Brooke brought a pack of wolves, Eleanor Cassar brought us back to life and Lawrence Gray was a love renegade. But when all was said and done, it was Christabelle who won Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, with “Taboo”.
Christabelle wins on her fourth attempt at representing Malta. After finishing second in 2015 and fourth in 2016, many fans have always seen her time to represent Malta as an inevitability. Well tonight, that came true!
Christabelle — “Taboo”
Christabelle — “Taboo”: INTERVIEW
Some of the acts went all out on their staging. Christabelle was certainly no exception. Telling the song’s message through a mix of props, graphics and dancers, it was effective and powerful. The crowd went wild throughout the performance, easily giving Christabelle the loudest applause of the night.
Tonight’s result was decided by a split of 50% televote and 50% jury vote. Christabelle first swept the jury with a perfect 60 points, scoring the 12 from each juror. She then won the televote, with 73 points, giving her an insurmountable total of 133!.
Richard & Joe Micallef pushed her close in the televote, ultimately finishing second. And it’s another year of being so close, yet so far for Brooke. She finished third with 84 points.
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018 — Jury 12 points
Iceland: Regina Osk – Christabelle, “Taboo”
Czech Republic: Jan Bors – Christabelle, “Taboo”
Albania: Kleart Duraj — Christabelle, “Taboo”
FYR Macedonia: Meri Popova — Christabelle, “Taboo”
Italy: Bruno Santori — Christabelle, “Taboo”
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018 — Public vote
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018: Final Poisitions
- Christabelle — “Taboo”: 133pts
- Richard & Joe Micallef — “Song for Dad”: 98pts
- Brooke — “Heart of Gold”: 84pts
- Aidan — “Dai Laga”: 42pts
- Eleanor Cassar — “Back to Life”: 36pts
- Petra — “Evolution”: 33pts
- Matthew Anthony — “Call 2morrow”: 32pts
- Jasmine Abela — “Supernovas”: 31pts
- Avenue Sky — “We Can Run”: 16pts
- Dwett — “Breaking Point”: 15pts
- Rhiannon — “Beyond Blue Horizons”: 14pts
- Miriana Conte — “Rocket”: 14pts
- Deborah C — “Turn It Up”: 13pts
- Tiziana — “First Time”: 12pts
- Lawrence Gray — “Love Renegade”: 7pts
- Danica Muscat — “One Step at a Time”: 3pts
Tonight’s final opened with Claudia Faniello reprising her Eurovision 2017 entry, “Breathlessly”. Claudia also joined in with the interval act, which also saw a special appearance by Malta’s Junior Eurovision 2017 contest, Gianluca Cilli!
What do you think of the result? Do you think Malta has made the right decision with Christabelle? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section!
It’s okay, I feel like it’s missing something but maybe a revamp could help with that. However, I am happy and we have a good set of quality songs for 2018 so far! Let’s hope the momentum isn’t lost!
Well, in live, certainly some songs shined more, while others didn’t. Combining the song itself with a performance, here is my opinion:
Good song / good performance – Christabelle, Dwett, Richard & Joe
Decent song / good performance – Rhiannon, Tiziana, Eleanor, Jasmine
Decent song / decent performance – Avenue Sky, Matthew
Weak song / good performance – Petra
Weak song / decent performance – Brooke, Aidan
Decent song / weak performance – Deborah C
Weak song / weak performance – Miriana, Lawrence, Danica
It’s better than the studio version, but also a non-qualifier (imo). I’m predicting SF2 will have a lot of upbeat songs.
Congratulations to Christabelle! Great performance, great staging, great voice.Everything was great in this song. I’m happy both the juries and the televote agreed on the winner. Definitely better than last year.
Wish her all the best!!
It is a worthy winner. I am not sure whether it will make waves in Lisboa (or Jerusalem), but I am just happy that Brooke did not win with her meaningless lyrics.
Well I don’t mind songs about serious topics – quite the contrary – but as with f.e. the Hungarian “Running” from 2014, this one is built on clichés and banalities (both lyrically and musically), and the emotions don’t seem real. It’s a pre-fabricated pop product disguised as a serious song. 4/12
On the contrary, a song like the French one is addressing serious issues as well, but doing so in a much more artistic way, and a lyric containing poetic depth. It respects the listener’s ability to think for him/herself.
I actually like that song. It proves that good music can have firework. I think it will do fine in Eurovision. Finally Malta has got something good to show us.
Even tho you like Malta song, you still had to say something about fireworks.
This is why Sobral fans are obnoxious.
Corey, sobral fans are not obnoxious. You have way more fast food music obnoxious fans that insult any ballad because of Sobral, that’s why his speech video got downvoted to the pits. You just cant stand that ESC has other people with different opinions and taste. Your fascist attitude is obnoxious.
Thank you very much, Klow vandam.
You poor thing… You don´t even understand when I was criticizing Salvador´s speech… 🙁 I told you about the damages that too much yodelling could bring to your brain, didn´t I?
Disappointed Richard and Joe did not win Christabelle is fine and it is a decent song but it might struggle in semi final 2
Good choice Malta, but the first 10 seconds are scary with that oversized panther, I don’t know if this will bring votes or not. Some people I know they like ”the epic panther”, for others can be something to make them close their eyes.
Is good it’s not a snake tho.
I’d love it if you entered a song for Eurovision.
N.B. That message was @Charles
Awesome performance but such a performance needs a Sound of Silence/ You’re the only one- Song not that kindergarden Song. Keep the performance and produce a new Song with the same meaning
I wannt a bop but not the song no one will sing after the contest! Those 2 years are enough!
Song for dad made me cry. It was simple, from the heart and the young guy has such a good voivcece. So bad didn’t qualified.
I really like this. It’s quite a dark entry for sunny little Malta but it’s good to see them sending something with a bit more attitude. It’s a little reminiscent of Warrior, and that never escaped from the semis, but if they build on this staging, which I thought was excellent then I definitely see this in the final.
I actually liked the staging, but can’t really say the same about the song. It was too generic and the lyrics were too cliché.
1. France 9/10
2. Spain 7.5/10
3. Albania 7/10
4. Czech Republic 7/10
5. Malta 6/10
For the record: unless I hear a song that strikes me as obviously a contender (rare) or an obvious tanker (slightly less rare, sadly) I remain cautiously optimistic for all the entries. They worked hard and tried their best, so I hope they have fun. Would I LIKE Spain and France to place high in the final? Definitely. Would I LIKE the other three songs we’ve heard so far to make it to the final? Absolutely! But there are so many factors at stake (staging, singing, voting patterns) that I couldn’t possibly say at this point how the contest is… Read more »
I’m 2 minutes in and I’ve already forgetten this song. Not making the final.
Maybe Sobral fans are deluded if they thought Amar Pelos Dois will be a corner stone.
I feel this is just too much. It’s like hraven for kids with ADD or ADHD
No surprise here, a generic mass-produced Swedish pop song for Malta, there will be another for Sweden, 1-2 from other Nordics, 1 for Azerbaidjan (already a tradition there), at least 4-5 elsewhere (being very conservative in this estimation) = a quarter of total songs, minimum. … Hurray! … Yay! … or something
“Nobodt dared to replicate salvadors music” duh this has already been done by the spanish kids and even the irsh singer is dropping hits that he’ ll do the same, they can easily replicate his style but not his success bc they lack his “gimmicks”
*irish *hints (typos)
The studio version is OK, live it was fantastic though and that’s exactly why it won.
If you put 24 songs like sobral and you have this “taboo””as 25th song , this wins every time.You cant have 25 ballads on the final and all of them demending attention just cuz they are minimalistic and their ”song” matters. No dumbo , it doesnt work like that.Songs and performance’s like Portugal’s are like 1 trick pony , allmost as Finalnd’s Lordi , it can win once just because its way different then anything else in the contest.The only reason why Portugal won , is cuz it was different from the others , now when you have 10-15 songs… Read more »
She was the clear favorite for the Maltese people!! When her name was announced in the running order itself they shouted so loud that Deborah’s name was completely drowned out.
That being said I don’t like the melody of the song that much! But I didn’t have any real favorites in Malta so OK I guess.
She wasn’t that clear. Only 4 points over Song of Dad. Some people have heart.
Why are these countries singing with those weird microphones. Spain and now Malta…jeez it just looks bad and old fashioned. Only k-pop stars can make it look cool.
One of the early contests used a boom mic so that every performer wouldn’t need to stand behind a microphone.
I think it’s nice and i like her stage presence. Czech Republic and Malta have the best songs so far.
Pleasantly surprised that I don’t hate Malta’s song like i’ve done for the past 2-3 years. I could see this qualifying with better staging, but being in the semi-final of death…
For those you think Christabelle is “talentless”, you’re WRONG! Christabelle has never been a bad singer. In fact, her voice is better than Yoko Ono and Bob Dylan.
Unfortunately it’s not her that is the problem for me. She is great. It’s the song. It’s not very well written and overall it comes across as generic, sterile and bland. In a field of 43 entries it won’t stand out for me.
People are entitled to their opinions so telling people they are wrong is a little harsh. If people don’t like it, you need to accept it. Everyone will not have the same opinion as you.
Anyway, Alejandro to win in Switzerland tomorrow and then either RAYA or Jaz on Wednesday for the UK! 😀
I’m very happy for Christabelle and for all the people who worked on “Taboo”.
I think the track is excellently recorded and produced, and the staging was daring and mezmorising. It will inevitably not be to everyone’s taste, but I don’t think that gets in the way of it being a deserving winner.
See you all (y’all) again tomorrow for Entscheidungsshow. 🙂
This selection is definitely weaker than 2016. I like Taboo but, due to her performing in the Second Semi Final with: Australia, Denmark, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden & Ukraine I just think that no matter what Malta send this year they ain’t qualifying for the final which is regrettable due to the amount of block voting that will occur in this semi and the possibility for points will probably come from the following: Italy – High Points Australia – High with Juries, but not with Televote San Marino –… Read more »
You do realize that when Moldova qualified it was the first time they had since 2013? They can be strong, as they were with SunStroke Project, but I wouldn’t call them nearly as safe a bet as a country like Australia or Russia (but hey, I can’t predict anything).
Moldova was lucky. They wont be so lucky this year.
Switch it around. With Australia it’s likely (like in 2015 and 2016) it will be high with televote, low with juries.
I think it shouldn’t matter what country you come from. As long as one has a good song with good staging, one can and should do well at a song contest. Actually, I would prefer to remove countries altogether from the contest, but that is a different discussion entirely. Maybe if I get to run Eurovision one day, that’s what I will do, haha. 🙂
This song is pretty bland. It tries to make good use of staging and catch words, but the music is no good, and the singer can’t sing. Don’t see it qualifying.
FYI, Christabelle has never been a bad singer, and there’s no way she can be locked in the semi-final.
Her winning reaction seemed very fake
You need glasses or are truly stupid when it comes to emotions!
how about you learn some manners and don’t call people stupid? so rude
Note, I wish there was a like button so I could have liked your reply there. Comments like that are not needed!
This is peak Malta. A Eurovision masterpiece.
I’m worried they’re gonna steal all our jury points on May 10.
Malta now on 250 to win Eurovision on Betfair Exchange.
That’s last by a country mile. *thinking emoji*
Delusional.
bad song. no final. i listened to it twice and i didnt felt anything. malta is in my bottom now.
i still don’t buy it
there’s no indication from the performance that this song has anything to do with mental health, and using that as an excuse to have poor lyrics seems a little crude (interesting staging? i guess?)
if this is the best malta has to offer they really need to look into revamping their national final next year
meh…song is too repetitive and generic…i’d say she’s got a shot to get through but only if she fixes her vocal cause they were terrible, terrible…its catchy though
Relax. Her singing was just fine!
it wasn’t bad all the time of course…but there were some bad moments that could be fixed
Not bad but not good either. Just a decent song. Needs a couple of listen through to really catch on. Not sure if it will qualify..
I remember you! You said the same thing about Sobral last year.
It’s a deserved winner. She is a strong performer and the song is overall a good one… It contains some parts with earworm-potential…
I’m happy for Christabelle, although I fear that Malta in the strong second semi (judging by the participating countries) only will either end up as boarderline qualifier – or fail to go through…
I feel sorry for anyone who truly believes that Malta will qualify to final this year.
I feel more sorry for people who predict results of semi finals with 90% of the songs in said semi finals still to be selected. Just saying.
Mei you should check previous winners threads on wiwi bloggs. It would make you think twice.
Well deserved win. Good luck
Besides first five songs all being good, what I also like is the diversity!
– 2 uptempos, 1 mid-tempo, 2 slow tempos
– 4 languages (French, English, Spanish, Albanian)
– 2 female solo voices, 2 male solo voices and a duet
– Topics – celebrating life in all it’s forms, first love, sex and jealousy, yearning for your beloved, mental illness awareness
If Stones wins tomorrow, it will just add to the great and diverse line-up.
I don’t like “Taboo”, but I agree that the diversity so far is very welcome.
Is Stones still the favorite? I really hope it wins.
Compass is the odds favorite to win
I dunno, Stones stood out the most to me. Seems a safer bet than Compass. We’ll see how the chips fall. I’d really like Switzerland to qualify this year! They’re the Eurovision OGs.
We’ve been having diversity for years.
I didn’t like any song on the maltese selection, so I was rooting for “Song for Dad”. the only one that had some charm and could build some kind of a moment. I really don’t like “Taboo”, but at least they created an interesting performance to help us forget that we’ve heard this same kind of song over and over. There are still some things to polish, I can see this getting a little better. But I can’t see this leaving the lowest places of my personal ranking.
Ok another generic Swedish pop song with visual effects went through. Are we back to 2015 or what? In a regional election it stood out for some reason, but at the Eurovision scale there will be another dozen of sameness but with better staging (anybody fancies Benjamin Ingrosso?) Such a great opportunity missed to send something original and ‘organic’ as Song for Dad. Instead another manufactured and plastic wrapped burger
Can everyone PLEASE stop calling every ESC pop song a generic swedish song? Otherwise i think America and the UK would like a word with Sweden. TY
The song is good, contrata Malta. 1.- Spain 2.- France 3.- Albania 4.- Malta 5.- Czeck R. BUL ALL ARÉ GOOD SONGS
Malta strikes again! *eye roll*
The biggest surprise here was Bruno Santori giving 12 points to Christabelle. Did not see that coming so I’d like to know how much he was paid to give his top points to a generic song with a messy performance and a singer with next to no charisma.
At least the song that should have won came second so congrats Richard and Joe.
Great song Malta, great singer with beautiful voice. This will definitely DO well on stage. Well done.
Malta should be lucky to not be dead last in the semifinal this year.
We still have 38 entries to go! Slow your roll.
I am happy for the winning song, Taboo in MESC. It is a great song. However, I would like to share my favourite song in the contest, Song for Dad. Second place doesn’t win but be assured it will be a long time before I get bored listening to it on my playlist. It was a hearfelt song, exactly my type <3 Big congratulations goes to the amazing son and dad team, Richard and Joe for creating such a wonderful song for Malta <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgpLOCtjLp4
Tbh, I think this tries to be something else, but ends just being a bunch of Eurovision and trashy pop clichés sung by a shouty diva. The writer seems to have combine the titles of different songs to make the chorus. So basic. Good one trying to sell it like a shout out to people with mental health issues. The staging makes no sense at all. It stands out, but has really nothing to do with that mental health issues, just the part when the dancers are inside the box. Though I must recognize the staging gives this song a… Read more »
It is about mental illness, you just did not understand the message. The singer herself sufferred from it.
That doesn’t excuse poor song writing.
Hector said Salvador would stay in the semi last year. Don’t take his comments seriously.
@Casey Thorne You could say it 100 times and I still wouldn’t buy it. Sorry, but I think this song has too much cliché lyrics to has been writting with that meaning. And if it really was, the writer was a bit lazy. @Kinnie Yes, and I still don’t like it. But I’m happy he won. I understand as a Maltese you feel attacked, but my comment is against this particular recycled song, not against Malta itself. With all my respect, that’s my taste and, as I can see, I’m not the only one thinking like that. My comments are… Read more »
Eh Hector there’s nothing logical about your comments bro
Super-dated.
Good entry for Malta but not the best IMO. I have a strange feeling about this song. The chorus is amazing but the verses are bad and not strong imo again. Anyway, we still need to wait for an eventual revamp to come.
For ESC, i dont know what she can do. I think she can qualify but probably she could get lost between other entries in ESC because in ESC, there will be a real competition, not as this maltese NF who was weak and where it was easy to stand out with a song such as Taboo
This is gritty and fierce, a LOT of potential. Very happy with this.
Any of the top three songs would’ve been good for Lisbon, but Taboo really did make a wow moment – it was unexpected and super compelling. Excellent job, Christabelle and Malta – I’m rooting for you!
Five out of five strong songs so far – INCREDIBLE.