Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002

Eurovision Song Contest 2002
Participating broadcaster	Public Broadcasting Services (PBS)
Country	Malta
National selection
Selection process	Malta Song for Europe 2002
Selection date(s)	15-16 February 2002
Selected artist(s)	Ira Losco
Selected song	"7th Wonder"
Selected songwriter(s)	Philip Vella Gerard James Borg
Finals performance
Final result	2nd, 164 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2001 • 2002 • 2003►

Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "7th Wonder", composed by Philip Vella, with lyrics by Gerard James Borg, and performed by Ira Losco. The Maltese participating broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), selected its entry for the contest through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2002. The competition consisted of a final, held on 15 and 16 February 2002, where "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 25 May 2002. Performing during the show in position 20, Malta placed second out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 164 points. This is, to date, Malta's joint best placing at the contest alongside 2005.

Prior to the 2002 Contest, the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA) until 1975, and the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) since 1991, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Malta fourteen times since MBA's first entry in 1971. After competing in 1975, Malta was absent from the contest beginning in 1976. They had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Their best placing in the contest thus far was third, achieved on two occasions: in 1992 with the song "Little Child" performed by Mary Spiteri and in 1998 with the song "The One That I Love" performed by Chiara.^[1]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, PBS organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster had selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for its 2002 participation.^[2]

Malta Song for Europe 2002 was the national final format developed by PBS to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. The competition was held on 15 and 16 February 2002 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, hosted by Peppi Azzopardi and Valerie Vella and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM).^[3]

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition between 1 September 2001 and 9 November 2001. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as they possessed Maltese origin. Songs were required to be written in English, however, lyrics in other languages were also allowed as long as it does not exceed one line to a quatrain. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of two in the final.^[4] 224 entries were received by the broadcaster.^[5] The sixteen songs, selected to compete in the competition from a shortlist of 36 entries that had progressed through the selection process, were announced on 10 December 2001 at a press conference held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. The jury panel that selected the sixteen finalists consisted of Giuseppe Affallo (Spain), Derek Lloyd (United Kingdom), Munro Forbes (United Kingdom), Ismeta Dervoz (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Albert Galdes (Malta).^[6]

The final took place on 15 and 16 February 2002. Sixteen entries competed and the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel (5/8) and public televoting (3/8) determined the winner. The interval act of the show on 15 February featured performances by Italian singer Gilda Giuliani, Danish guitarist Kaare Norge and the Laura (who would represent Finland in 2002), while the interval act of the show on 16 February featured performances by the Alision White Dance Company, Fabrizio Faniello (who represented Malta in 2001), the band One (who would represent Cyprus in 2002) and Malene Mortensen (who would represent Denmark in 2002).^[7] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco was the winner. 36,817 votes were registered by the televoting.^[8][9]

The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002.^[10] The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom), the sixteen highest-scoring participating countries in the previous year's contest and any non-participating countries in the previous year's contest, up to 24 participants in total.^[11] On 9 November 2001, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 20, following the entry from Turkey and before the entry from Romania.^[12] Malta finished in second place scoring 164 points.^[13]

The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM with commentary by John Bundy.^[14][15] PBS appointed Yvette Portelli as its spokesperson to announce the Maltese votes during the show.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation, whose votes were based on a 50/50 combination of jury voting and televoting, awarded its 12 points to Cyprus in the contest.^[16]

Points awarded to Malta[17] Score Country 12 points  Croatia  Denmark  United Kingdom 10 points  Cyprus  Germany  Israel  Macedonia  Slovenia  Spain 8 points  Austria 7 points  Belgium  Estonia  Latvia 6 points  France  Greece 5 points  Russia  Turkey 4 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Sweden   Switzerland 3 points  Lithuania 2 points  Finland 1 point

Points awarded by Malta[17] Score Country 12 points  Cyprus 10 points  United Kingdom 8 points  Russia 7 points  Latvia 6 points  Romania 5 points  Macedonia 4 points  Germany 3 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 points  Estonia 1 point  Denmark

• Maltese National Final 2002