Me” 4.04% (92 votes)
  11. Shauna Vassallo – “Crazy Games” 3.56% (81 votes)
  12. Cherton Caruana – “Fighting To Survive” 3.25% (74 votes)
  13. Raquela Dalli Gonzi – “Ray of Light” 3.16% (72 votes)
  14. Crosswalk – “So Simple” 2.9% (66 votes)
  15. Mariana Conte – “Don’t Look Down” 2.72% (62 votes)
  16. Klinsmann Coleiro – “Laserlight” 2.46% (56 votes)

Read more Malta Eurovision Song Contest news

30 Comments
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Colin
Colin
7 years ago

Several songs are excellent! If Malta picks right, they might have a winner! 🙂

Tomas Patrick Davitt
Tomas Patrick Davitt
7 years ago

This is bad news. The songs this year are all horrible. Malta unfortunately only seems to have one note in the past few years – all these songs are in the same vein as Chameleon, WOW, Warrior – super cheesy lyrics, predictable forgettable Eurotrash. WOW only came 9th in the televote and that was in the much weaker semi. I just want to see more variety in their songs – finland, estonia and albania have all shown really great variety in their preselections this year. Im not sure if Malta’s PBS just chooses this type or if they just dont… Read more »

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

This is fair.
Even though I don’t like any of the songs in their selection.

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

It would be good to at least have an international panel that gives advice or something. Cause at the end of the day it’s Europe that decides the outcome of the Maltese, not the Maltese. A panel could say what works and what doesn’t work.
The population will of course vote for the entry they like the most but will it be good enough for the contest?
100% televote is a risk, sometimes the audience doesn’t know best.

Marc
Marc
7 years ago

@Eurovision
Nobody envies or hates Ira or Brooke xD
We are talking about songs. And people just don’t like “Wow”.. that’s it. Nobody in Europe voted for her besides Australia. Almost all 41 countries put Malta in their bottom 5. (It’s so funny when even Sweden ranked Malta third-to-last). And it didn’t chart anywhere, literally. This is the reality.
And “Unstoppable” we all know will follow the same way. And as you said it’s even worse than Wow.

Eurovision
Eurovision
7 years ago

Hmmm…I don’t know if it’s a good decision or not. However I think that in this selection there are songs who can reach the final but I can’t see any of them in the top 15. My favourite is unstoppable and I really wish this wins because it’s by far their best option out of this line-up. It is better than chameleon but none of this year’s songs is better than walk on water and I can’t understand all the hate that Ira got last year. W.O.W. is one of the best eurovision songs ever but people are just envy… Read more »

Chicken Kyiv?
Chicken Kyiv?
7 years ago

Great news, I preferred Chameleon, and I have instant love for any country that supports democracy and has 100% televote. I wish we had 100% televote back in the main contest.

The only thing that worries me is the number of broadcasters who seem to forget this is a TV Show not a radio show.

irish esc
irish esc
7 years ago

well this is good news as i liked chameleon last it just need a few tweaks here and there so i am happy about the new rules for this year in malta

Zolipop
Zolipop
7 years ago

@Purple Mask I like Crosswalk too, I just missed the poll x3

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
7 years ago

I’m not surprised at all that THIS time they will stick with whatever song the contenders entered the MESC with. Last year, people were okay with Ira Losco’s “Chameleon”… http://wiwibloggs.com/2016/01/21/poll-results-ira-losco-win-malta-eurovision-song-contest-chameleon/117548/ http://wiwibloggs.com/2016/01/21/wiwi-jury-results-malta-2016/116139/ …until she won. Then out of nowhere, the backlash against the song. Obviously, the rush of negativity reached the ears of Ira and TVM, and that prompted the change to satisfy everyone. Again, I still think her low televote scores were due to the fact that she didn’t–or COULDN’T–do as much as she wanted to do on stage because she was pregnant, and what she gave them didn’t satisfy… Read more »

ESCFan
ESCFan
7 years ago

Well firstly there are songs which deserve the final and are strong enough. Secondary, how stupid is it for people who are counting Malta out from qualifying when we haven’t heard all the songs (not even half of what could be to be exact).

Dear ESC fans who think they know it all, I am sorry but you need some logic.

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

@Purple Mask

I was referring to Robert and Marc, not you of course. 🙂

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

@(J)ESC Fanatic: What negativity? Where from? I count ONE entirely negative comment so far (from Robert) out of 18!

Of course this is the right decision for Malta, and especially for the people who vote in the National Final who actually like the song they vote for.
There you go – a positive response! 🙂

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Come on, guys, why all this negativity? I think Malta has one of the strongest selections so far. Brooke and Franklin both have amazing songs and are great performers.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

Ah, good to know that 65 other people liked the Crosswalk song! 😀

beccaboo1212
7 years ago

Ok. Well, good thing the audience gets to decide. 🙂

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

@Krzysztof Poland: Those anti-Sweden vibes are rolling in at full speed … is Sweden becoming the Ireland of the 2010s?

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

Have they learned their lesson all of a sudden? Cause changing songs out of nowhere actually only works for Ukraine … and this giving power to the people is way overrated for me … it’s like saying the people know what’s best when everybody else except for the Maltese people will cast a vote or not on the chosen entry. So really … what’s the point really? The people are there just to provide TV rating and nothing else … why do you think televoting was once invented as a TV strategy to keep people glued to their couches?

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Well, last year they chose Ira for the sake of her being Ira, but we all know damn well Brooke Borg would’ve done better. This year there are no legends competing, so I assume there’ll be no need to change the song.

Robert
Robert
7 years ago

This is bad news for Malta (my country). Non of the songs are strong enough to even pass to the final! Good luck next time

Fergy
Fergy
7 years ago

There was absolutely no point in them holding a national final last year. It was always going to be Ira and she was always going to be allowed to do whatever she wanted with the songs.

MarioMario
MarioMario
7 years ago

On the other hand, why would they determine the first and last in the draw this early? Poor Klinsmann may feel he won’t win anymore, and it’s a bit too early for that.

MarioMario
MarioMario
7 years ago

Claudia <3

Marc
Marc
7 years ago

Well we already know which country is not qualifying. Juries won’t be enough.

But it has to be the public desicion so good for Malta.
Hopefully next MESC will be better

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Great! I don’t see the point in organizing a selection in order to select the best song and then change it.

Now please choose either Brooke or Franklin and I’ll be pleased.

Bonjour
Bonjour
7 years ago

lee adams when are u going to release the Maltese NF reaction video?????

Jerome
Jerome
7 years ago

There are a great bunch of songs in this selection. At least five, maybe more, Any one of them that ends up being the selected entrant should be presented as is (of course, with the tweaks and minor changes).

Even though I love “Walk on Water”, I did not like the option of changing the song in its entirety. When voters vote, they have to vote for the whole package especially the song, not just the artist.

Krzysztof Poland
Krzysztof Poland
7 years ago

Good, if a song is selected by public it shouldn’t be changed into some awful Mediocrityfestivalen reject.

F*CM IVETA
F*CM IVETA
7 years ago

Brooke?

Lianne
Lianne
7 years ago

Even if the song was better, it’s unfair on the behalf of the public voters. They select a song and it should be kept as to how it was presented in my opinion