Malta: Christabelle Borg to Eurovision 2018

#jointhemagic. The Maltese broadcaster PBS held their selection for Lisbon, MESC 2018 (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018) live from MFCC, Ta' Qali tonight.

The 16 selected acts fought it out on stage tonight. Now we can reveal the winner of the Maltese competition and, therefore, going through to Eurovision 2018 in Lisbon is Christabelle Borg with the song "Taboo".

All six international juries gave her 12 points each, and she also won the public voting with 73 points. A total of 133 points.

Taboo is written by Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg and Muxu.

A special interval treat was a performance from Claudia Faniello, last year's Maltese representative, singing 'You Said', 'Miles Away', and 'One Fine Day'.

MESC 2018 result

1. Christabelle Borg – "Taboo" (133 points)
2. Richard & Joe Micallef – "Song for Dad" (98 points)
3. Brooke Borg – "Heart of Gold" (84 points)
4. AIDAN – "Dai Laga" (42 points)
5. Eleanor Cassar – "Back to Life" (36 points)
6. Petra – "Evolution" (33 points)
7. Matthew Anthony – "Call 2morrow" (32 points)
8. Jasmine Abela – "Supernovas" (31 points)
9. Avenue Sky – "We Can Run" (16 points)
10. Dwett – "Breaking Point" (15 points)
11. Miriana Conte – "Rocket" (14 points)
12. Rhiannon – "Beyond Blue Horizons" (14 points)
13. Deborah C – "Turn It Up" (13 points)
14. Tiziana Calleja – "First Time" (12 points)
15. Lawrence Gray – "Love Renegade" (7 points)
16. Danica Muscat – "One Step at a Time" (3 points)

The result of MESC 2018 was determined by 50% televoting and 50% jury.

MESC 2018 was hosted by Maltese radio-presenter Colin Fitz. A total of 129 entries were submitted to the broadcaster, and was later shortlisted to 30 by PBS. The 16 acts for tonight's show had been selected by a jury back in September 2017.

Christabelle Borg

Christabelle was born in 1992 in Malta. She has performing since she was just three years old, both as a singer and as a television host. She has been studying music at Mount St. Mary’s College in Hollywood, USA, and participated in several song contests.

Christabelle has competed in Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) four times:

• 2014 with "Lovetricity" (8th)
• 2015 with "Rush" (2nd)
• 2016 with "Kingdom" (4th)
• 2018 with "Taboo" (1st)

She has won the Bay Awards as Best Solo Artist in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, and has released several singles since 2009.

Her song Taboo which she will perform at Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, is a song about the taboos about mental illness. Something that is very important for Christabelle to address, and she hopes that her song will open up more about mental illness, making it easier for those suffering from it to open up to family and friends.

Malta in Eurovision Song Contest

Malta debuted in Eurovision back in 1971 and has been in the contest 30 times since - without a victory. Best result is two runner-up's in 2002 (Ira Losco - "7th Wonder") and 2005 (Chiara - "Angel"). The worst result is three last places in 1971, 1972 and 2006.

Since the introduction of Semi-finals in 2004 Malta qualified for the Grand Final 8 out of 14 times.