Malta's top Eurovision entries by public vote in the modern era

Malta has a long and dedicated history with the Eurovision Song Contest.

After debuting in 1971, they have gone on to make the top three on four separate occasions.

For a nation of around 500,000 inhabitants, that is an impressive record!

However, in the modern Eurovision Song Contest, they have started to struggle.

And there is one area in particular: the public vote.

Despite their best results of two runner-up finishes happening in the public vote era of the 2000s, the more current public vote has deserted them.

In the previous two semi-finals, with 100% public voting, they finished last in both.

So when have they been able to cut through with the public?

We've looked back at Malta's qualifying entries since 2009 (when 50/50 was brought in permanently) to see where they ranked in the public vote.

Here are the seven entries who made the Grand Final in that time:

7. Kurt Calleja - This Is the Night (2012)

25th in the public vote - 10 points

Kurt finished second last in the public vote with Anggun from France shockingly at the bottom.

If the semi-final that year was 100% public voting, Kurt would have missed out in 11th.

In the Grand Final, he did finish 16th with the juries to finish 21st overall.

6. Firelight - Coming Home (2014)

24th in the public vote - 17 points

Another tough public vote result with Firelight finishing third last, only ahead of Tinkara Kovač from Slovenia and Twin Twin from France.

If the semi-final was 100% public voting they would have finished 12th and missed out on the Grand Final.

They finished 6th with the juries to place 23rd overall.

5. Chiara - What if We (2009)

24th in the public vote - 18 points

Although Chiara had finished 2nd and 3rd in public votes in the past, her third attempt saw her finish a little lower!

She did finish 13th with the juries to place 22nd overall.

4. Michela - Chameleon (2019)

22nd in the public vote - 20 points

The fan-favourite song didn't translate into public votes on the night.

Although Michela did have to open the Grand Final, she also only finished 10th in her semi-final public vote.

A Top 10 jury score saw her finish in a respectable 14th place overall.

3. Ira Losco - Walk on Water (2016)

21st in the public vote - 16 points

After finishing 4th with the juries, Ira placed 12th overall thanks to her low public vote score.

In her semi-final, Ira finished 9th in the public vote, just four points in front of 11th placed Serhat from San Marino with his song I Didn't Know.

2. Destiny - Je me casse (2021)

14th in the public vote - 47 points

Despite being one of the favourites to win Eurovision, Destiny could only manage 14th in the public vote.

She did finish 2nd in her semi-final public vote, but a tough running order didn't help with the public.

Destiny went on to place 7th, Malta's best result since 2005.

1. Gianluca - Tomorrow (2013)

9th in the public vote - (points not publicly released)

In a somewhat surprising result, Gianluca has the best public result for Malta in recent times.

Although the public points weren't released, the average rankings were.

Gianluca had an average ranking of 10.97 in the public vote and 9.54 in the jury vote to finish 9th in both.

The entry finished in an impressive 8th place overall.

Where to from here?

Malta has songs that can resonate with the public but do struggle overall.

With a tendency to send songs that suit juries and being isolated from any neighbours, they will have to send top-quality entries to have a chance of making the Grand Final in its current format.

However, with a long history of being able to bring quality, it's up to the nation now to deliver.

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