In 1998 , she won Malta 's Song for Europe festival , the national pre-selection for Eurovision , with the gentle ballad " The One That I Love " , which she then took to the contest in Birmingham . With Eurovision being a national passion in a country that has so far never won the contest , much of Malta held its collective breath in the latter stages of the event as their entry held a joint lead with Israel , with only one country left to declare its vote . But Chiara was to suffer heartbreak in the end , as Macedonia gave her no points at all , leaving her behind the victorious Dana International of Israel , and even pushing her narrowly into third place behind Imaani of the United Kingdom . That was still enough to qualify as Malta 's best ever placing at the time , from the 1992 contest . Chiara told in a BBC interview two years later that she cried for several hours in the bathroom of her hotel suite after losing at Eurovision , but she came to see her high scoring as an achievement
contest in Birmingham
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Chiara Siracusa