| Eurovision Song Contest 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Malta | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | GO Malta EuroSong 2009 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-final: 8 November 2008 – 10 January 2009 Final: 7 February 2009 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Chiara | |||
| Selected song | "What If We" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (6th, 86 points) | |||
| Final result | 22nd, 31 points | |||
| Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "What If We" written by Marc Paelinck and Gregory Bilsen. The song was performed by Chiara, who had previously represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1998 and 2005 edition where she achieved third and second place with the songs "The One That I Love" and "Angel", respectively. The Maltese entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia was selected through the national final GO Malta EuroSong 2009, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held between 8 November 2008 and 7 February 2009, where "What If We" performed by Chiara eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a jury in the first round and gaining the most votes from a public televote in the second round with 12,249 votes.
Malta was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 17, "What If We" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 16 May. It was later revealed that Malta placed sixth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 86 points. In the final, Malta performed in position 14 and placed twenty-second out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 31 points.