The 17-year-old beat out three other finalists to be crowned the first official winner of X Factor Malta. By extension, Michela won the honour of representing Malta in at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv!
Last week, it was announced that X Factor Malta will return for season 2 after a popular debut. However, it unknown whether it will remain the selection method for the Maltese Eurovision representative. Since 1971, Malta had used Malta Song for Europe as its selection method for the contest.
The format for tonight’s final was as follows:
- 1st Round: Song of their choice (past performances and originals)
- 2nd Round: Duets (4th place eliminated)
- 3rd Round: Songs in Maltese (3rd place eliminated)
- 4th Round : Final performances (Winner and runner-up announced)
Four become one
After five rounds of auditions, bootcamp, the dreaded six chair challenge, judges houses and four live shows, Michela emerged triumphant. All the groups were eliminated from the competition prior to the final, leaving just single artists remaining:
- The Girls – Michela Pace, Nicole Frendo
- The Boys – Owen Leuellen
- The Overs – Petra
The ranking of the contestants can be seen below, with the result being determined by 100% televote:
| Artist | Place |
| Michela Pace | 1st |
| Owen Leuellen | 2nd |
| Nicole Frendo | 3rd |
| Petra | 4th |
What next for Michela?
Unlike the winners from the various other national selections that are happening across Europe, the process is far from over. Michela now has until March to record her Eurovision entry. This will be the first time a Maltese entrant has been selected independent from their entry in its participation history. In addition to the ticket to Tel Aviv, Michela has also secured a contract with Sony Music Italy, which her Eurovision entry will likely be released under. Whether the risk will pay off remains to be seen.
In the meantime, you can watch their winning performance of Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper:
Do you think Malta made the right decision? Let us know! Be sure to follow @ESCXTRA on Twitter and like our Facebook page for the latest updates!
