Another rule change on the way in bid to find winning formula

The rules of the Malta Song for Europe are undergoing a radical change in a bid to come up with a strong song that goes down well with audiences of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela told The Times that the regulations should be finalised next week and launched shortly after.

Insisting that he could not reveal any details yet, he said that the regulations will include suggestions made by composers, authors and singers in a meeting earlier this year.

"All I can say for the time being is that we are going to be focusing more on the song than the singer, and that the changes will be reflected right from the very first elimination phase. We want to improve on the present system," Mr Abela said.

This is the second time Maltasong is revising the regulations within the space of one year. Last September it changed the jury system in an attempt to filter the diamond from the stones.

Despite the mammoth ordeal and Olivia Lewis's performance at May's Eurovision in Finland, Malta failed to qualify for the final round, coming in 25th from 28 countries in the semi-final.

Maltasong is hoping that the new regulations will see Malta qualify to the final of next year's Eurovision, Mr Abela said, confirming Malta's participation. The political and neighbourly votes and Malta's failure to qualify had led many to lobby against competing next year.

However, Mr Abela has always insisted that boycotting the festival was not the solution.

Last May he had already indicated there could be a change in regulations when he called on all the players in the field - composers, singers and authors - to come together to discuss the way forward and break away from the traditional package Malta presents at the Eurovision.

The last Eurovision, which was won by Serbia's Marija Serifovic with her ballad Molitva (Prayer), had sparked a war of words between the competing Eastern and Western countries.

For the first time in the contest's history there is no Scandinavian country in next year's final, with the top 10 countries dominating the finals scoreboard being mainly Eastern and Central European countries, with the exception of Greece. Malta was one of the countries that had led calls for the Eurovision voting system to be overhauled, calling for phone votes in some former Soviet Bloc countries to be removed, while Ireland and Andorra were also said to be unhappy about this year's scoring.

There was such an outcry from Western countries threatening to withdraw from the contest that the European Broadcasting Union held an inquiry into claims that countries were engaged in block voting.

However, both the inquiry and an audit by consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers of the televoting system - released last week - found no evidence of irregularities.

The EBU head Svante Stockselius told The Guardian newspaper that the robustness of the televoting system meant block voting could not occur.

"We have looked into it and we have had auditors look at it, but it is not possible to manipulate the voting. I wouldn't say 100 per cent because that would be impossible, but there is no way you can manipulate the televoting. People say this in their disappointment when they try to find explanations," he said.

Mr Stockselius said that groups of countries that traditionally vote together, such as those in the Balkans and Scandinavia, often did so because they have similar tastes in music.

Despite the outcome of both the inquiry and the audit, a number of questions remain in people's minds over why last year one participating country approached Malta with the offer of five points.

A source had told The Times that: "This is not an option Malta was willing, or even in a position to consider. These things happen all the time. Everybody knows about it, but nobody ever says anything."

Mr Abela said Malta could now only look ahead and do its utmost to come up with an entry that would go down well with European audiences.