Malta’s Shortlist becomes shorter! 16 Finalists chosen!

Malta are getting prepared for Eurovision 2018 early, with the search beginning not long after the 2017 contest had ended. The first step was to allow artists and composers to submit their entries. After the submission period ended, the entries were considered by a panel of judges, and then shortlisted to a total of 30 acts. Now, we have the list of finalists who will take to the stage, totalling 16!

The acts part of the shortlist of 30 were invited to perform their entries as part of the preliminary phase, and over three days, a jury of international judges reduced the list down to 16 acts. These 16 acts will perform in the national final which will be held in February 2018.

Without further ado, here are the final 16 acts:

1	Dai Laga	Aidan
2	We Can Run	Avenue Sky
3	Heart Of Gold	Brooke Borg
4	Taboo	Christabelle Borg
5	One Step At A Time	Danica Muscat
6	Turn It Up	Deborah C
7	Back to Life	Eleanor Cassar
8	Supernovas	Jasmine Abela
9	Love Renegade	Lawrence Gray
10	Call 2morrow	Matthew Anthony
11	Breaking Point	Mikhail Attard and Cherylis Camilleri
12	Rocket	Miriana Conte
13	Evolution	Petra
14	Beyond Blue Horizons	Rhiannon Micallef
15	Song For Dad	Richard & Joe Micallef
16	First Time	Tiziana Calleja

Many of these names will be familiar to Eurovision fans, either as previous Eurovision participants or through the Maltese national final in previous years. Some of the most notable names are Lawrence Grey, who has participated in the national final no less than 7 times, but has yet to grace the Eurovision stage. Both Brooke and Christabelle have been strong competitors in previous years, with Brooke finishing in the Top 5 in both her previous attempts, and Christabelle much the same, finishing just short of the win various times. Deborah C is also a repeat contender, as is Richard Micallef who actually went on to represent Malta at Eurovision as part of Firelight in 2014.

An act worth keeping an eye out for is Aidan, who gained fame earlier this year for his cover and mash-up of 12 Eurovision songs from 2017, including the Belgian entry City Lights, the Macedonian entry Dance Alone, runner up Bulgaria with Beautiful Mess, the Italian fan favourite entry Occidentali’s Karma as well as the Maltese entry Breathlessly! Check out the mash-up below!