| Year: | 2000 |
| Country: | Malta |
| Preselection: | Malta Song for Europe 2000 |
| Preselection Date: | 14–15 January 2000 |
| Entrant: | Claudette Pace |
| Song: | Desire |
| Final Result: | 8th, 73 points |
Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Desire" written by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg. The song was performed by Claudette Pace. The Maltese entry for the 2002 contest in Stockholm, Sweden was selected through the national final Malta Song for Europe 2002, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a final, held on 14 and 15 February 2000, where "Desire" performed by Ira Losco eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a seven-member jury.
Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 2000. Performing during the show in position 7, Malta placed seventh out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 48 points.
See main article: Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 2000 contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since its first entry in . After competing in the and contests, the nation was absent from the contest beginning in 1976.[1] After returning for the contest, Malta had competed annually. By 2001, its best placing was third and this was achieved on two occasions: in 1992 with the song "Little Child" performed by Mary Spiteri and in 1998 with the song "The One That I Love" performed by Chiara.[2]
For the 2000 contest, the Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), broadcast the event within Malta and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. Malta had selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for their 2000 participation.[3]
Malta Song for Europe 2000 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese 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Julian's. One of the selected songs, "(You Will Always Be) Deep Inside My Heart" written by Paul Zammit Cutajar, was withdrawn and replaced with "The Only One" performed by former Maltese Eurovision entrant Paul Giordimaina who represented Malta in the 1991 contest.[4]
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.[5] Sixteen entries competed and the votes from a seven-member jury panel determined the winner. 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 Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest 1980 and 1987 winner Johnny Logan.[6] After the votes from the jury panel were combined, "Desire" performed by Claudette Pace was the winner.[7] [8]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konrad Pule' | "Going Strong" | J.P. Cassaletto, Konrad Pule' | 51 | 11 | |
| 2 | Alwyn Borg Myatt | "Let's Try Love Once More" | Philip Vella | 67 | 7 | |
| 3 | Olivia Lewis | "I Wanna Love You" | Doris Chetcuti, Eugenio Schembri | 59 | 9 | |
| 4 | Paula | "One Day" | Paul Zammit Cutajar, Ronnie Busuttil | 39 | 14 | |
| 5 | Marvic Lewis | "I Have Given All To You" | Doris Chetcuti, Eugenio Schembri | 57 | 10 | |
| 6 | Gianni | "My Friends" | Paul Zammit Cutajar, Gianni Zammit | 40 | 13 | |
| 7 | Tarcisio Barbara | "Home-Grown Tenderness" | Alfred C. Sant, Philip Vella | 45 | 12 | |
| 8 | Claudette Pace | "Desire" | Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg | 122 | 1 | |
| 9 | Rita Pace | "Come Into My Life" | Rita Pace | 16 | 16 | |
| 10 | Ira Losco | "Shine" | Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg | 70 | 6 | |
| 11 | Rita Pace | "We Can Touch the Wind" | Rita Pace | 33 | 15 | |
| 12 | Olivia Lewis | "Only for You" | Doris Chetcuti, Eugenio Schembri | 74 | 5 | |
| 13 | Priscilla | "Our Love" | Cynthia Sammut, Alfred Zammit | 93 | 3 | |
| 14 | Fabrizio Faniello | "Change of Heart" | Georgina Abela, Paul Abela | 104 | 2 | |
| 15 | Ira Losco | "Falling in Love" | Ray Agius | 67 | 7 | |
| 16 | Paul Giordimaina | "The Only One" | Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan | 82 | 4 |
| Draw | Song | Jury 1 | Jury 2 | Jury 3 | Jury 4 | Jury 5 | Jury 6 | Jury 7 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Going Strong" | 12 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 51 | |
| 2 | "Let's Try Love Once More" | 18 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 67 | |
| 3 | "I Wanna Love You" | 7 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 59 | |
| 4 | "One Day" | 6 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 39 | |
| 5 | "I Have Given All to You" | 14 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 57 | |
| 6 | "My Friends" | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 40 | |
| 7 | "Home-Grown Tenderness" | 8 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 45 | |
| 8 | "Desire" | 20 | 20 | 20 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 122 | |
| 9 | "Come Into My Life" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 16 | |
| 10 | "Shine" | 11 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 70 | |
| 11 | "We Can Touch the Wind" | 1 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 33 | |
| 12 | "Only for You" | 16 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 74 | |
| 13 | "Our Love" | 5 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 93 | |
| 14 | "Change of Heart" | 9 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 104 | |
| 15 | "Falling in Love" | 3 | 12 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 67 | |
| 16 | "The Only One" | 10 | 14 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 16 | 82 |
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.[9] 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 Romania and before the entry from Norway.[10] [11] Malta finished in eighth place with 73 points.[12]
The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM.[13] The Maltese spokesperson, who announced the results of the Maltese televote during the final, was Valerie Vella.[14]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest.