The Maltasong Board has announced that the date for the final night of the Malta Song for Europe Contest has been set for 26 January, with the semi-final taking place two days before, on Thursday 24 January 2008. Like last year, the venue will be the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre at Ta’ Qali.

The chairman of the Board stated that there had been some difficulty in finalising the dates and venue, but both have now been confirmed. The festival will be the production of the Maltasong Board and Peter Busuttil will be executive producer. Local artists will provide the entertainment on both nights and the hosts for this year’s national Song for Europe are John Demanuele accompanied by Ruth Casingena and Chiara. Both nights will be televised live on TVM.

The Maltasong Board also said that the prices of the tickets for the semi-final are Lm10 / EUR23 and Lm12 / EUR28. Tickets for the final night will be sold at the same price with the addition of a limited number of VIP tickets at Lm15 / EUR35. There will be 1,000 seats available. Further information will be given in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the next eliminatory stage will be held on 9 January at the Salesian Theatre in Sliema, when the 16 songs performed on the semi-final night will be chosen from among 36 songs. Eventually, only eight songs will make it to the final night.

The preliminary phases and the semi-final will be judged by a foreign jury, while on the final night, the jury will be responsible for 20 per cent of the vote while the public, through televoting, will decide the remaining 80 per cent.

There will be a 30-minute voting window on the night where the public will be able to vote up to two times from fixed lines, mobile telephones and via text messaging.