Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "7th Wonder" written by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg. The song was performed by Ira Losco. The Maltese entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia 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 15 and 16 February 2002, where "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco 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 25 May 2002. Performing during the show in position 20, Malta placed second out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 164 points. This is, to date, Malta's joint best placing at the contest alongside 2005.
Prior to the 2002 Contest, Malta had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fourteen 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 third, which it 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.[1]
For the 2002 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 selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure, a method that was continued for their 2002 participation.[2]
Malta Song for Europe 2002 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. The competition was held on 15 and 16 February 2002 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in the nation's capital city of Valletta, hosted by Peppi Azzopardi and Valerie Vella and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM).[3]
Artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition between 1 September 2001 and 9 November 2001. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as they possessed Maltese origin. Songs were required to be written in English, however, lyrics in other languages were also allowed as long as it does not exceed one line to a quatrain. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of two in the final.[4] 224 entries were received by the broadcaster.[5] The sixteen songs, selected to compete in the competition from a shortlist of 36 entries that had progressed through the selection process, were announced on 10 December 2001 at a press conference held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. The jury panel that selected the sixteen finalists consisted of Giuseppe Affallo (Spain), Derek Lloyd (United Kingdom), Munro Forbes (United Kingdom), Ismeta Dervoz (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Albert Galdes (Malta).[6]
The final took place on 15 and 16 February 2002. Sixteen entries competed and the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel (5/8) and public televoting (3/8) determined the winner. The interval act of the show on 15 February featured performances by Italian singer Gilda Giuliani, Danish guitarist Kaare Norge and the 2002 Finnish Eurovision entrant Laura, while the interval act of the show on 16 February featured performances by the Alision White Dance Company, the 2001 Maltese Eurovision entrant Fabrizio Faniello, the 2002 Cypriot Eurovision entrant One and the 2002 Danish Eurovision entrant Malene Mortensen.[7] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, "7th Wonder" performed by Ira Losco was the winner. 36,817 votes were registered by the televoting.[8][9]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002.[10] The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), the sixteen highest-scoring participating countries in the previous year's contest and any non-participating countries in the previous year's contest, up to 24 participants in total.[11] On 9 November 2001, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Malta was set to perform in position 20, following the entry from Turkey and before the entry from Romania.[12] Malta finished in second place scoring 164 points.[13]
The show was broadcast in Malta on TVM with commentary by John Bundy.[14][15] The Maltese spokesperson, who announced the Maltese votes during the show, was Yvette Portelli.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Malta and awarded by Malta in the contest. The nation, whose votes were based on a 50/50 combination of jury voting and televoting, awarded its 12 points to Cyprus in the contest.[16]
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