Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since its debut in . The contest is broadcast in Malta on the PBS channel, TVM. Malta has yet to win the contest, but is the only non-winning country to have achieved four top three results. Malta finished last on its first two attempts in and , and had a 16-year absence from the contest between and , when it returned. Malta has participated every year since. Malta's return proved more successful, reaching the top 10 in 12 out of 15 contests from 1991 to 2005, including third-place results for Mary Spiteri () and Chiara () and second-place results for Ira Losco () and Chiara (). Since finishing last for the third time in , Malta has struggled to make an impact, having achieved only two top 10 results in recent years: first being Gianluca Bezzina's eighth-place in , and Destiny Chukunyere's seventh-place finish in . History Malta first participated at Eurovision in 1971, although the history of National song contests organized in the Maltese islands dates back to 1960 when the first Malta Song Festival took place. Malta has never won the contest, although it has twice finished second and twice finished third. At first, the island state sent songs in its native language, Maltese, but it failed to rank highly, finishing last in its first two attempts in the contest in and and withdrew after the 1975 contest. Malta's return to the contest in 1991, after a 16-year absence, proved to be more successful, with eight consecutive top 10 placings (1991–1998) and finishing in the top 10 in 12 out of 15 contests from 1991 to 2005. These results included third-place finishes in for Mary Spiteri and in for Chiara and second-place finishes in 2002 for Ira Losco and in for Chiara, who in became the first performer to represent Malta at three contests, finishing 22nd. Malta's two second-places and two third-places make it the most successful country not to win the contest. In the last 15 contests, Malta has only reached the top 10 twice, with Gianluca Bezzina finishing eighth in , and Destiny Chukunyere finishing seventh in . Fabrizio Faniello, who had previously finished ninth in , finished last in the final, and since then the country has failed to qualify from the semi-final round eight times, in , , , , , , and .