Maltese PBS chief executive John Bundy informed there will be no changes in next year’s National Final in Malta despite very low result for Claudia Faniello and her ballad “Breathlessly” in second semifinal of Eurovision in Kyiv. That means the jury voting will not be reinstated and only televoting will decide who will represent Malta in Lisbon in 2018. “We are very disappointed with the result because compared to some of the countries that made it through, we had a song that was just as good” – Bundy said. Malta finished 16th in the semifinal after ranked 8th in jury voting but last in televoting with nil points.

Even if Howard Keith Debono, musical producer in Ira Losco’s Eurovsion team said the televoting in National Final is “big risk” as Maltese audience preferences were not necessarily mirrored across Europe, Bundy claims that the voting system will remain unchanged as even with jury voting the Maltese entries didn’t get through several times. Also there will be no change of winning song as Malta did in 2016.

After Portugal received the Grand Prix this year thanks to Salvador Sobral, Malta is next to win Eurovision based on the waiting time. PBS debuted in 1971 but due to some absences “Breathlessly” was only 30th entry for the Eurovision from this island.