Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

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Pop duo Julie and Ludwig entertained the crowds with their catchy tune and choreography, managing to secure a decent position in the charts after a successful promotion from the semi-final round.


Facts

Venue: Abdi Ipecki Stadium - Istanbul, Turkey

Date: 15 May, 2004

Number of Contestants: 24

Singers: Julie & Ludwig

Song: On Again...Off Again

Composer: Philip Vella

Lyricist: Gerard James Borg

Final Place: 12th

Points: 50


ESC winner for this year

Country: Ukraine: Wild Dances performed by Ruslana

Composer: Ruslana Lyžycko and Oleksandr Ksenofontov

Lyricist: Ruslana Lyžycko and Oleksandr Ksenofontov

Points: 280


Trivia

This was the third song by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg to appear at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their first entry was sung by Claudette Pace in 2000. Next came Ira Losco with 7th Wonder in 2002, which finished at 2nd place in the final round.

Julie Zahra and Ludwig Galea were romantically linked at the time.

A semi-final round was introduced and held on 12 May to whittle down the number of countries vying for a place in the Eurovision Song Contest. Malta had to take place in the semi-final because of 2003's low placement by Lynn Chircop.

Countries that qualified for the grand final included the previous years' winner/host country, the next nine highest scorers from 2003, the 'Big Four' countries (guaranteed entry due to them contributing the largest amount of money to the EBU – United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain) and the ten highest scorers from the semi-final. However all 36 countries were eligible to vote.

The semi-final had its own difficulties – there were sound problems, and then when it came to voting, the scores for songs in positions 11-22 had to be revised the following morning when it transpired that Croatia had given four points to itself, while apparently no phone votes at all had been received in Monaco!

Many Eurovision fans in Malta claimed that their entry was once again victim to the "voting for neighbours" trait that has become a common feature in the contest.

Serbia and Montenegro’s first entry in the Eurovision Song Contest earned them a second place.

External links