Last week Judges Houses started on ‘X Factor Malta’ and we got one step closer to the live finals and finding out who will be representing Malta at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. Last week, we saw as Ira Losco chose her final three girls and Ray Mercieca selected his top three boys to take to the live shows which launch next weekend.

In tonight’s, we discover which three overs and which three groups will complete the Top 12 Lineup – starting with the groups who are being managed by Howard Keith Debono who is joined by songwriter guest judge Lil Eddie.

First to perform is trio Chord, who were put together at the very end of Botocamp with Miriana Conte, Luana Gatt & Rhiannon Micallef who give a super soulful performance of ‘Faithfully‘ by YEBBA. Despite battling sickness, they still managed to kick off the episode in style!

Young girl group Sweet Chaos are up next performing Rita Ora & Iggy Azalea’s ‘Black Widow‘. Consisting of Cora Elizabeth Lewis, Shannon McEvoy, Ludivine O’Toole and Louanne Ronayne, you can tell the group have gelled extremely well together as friends! At times, the performance was a little wild – and I felt terrible for them when the jacket rip off at the end didn’t quite go to plan – but they still provided a current & modern performance.

Third to perform was trio Reign (Chrissy Warrington, Rebecca Mifsud & Brenda DeBattista). They gave an incredible performance of ‘Figures‘ by Jessie Reyez. Their acoustic style really helps them to stand out, and each of them have fantastic voices in their own right. The only criticism I have is that the performance did feel again a little like three great soloists as opposed to a strong group unit.

Duo Julia Balzan & Samira Cauchi (Bloodline) performed their own unique version of ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson and wow! Their voices work SO well together and both of them are artists in their own right which makes it all sound authentic and even better than you’d expect. At risk of upsetting the fans of Michael Jackson, that might’ve been better than the original?

Piling the pressure on to themselves, duet Yazmin & James perform ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head‘ by Kylie Minogue … in front of one of Kylie’s songwriters! These two are ABSOLUTELY the cutest and their voices worked so well on this slowed down, ballad version of the track. The very similar act Alex & Sierra won X Factor USA a few years ago, so these two could be on track to charm the whole of Europe!

Finally, the girl group consisting of Chanelle Zarb, Ema Vella, Demi Galea, Maya Sesay and Megan Caruana who have just been named by a public decision as F.A.I.T.H. They perform ‘Ain’t No Other Man‘ by Christina Aguilera which gave them a chance to shine both individually and as a group with some sassy harmonies. Not quite as good as their Six Chair peformance, but undeniably they are one of the best groups and have meant business with both performances so far.

After all acts had performed, Howard & Lil Eddie made the difficult decision to select the top three groups – Bloodline, F.A.I.T.H and Yazmin & James.

Alexandra Alden was up next with her guest judges, female duo The New Victorians.

First up – Jozi. She saw a lot of controversy after getting through Six Chair Challenge after a nailbiting sing-off, however she’s hoping to change peoples minds with her performance of ‘Back To Black‘ by Amy Winehouse. It’s a strong performance and the song works well for her very unique voice, much like the late Amy Winehouse!

Kersten Graham is up next – performing a Blues-inspired original track. His voice has always had a great old-rock quality to it, and it really works with the blues style of the song. He’s bringing it back! A cool performance that had us really feeling the music.

Ed Abdilla is performing ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love‘ originally by Elvis Presley, with a ukulele! He turned the song on its head completely, by turning the often slow ballad in to a fun, up-tempo performance. We’re not quite sure it worked this time with the type of song but nonetheless, his vocals were on point!

Next to perform is Paul Anthony, who takes on ‘Suffer‘ by Charlie Puth. He’s always surprised us with every performance, and this is another stride towards being a modern performer. His voice works with this type of song really well and all in all a very good performance.

Chantal Catania is the penultimate Over to perform, and she’s taking a risk by singing in French! She gives a very entertaining performance which really showed her versatility compared to her Joss Stone performance back at Six Chair Challenge! Of all the contestants, she looks so happy when she performs and this was no different tonight.

Finally, Celine Agius performs for Alexandra a very vintage performance of ‘Summertime‘ by Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is like a chameleon, she’s able to change her style to suit whichever song she sings. This performance really worked with her versatility and she gave a strong rendition of the song … will it be enough to take her through!?

The three Overs that Alexandra Alden is taking through to the live shows are Paul Anthony, Ed Abdilla and Celine Agius.

This means that the Twelve Live Finalists for Season 2 of The X Factor Malta are:

Ira Losco and the Girls:

• Destiny Chukunyere
• Jasmine Abela
• Justine Shorfid

Ray Mercieca and the Boys:

• Dav Jr
• Karl Schembri
• Kyle Cutajar

Alexandra Alden and the Overs:

• Celine Agius
• Ed Abdilla
• Paul Anthony

and Howard Keith Debono with the Groups:

• Bloodline
• F.A.I.T.H
• Yazmin & James

Who is your favourite of the 12 finalists!? Make sure to let us know in the comments and on our social media, and vote for your favourites in our poll: