Sarah Bonnici clinched the title of the 39th representative of the Maltese archipelago at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with her track "Loop."
Televixin Malta aired the 11th edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest live from the PBS studio in Gwardamanġa, Pietà. The event was hosted by Carlo Borg Bonaci and Angie Laus, while Jamie Cardona and Dorianne Mamo provided commentary from the Green Room alongside the finalists. The 2024 edition of the National Selection boasted 64 square meters of LED screens, showcasing a meticulously designed stage with cutting-edge technology.
The Maltese National Selection consisted of four semi-finals held between October and November 2023. Prior to this, the Songwriting Camp in June 2023 produced 18 songs, which progressed to the demo stage. From there, artists had the option to refine their compositions for MESC 2024. A total of 36 songs vied for the coveted spot in the final, with only 12 making it to the Grand Final, which premiered via video clips last Thursday:
Pop musician Ian Vella (Janvil) with "Man"
19-year-old singer Haley Azzopardi with "Tell Me That It’s Over"
Girl band Erba' with "Sirena"
Youngest performer Nathan Psaila with "Ghost"
XFactor runner-up Lisa Gauci with "Breathe"
Gozitans singer Sarah Bonnici with "Loop"
Maltese drag queen Greta Tude with "Topic"
R&B/Soul singer Miriana Conte with "Venom"
X-Factor winner Ryan Hili with "Karma"
Singer/songwriter Gail Attard with "Wild Card"
Dancer, singer, and circus performer Denise Mercieca with "Mara"
Busker saxophonist Matt Blxck with "Banana"
The winner was determined through a combination of votes from a seven-member jury panel (7/9) and a public televote (2/9). "Loop" emerged victorious with 79 points from the jury and 23 points from the televote, totaling 102 points. "Banana" and "Karma" secured the second and third spots respectively, with scores of 80 (51 + 29) and 71 (54 + 17) points.
During the final show, Yulan Law, the young Maltese representative at Eurovision Junior 2023 in Nice, France, and "The Busker," the band that represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, UK with the song "Dance (Our Own Party)," performed as interval acts.
Despite significant investments by the broadcaster to enhance the quality and competitiveness of the entries, the Grand Final only attracted half of the 265,000 viewers from the previous year. Some performances drew comparisons to notable Eurovision entries, such as the similarities between "Loop" and "SloMo" from Spain in 2022, which sparked discussions on social networks.
Sarah Bonnici will perform her entry "Loop," written by Kevin Lee, Leire Gotxi Angel, Michael Joe Cini, Sarah Bonnici, and Sebastian Pritchard-James, in the first half of the second Semi-Final in Malmö on May 9th.
