The Maltese national final for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest is about to take place. Eight songs will be presented and you can watch the show by following the link below.

RADIO WEBCAST

Webcast link 1
Webcast link 2

In just a short minutes, the 2008 Go Malta Song for Europe final will begin. esctoday.com will be reporting live from the venue with pictures and interviews following later this evening. esctoday.com podcast presenters Alex and Steve are live at the event and will be featuring singers and the songs in this week's edition. Remember, you can leave your thoughts and reactions below this article.

And the show begins, we're back with the Thursday night drumming band. They give way to a dance medley on the magnificent stage.

Olivia Lewis comes on stage in a dres with a leather jacket over the top to perform last year's winning song, Vertigo. After her performance, she is thanked for representing Malta and talks about the experience of winning in 2007.

An introduction to the show follows, explaining how the people of Malta can vote for their favourite of the eight songs.

Song 1: Eleonor Cassar – Give me a chance

Dressed in a grey glittering ballgown and wavey hair, our opening singer launches into her ballad. Vocally strong, although looking a little nervous, she quickly gains stage presence as she moves into the chorus. Becoming one of the fan favourites left in the competition after Thursday's semi final, this is a very strong performance.

Song 2: Claudia Faniello – Carravagio

In a black trouser/top combination with white sleeves and neckline, another early favourite, Claudia with her first of two entries in the final is looking better than ever. Vocally, again she is strong. The song journey's from soft to powerful pop and she's hitting the big notes well.

Song 3: Petra Zammit – Streetcar of desire

Dressed in a black dress with glittery grey undertones at the back, Petra's jazz song features some sexy moves towards one of the backing vocalists. The saxophone solo brings back some memories from earlier Eurovision years. Perhaps weaker than the first two entries, Petra's song is easier to sing.

Song 4: Morena – Casanova

Morena takes the stage with her first of two entries. Quickly launching into the uptempo song, written by last year's winning composer, the pattered dress over black trousers and long straight black hair gives Morena a huge stage presence. The song is the most modern of the evening so far.

Song 5: Klinsmann – Go

Dressed once again in a red jacket with Union Jack flag connotations, Klinsmann is looking much stronger vocally than in last year's competition. Representing the young sound of Malta, he's enjoying the performance.

Song 6: Claudia Faniello – Sunrise

Claudia is back on stage with her second song of the night. The ballad is showing the strongest of her vocal skills and demonstrates how far she has come as a singer in a short space of time. Dressed in ballgown showing under the lights as purple, it's another strong contender. Will having two songs split her vote?

Song 7: Rosman Pace – Love is just the way

Dressed in the white suit with sparkling black and gold shirt, it's a strong start to the song by Rosman. A real power ballad complete with black grand piano on stage, he has a look of determination as he bigs to take Malta to Belgrade.

Song 8: Morena – Vodka

Morena's second entry tonight closes the show. Dressed in yet another black sparking outfit, she goes for the skin-tight look. It's another strong performance from the competition debutant. Going down the ramp to the audience during the performance, she gets the biggest ovasion of the night for this performance. The question remains, will she suffer because of a split in her vote between her two entries?

Natalie Gauci, the Maltese descended winner of Australian Pop Idol will be the special guest performing during the interval along with our hosts, Chiara, Mike Spiteri and Ruth Casigena.

At this time, esctoday.com would like to make a special mention of our friends at partner website www.escmalta.com. Cyrus, Romina, Quinton, Edward and the team there provide a great website with coverage of all things Malta.

esctoday.com would like to apologise for temporarily going offline. During live shows, huge pressure is put on our server due to the large number of people trying to follow the shows, react to them and read the latest news.

We are currently trying to raise funds for new servers. If you can help, please click on the donate button on the showscreen or at the top of the homepage.

For those hoping this marks the end of the interval…. we believe there is still a while to go yet.

Natalie Gauci is joined by Chiara for a duet version of the Maltese2005 Eurovision Song Contest entry, Angel.

Sunrise is third.

Caravaggio is second.

Vodka is the winner.