Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Country Malta
National selection
Selection processMalta Song for Europe 2003
Selection date(s)Semi-final:
7 February 2003
Final:
8 February 2003
Selected entrantLynn Chircop
Selected song"To Dream Again"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Alfred Zammit
  • Cynthia Sammut
Finals performance
Final result25th, 4 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2002 2003 2004►

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "To Dream Again" written by Alfred Zammit and Cynthia Sammut. The song was performed by Lynn Chircop. The Maltese entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia was selected through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2003, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 7 and 8 February 2003, respectively, where "To Dream Again" performed by Lynn Chircop 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 24 May 2003. Performing during the show in position 5, Malta placed twenty-fifth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 4 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 Contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 1971. Malta briefly competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1970s before withdrawing for sixteen years. The country had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Malta's best placing in the contest thus far was second, which it achieved in 2002 with the song "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco.[1]

For the 2003 Contest, the Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), broadcast the event within Malta and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. PBS confirmed their intentions to participate at it on 16 September 2002.[2] Malta selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for their 2003 participation.

Before Eurovision

Malta Song for Europe 2003

Malta Song for Europe 2003 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 7 and 8 February 2003, respectively, at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali. Both shows were hosted by Gianni Zammit and Mireille Bonello and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well as on the website di-ve.com.[3]

Format

The competition consisted of twenty-four songs competing in the semi-final on 7 February 2003 where the top sixteen entries qualified to compete in the final on 8 February 2003. Five judges evaluated the songs during the shows and each judge had an equal stake in the final result. The results of the public televote had a weighting equal to the total votes of the judges. Ties in the final results were broken based on the entry which received the higher score from the judges.[4]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 16 September 2002 and 15 November 2002. Both artists and songwriters were required to be Maltese or possess Maltese citizenship. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of two in the competition.[2] 238 entries were received by the broadcaster. On 23 November 2002, PBS announced a shortlist of 50 entries that had progressed through the selection process.[5] The twenty-four songs selected to compete in the semi-final were announced on 17 December 2002. Among the selected competing artists was former Maltese Eurovision entrant Paul Giordimaina who represented Malta in the 1991 contest. The jury panel that selected the twenty-four semi-finalists consisted of Brian Micallef (Malta), Peo Nylén (Sweden), Jörg Hiller (Germany), Daniel Schmidt (Germany), Niamh White (Ireland) and Regine Tank Oberhofer (Germany).[6]

Shows

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 7 February 2003. Twenty-four songs competed for sixteen qualifying spots in the final.[7] The interval act of the show featured performances by the 2001 Maltese Eurovision entrant Fabrizio Faniello, the Belgian group Ian van Dahl and the local acts Ali Bubaker, Corkskrew, Kristina Casolani and Winter Moods.[8][9]

Semi-final – 7 February 2003
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Result
1 Roger Tirazona "Feel the Beat" Paul Abela, Roger Tirazona Eliminated
2 The Mics "Take Me Back Again" Wayne Micallef, Alfred C. Sant Advanced
3 Olivia Lewis feat. IQ's Verse-One "Starting Over" Paul Abela, Georgina Abela Advanced
4 Lawrence Gray "Why Not" Ray Agius Advanced
5 Mark Tonna "Welcome" Mark Spiteri Lucas, Mark Tonna Eliminated
6 Marisa D'Amato "Survive (To Stay Alive)" Tarcisio Barbara, Joe Chircop Advanced
7 Andreana and Karl "Angels" Karl Spiteri Advanced
8 Shirley Galea "Call My Name" Renato Briffa, Ray Mahoney Eliminated
9 Eleanor Cassar "Someday You Will See" Mark Debono, Doris Chetcuti Advanced
10 Gunther Chetcuti "Light of My Life" Paul Abela, Roger Tirazona, Doris Chetcuti Advanced
11 Natasha and Charlene "Rain of Fire" Charlene Grima, Deo Grech Eliminated
12 Rita Pace "On Top of the World" Rita Pace Eliminated
13 Eleanor Cassar "Tell Me Why" Eugenio Schembri, Doris Chetcuti Advanced
14 Rosman Pace "Love Will Shine Forever" Jason Cassar, Sunny Aquilina Advanced
15 Konrad Pulѐ "Everywhere You Go" Konrad Pulѐ Advanced
16 Nadine Axisa "Look at Me" Dominic Galea, Ray Mahoney Eliminated
17 Lynn Chircop "To Dream Again" Alfred Zammit, Cynthia Sammut Advanced
18 Johanna Guzman "I Believe in Love" Enzo Guzman, Joe Julian Farrugia, Johanna Guzman Eliminated
19 Natasha and Charlene "Superstitious" Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Advanced
20 Paul Giordimaina, Andrew Zammit and Godwin Lucas "My Song" Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan Advanced
21 Julie and Ludwig "My Number One" Philip Vella, Joe Julian Farrugia Advanced
22 Romina Mamo "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" Dominic Galea, Joe Friggieri Eliminated
23 Karen Polidano "One Touch" Philip Vella, Joe Chircop Advanced
24 Lawrence Gray "And the Music" Dominic Galea, Mark Doneo Advanced

Final

The final took place on 8 February 2003. The sixteen entries that qualified from the semi-final were performed again and the 50/50 combination of votes of a five-member jury panel and the results of public televoting determined the winner. The interval act of the show featured performances by Latvia's Eurovision Song Contest 2002 winner Marie N, the 2002 Maltese Eurovision entrant Ira Losco and the 2003 Israeli Eurovision entrant Lior Narkis.[10] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "To Dream Again" performed by Lynn Chircop was the winner.[11]

Final – 8 February 2003
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 The Mics "Take Me Back Again" 41 25 66 14
2 Olivia Lewis feat. IQ's Verse-One "Starting Over" 27 80 107 6
3 Lawrence Gray "Why Not" 47 100 147 2
4 Marisa D'Amato "Survive (To Stay Alive)" 51 5 56 15
5 Andreana and Karl "Angels" 17 55 72 11
6 Eleanor Cassar "Someday You Will See" 77 15 92 7
7 Gunther Chetcuti "Light of My Life" 55 70 125 3
8 Eleanor Cassar "Tell Me Why" 69 10 79 9
9 Rosman Pace "Love Will Shine Forever" 43 40 83 8
10 Konrad Pulѐ "Everywhere You Go" 17 20 37 16
11 Lynn Chircop "To Dream Again" 90 60 150 1
12 Natasha and Charlene "Superstitious" 63 45 108 5
13 Paul Giordimaina, Andrew Zammit and Godwin Lucas "My Song" 44 35 79 10
14 Julie and Ludwig "My Number One" 30 90 120 4
15 Karen Polidano "One Touch" 39 30 69 12
16 Lawrence Gray "And the Music" 19 50 69 13
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song Jury 1 Jury 2 Jury 3 Jury 4 Jury 5 Total
1 "Take Me Back Again"119610541
2 "Starting Over"2856627
3 "Why Not"147422047
4 "Survive (To Stay Alive)"1210916451
5 "Angels"9133117
6 "Someday You Will See"181618111477
7 "Light of My Life"10121251655
8 "Tell Me Why"82016141169
9 "Love Will Shine Forever"711108743
10 "Everywhere You Go"1284217
11 "To Dream Again"201820201290
12 "Superstitious"1647181863
13 "My Song"614147344
14 "My Number One"53112930
15 "One Touch"461191039
16 "And the Music"3521819

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 took place on 24 May 2003 at the Skonto Hall in Riga, Latvia. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom ten countries in the 2002 contest competed.[12] On 29 November 2002, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Turkey and before the entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina.[13] Malta placed twenty-fifth in the final, scoring 4 points.[14]

The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM with commentary by John Bundy. The Maltese spokesperson, who announced the Maltese votes during the show, was Sharon Borg.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest.

References

  1. "Malta Country Profile". EBU. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 "TERMS AND CONDITIONS". Maltasong. 17 September 2002. Archived from the original on 20 August 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  3. "Song for Europe Festival". Maltasong. 2 April 2003. Archived from the original on 12 August 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. "Malta Song for Europe 2003: Lynn Chircop". eurovisionmalta.com. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  5. Raeven, Rianne (25 November 2002). "50 songs for Malta Song for Europe 2003". Esctoday. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. "24 songs selected for two Maltese final nights". Esctoday. 17 December 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. "MALTESE SEMI-FINAL 2003".
  8. "Talent at Song for Europe Festival". Times of Malta. 25 January 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  9. "Song for Europe Festival contestants start rehearsals". Times of Malta. 4 February 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  10. Rodrigues, André (9 February 2003). "To Dream Again for Malta to Riga". Esctoday. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. "MALTESE NATIONAL FINAL 2003".
  12. "RULES OF THE 2003 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  13. Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  14. "Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.