Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

Prior to the 2000 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 12 times since MBA's first entry in . After competing in , Malta was absent from the contest beginning in 1976. After returning in , it had competed annually. By 2001, its best placing was third and this was achieved on two occasions: with the song "Little Child" performed by Mary Spiteri and with the song "The One That I Love" performed by Chiara. 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 2000 participation. ==Before Eurovision==

Malta Song for Europe 2000 Malta Song for Europe 2000 was the national final format developed by PBS to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. 224 entries were received by the broadcaster for the competition after artists and composers were able to submit their entries, and sixteen songs were selected to compete and announced on 11 December 1999 at a press conference held at the Corinthia St. George's Hotel in St. Julian's. One of the selected songs, "(You Will Always Be) Deep Inside My Heart" written by Paul Zammit Cutajar, was withdrawn and replaced with "The Only One" performed by former Maltese Eurovision entrant Paul Giordimaina who represented . The final took place on 14 and 15 January 2000 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in the nation's capital city of Valletta, hosted by Stephanie Farrugia, Miriam Dalli and Charles Saliba and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well as on Super One Radio and its website super1.com. Sixteen entries competed and the votes from a seven-member jury panel, among its members which included eight-time Eurovision conductor for the United Kingdom Ronnie Hazlehurst as well as Serhat, who represented and , determined the winner. A non-competitive public televote was also held which Claudette Pace won, with Fabrizio Faniello in second place and Alwyn Borg Myatt third. The interval act of the show on 14 January, alternatively entitled Marru L-Ewropa, featured guest performances by former Maltese Eurovision entrants, while the interval act of the show on 2 February featured performances by Eurovision winner Johnny Logan ( and ). After the votes from the jury panel were combined, "Desire" performed by Claudette Pace was the winner. ==At Eurovision==

in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000. The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000. According to Eurovision rules, the participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), the countries with the highest average scores between the 1995 and 1999 contests, and any countries which had not competed in the 1999 contest. On 21 November 1999, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from and before the entry from . Malta finished in eighth place with 73 points. The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM. Voting Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the contest. PBS appointed Valerie Vella as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Maltese televote during the final. ==References==