Details have been announced concerning the selection process for Malta’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark.

The Maltese broadcaster, PBS, has revealed that the number of entrants for the first part of the process will be reduced from 24 to 20. Until the end of October songwriters can submit their entries with the selected songs being announced by the end of November. They do not have to be Maltese but can be of any nationality. The artists must be either Maltese or hold dual nationality.

A change in the rules is that former representatives from the previous 3 years will now be able to take part with the exception of Gianluca Bezzina, last year’s singer, who achieved a very respectable 8^th place in Malmö. An artist can perform two songs in this first round of the competition.

The first round will be televised and take place in February or March 2014 and, from that, the successful 14 will proceed to the Final. 6 Judges, plus a 7^th set of votes from televoting, will decide the outcome.

In the National final each Artist will only be allowed to perform 1 song. The voting will be the same as for the first round. Should there be a tie only the judges will have the casting vote.

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news and information on Malta and the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.