Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

GO Malta EuroSong 2009 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition consisted of eight semi-finals, titled Euro Showbox, held between 8 November 2008 and 10 January 2009, and the final on 7 February 2009. The Euro Showbox shows took place at the Audiovision Studios in Hamrun and hosted by Valerie Vella, while the final took place at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in the nation's capital city of Valletta and hosted by Pablo Micallef and Valerie Vella. All shows were broadcast on Television Malta (TVM).

The competition consisted of fifty-six songs competing over eight Euro Showbox shows held weekly between 8 November 2008 and 10 January 2009 where the top twenty entries qualified to compete in the final on 7 February 2009: fifteen entries were selected by a jury and an additional five entries were selected by the results of the public televote from the remaining entries. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three entries qualified to the second round, the superfinal. Five judges evaluated the songs and each judge had an equal stake in the final result. An additional two sets of votes were the results of the jury and public televoting from the Euro Showbox, each having a weighting equal to the votes of a single judge. In the superfinal, the winner was determined solely by the public televote.[3][4][5]

Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 13 and 14 October 2008. Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. Maltese songwriters were able to submit a maximum of two songs. Artists were able to submit a maximum of two songs per songwriter, however, they could only compete with one in the final after discussions with the Union of Maltese Singers and Songwriters (UKAM). 182 entries were received by the broadcaster. An international jury assessed the songs between 23 October and 2 November 2008, and a shortlist of 80 entries had progressed through the selection process.[3] The fifty-six songs selected to compete in the Euro Showbox were announced on 27 October 2008.[6] It was later announced that Klinsmann would perform "Rock and Rise" would switch places with "Butterfly Sky" and perform in the first show of Euro Showbox instead of the eighth show. "What If We" performed by Chiara would perform in the seventh show instead of the fourth show due to personal problems, switching places with "Love in the Sahara" performed by Maria Mallia.[7][8]

Among the selected competing artists was former Maltese Eurovision entrant Chiara Siracusa who represented Malta in 1998 and 2005.[9] Among the songwriters, Ralph Siegel, John O'Flynn (Bernd Meinunger), Gerard James Borg and Philip Vella were all past writers of Eurovision entries.[9]

The first show of Euro Showbox took place on 8 November 2008. Due to incorrect SMS numbers being displayed during the show, a revote took place at the beginning of the second show.[10][11]

The second show of Euro Showbox took place on 15 November 2008.

The third show of Euro Showbox took place on 29 November 2008.

The fourth show of Euro Showbox took place on 6 December 2008.

The fifth show of Euro Showbox took place on 13 December 2008.

The sixth show of Euro Showbox took place on 20 December 2008.

The seventh show of Euro Showbox took place on 3 January 2009.

The eighth show of Euro Showbox took place on 10 January 2009. The twenty qualifiers in the final were announced after the eighth show.[12][13]

The final took place on 7 February 2009.[14] The twenty entries that qualified from the Euro Showbox shows were performed again and two rounds of voting determined the winner. In the first round, after the votes from the jury panel and the voting results from the Euro Showbox were combined, "What If We" performed by Chiara, "Before You Walk Away" performed by Q and "Someday" performed by Eleanor Cassar qualified for the second round, the superfinal.[15] Among the five members of the jury were 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin and 2000 British Eurovision entrant Nicki French. In the superfinal, "What If We" performed by Chiara was the winner after winning the public televote with 46% of the votes.[1][2][16] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show also featured guest performances by 2008 Maltese Eurovision entrant Morena, 2009 Turkish Eurovision entrant Hadise, 2009 British Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the local acts Niki Gravino, Airport Impressions, the Yada Dance Company, Crisitina Casolani & Toby and The Riffs.[17][18]

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  The final hosts: Pablo Micallef and Valerie Vella

After winning Eurosong, Chiara promoted her entry in other countries before performing at Eurovision. Her first stop was at the Greek national final, held on 18 February, where she performed her Eurovision entry "What If We" alongside acts from six other countries.[19][20] She later performed at the Bosnia and Herzegovina song presentation on 1 March.[21]