Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972

Eurovision Song Contest 1972
Participating broadcaster	Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA)
Country	Malta
National selection
Selection process	Song For Europe 1972
Selection date(s)	12 January 1972
Selected artist(s)	Helen and Joseph
Selected song	"L-imħabba"
Selected songwriter(s)	Charles Camilleri Albert Cassola
Finals performance
Final result	18th (last), 48 points
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1971 • 1972 • 1973►

Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 with the song "L-imħabba", composed by Charles Camilleri, with lyrics by Albert Cassola, and performed by Helen and Joseph. The Maltese participating broadcaster, the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA), selected its entry through a national final.

Joe Cutajar won the national final with "L-imħabba" on 12 January 1972, and was joined by Helen Micallef for the Eurovision Song Contest 1972.

Song For Europe 1972 was the national final format developed by the Maltese Broadcasting Authority (MBA) which determined the song that would represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972. The competition consisted of two parts, and was almost identical in format to the 1971 national final. The first part was the Malta Song Festival 1971, where the top 6 songs would then go on to the Song For Europe contest. The two contests were organised by two separate organisations; the Malta Song Festival was organised by the Malta Song Festival Board, while Song For Europe was organised by MBA. The use of Malta Song Festival as part of the Maltese national final was a cooperation between the two organisations, this led to the broadcaster not actually being in control of the songs in its own national final.^[1]

The Malta Song Festival Board received 60 submissions, from which 12 were chosen to compete in the Malta Song Festival.^[1]

Malta Song Festival 1971 was held on 4 December 1971 at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, hosted by Mary Grech and Norman Hamilton, and was only broadcast on radio. All songs except two were sung twice, and the top six, as voted by an international jury, qualified to Song For Europe 1972. Jon Lukas was initially meant to perform "Din hi l-verita" and "L-imħabba" but was in the United Kingdom and unable to get to Malta in time, so was replaced by Carmen Vella. The order in which the songs were performed is unknown^[1][2]

Song For Europe 1972 was held on 12 January 1972 at the Malta Television Studios.^[3][4] The voting was done by 2 separate juries; a 20-member jury consisting of 20 members of the public, 2 from each of Malta's electoral districts, who each gave 1 point to a song of their choice; and an 8-member jury consisting of 7 international juries and a Maltese jury, who each had 10 points to distribute between the six songs.^[1]

After the national final it was decided to change the song to a duet and Joe Cutajar was joined by Helen Micallef. On the night of the final Helen and Joseph performed ninth in the running order, following Switzerland and preceding Finland. At the close of voting "L-imħabba" had received 48 points, getting Malta their 2nd last place finish in 2 years.^[5]

The song was performed ninth in the running order, conducted by the composer Charles Camilleri. The duo were dressed in vibrant matching red polka dots, with Joe in a leisure suit and Helen in a long dress.^{[citation needed]} It followed Switzerland's Véronique Müller and preceded Finland's Päivi Paunu and Kim Floor. At the close of voting, the song picked up a 48 points, placing it in last place for a second consecutive year.^[6][7]

Each participating broadcaster appointed two jury members, one below the age of 25 and the other above, who voted by giving between one and five points to each song, except that representing their own country. All jury members were colocated in the Grand Hall of Edinburgh Castle.^[8] The Maltese jury members were Mary Rose Mallia and Joe Zerafa.^[9]

Points awarded to Malta[6] Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points 6 points  United Kingdom 5 points  Finland 4 points  Netherlands  Ireland 3 points  Sweden  Monaco  Germany 2 points  Luxembourg  Italy  France  Portugal  Spain  Norway  Yugoslavia  Austria   Switzerland  Belgium

Points awarded by Malta[6] Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points 6 points  Italy  Ireland 5 points  Belgium  Portugal  Monaco  Norway  Austria  France 4 points  Sweden  Yugoslavia  Spain  Germany  Luxembourg   Switzerland 3 points  Netherlands  Finland 2 points  United Kingdom