Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Open-knowledge reference entry
Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Vodka", composed by Philip Vella, with lyrics by Gerard James Borg, and performed by Morena. The Maltese participating broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), selected its entry for the contest through the national final The GO Malta Song for Europe 2008. The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 24 and 26 January 2008, respectively, where "Vodka" performed by Morena eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a seven-member jury and a public televote.
Malta was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 16, "Vodka" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final on 24 May. It was later revealed that Malta placed fourteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 38 points.
Background
Prior to the 2008 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 twenty times since MBA's first entry in 1971. After competing in 1975, Malta was absent from the contest beginning in 1976. The country had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Their best placing in the contest thus far was second, which it achieved on two occasions: in 2002 with the song "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco and in 2005 with the song "Angel" performed by Chiara.
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