PBS decided on a new format for its national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 . Maltese songwriters would be allowed to submit up to two songs per singer , though only one singer will be allowed on stage . Submissions were accepted on from 13 October to 14 October 2008 at the PBS offices in G’Mangia . From 23 October to 26 October and 1 November to 2 November , 80 songs were chosen internally for the second phase . In the second phase , the 80 songs would be presented in ten weekly televised shows , titled " Euro Showbox " to be held on 8 , 15 , 29 November , 6 , 13 , 20 December and 10 January 2009 . A jury will choose 15 entries to move on to the national final , while another five entries will be given a wildcard through televoting . The national final on 7 February will contain 20 songs and a jury will choose three of them to go on to the " super-final " , where televoting will determine the winner . The votes given by the juries in the previous round , however , will be kept and tallied along with the televotes . The eventual winner will represent Malta in Moscow . 182 songs were received by PBS , 43 less than last year . However PBS later changed the format for the show and instead of 80 songs taking part , only 56 out of the 182 songs submitted would be featured in the heats , now reduced from ten to eight . Each of the eight heats will include 7 songs , with the top 20 still going to the final of the contest . After discussions with the Union of Maltese Singers and Songwriters ( UKAM ) , only one song per artist will be allowed in the final of the contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009