"I had a break after four years because I wanted to focus on my career and because I wanted to be back with the right song... and I really believed in Breathlessly," Claudia Faniello told a news conference after winning the Malta Song for Europe contest on Saturday.

Claudia Faniello will be representing Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the Malta competition on Saturday night.

Faniello placed first with her song Breathlessly.

She obtained 4,996 points, and was followed in second place by Janice Mangion on 4,544 points with her song Kewkba, while Kevin Borg finished in third place with his song Follow on 2,502.

The winner was chosen solely through televoting with the jury being dropped from the selection process. It came at the end of a glitzy show screened live on TVM, and watched by tens of thousands. 

A total of 16 finalists participated in the event, which took place at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Ta’ Qali. Ballads and heavy make-up dominated the evening with the quality of songs ranging from the catchy to the downright mediocre.  

Faniello, 28, is a seasoned singer who first performed at the Malta Eurovision back in 2006. The winning song, a ballad, composed by Philip Vella and Sean Vella and written by Gerard James Borg, was very popular with the crowd present at Ta' Qali. 

The winning singer's brother Fabrizio had also represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001.

Had Kewkba won the show, it would have been the first time since L-Imħabba in 1972 that a song performed in the Maltese language would have represented Malta at the yearly contest.

Brooke Borg, one of the favourites, failed to make it to the top three. 

Singer Mary Spiteri, who represented Malta in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest, presented the winning trophy to Faniello.

Public Broadcasting Services CEO John Bundy has guaranteed that the winning song will not be replaced, as had controversially happened last year with Ira Losco.

Presented by Daniel Azzopardi and Charlene Mercieca, the festival opened with a medley of many of the past winning songs, performed by this year's performers.

The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Ukraine in May. Malta will perform in the second semi-final on May 11, hoping to get a place in the grande finale of the competition on May 13.

Photos Jason Caruana