Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006


Malta’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was "I Do" by Fabrizio Faniello. "I Do" has been described as a very up-tempo pop song that contains Swedish sounds. The song is written and composed by Aldo Spiteri and Fabrizio Faniello.
Fabrizio Faniello is a popular Maltese pop singer, who was born on 27 April 1981 and showed an interest in music at a young age by performing at festivals. His incredible talent and determination brought him to the Malta Song For Europe Festival in 1998 where he placed 2nd with the song “More Than Just A Game.” One of his biggest career highlights was when he reached 9th place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with his hit “Another Summer Night.” Since then Fabrizio has had many successful albums and singles in Malta and internationally. Fabrizio’s current release is entitled “Believe” which contains the successful single, “Love On The Radio.”

Before Eurovision

Malta Song for Europe 2006

TVM announced that 213 entries were submitted for Malta Song for Europe 2006. On 17 December 2005, TVM announced that 50 entries were long-listed for the second phase of the selection. 16 finalists were selected, with an additional 2 finalists coming from the TVM show Opportunity 2.

Final

The final was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta on 4 February 2006, hosted by Eileen Montesin, Josef Bonello and Lou Bondi. The winner was chosen solely by public televoting.
During the show, controversy was caused due to the fact that the songs "Only till the Morning" performed by Ali and Lis and "I Do" by Fabrizio Faniello had sound problems. One of the performers of "Only till the Morning" had a microphone switched off and the other singer covered all lines for her. Fabrizio Faniello's microphone had been going on and off during the performance. Both songs were guaranteed a second performance during the night which turned out fine.
Well aware of the technical problems which haunted the previous year's televoting system, the organisers had a backup jury ready to cast its vote. Eventually it was revealed that the winning entry of the backup jury's vote was "Echoes of Gaia" by Charlene & Natasha.
DrawArtistSongSongwriterTelevotePlace
1J. Anvil"You Too"Augusto Cardinali, Giovanni Attard4,9334
2Anabelle Debono"Amazing"Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg2,10714
3Ali & Lis"Only Till The Morning"John David Zammit, Paul Callus3,9076
4Lara Azzopardi"Stay With Me"Chan Vella, Paul Callus1,63717
5Charlene & Natasha"Echoes Of Gaia"Charlene Grima, Natasha Grima, Deo Grech2,83610
6Manuel Xuereb"I Promise You"Miriam Christine Warner3,7827
7Fabrizio Faniello"I Do"Aldo Spiteri, Fabrizio Faniello7,7291
8Eleanor Cassar"Tell Me"Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan2,64611
9Trilogy"This Heart Of Mine"Paul Abela, Joe Julian Farrugia4,9543
10Andreana"So Good"Alfred Zammit63518
11Paul Giordimaina & Morena"Time"Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan3,0469
12Pamela"Reachin' Out"Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan2,37113
13Christian Arding"Stronger"Charlene Grima, Deo Grech4,0755
14Nadine Axisa"Waves"Vinny Vella, Ray Tabone1,68016
15Josef Tabone & Amanda Farrugia"It Just Comes Natural"Clinton Paul1,98015
16Kevin Borg"You're My Dream"Jason Cassar, Sunny Aquilina3,5908
17Claudia Faniello"High Alert"Ray Agius, Godwin Sant2,41612
18Olivia Lewis"Spare A Moment"Ray Agius, Godwin Sant7,6232

At Eurovision

Malta automatically qualified to the grand final, because it was on the top 11 last year. Faniello scored only one point, ending in last place. As Malta failed to reach the top 10 in the final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the 2007 Contest.

Points awarded by Malta

Semifinal

Final

Points awarded to Malta