Michela Pace is on her way to the next Eurovision song contest in Tel-Aviv after winning the first season of X-Factor Malta but it is not yet clear how the song she will present will be selected.

X-Factor producer Anton Attard told Times of Malta on Sunday nothing had yet been established on the process or timings for choosing the song to represent Malta at the song contest in May, including whether this would be an internal selection.

Both song and singer have in previous years been chosen together during the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, although in 2016, an international jury panel selected Ira Losco’s song Walk on Water from a shortlist of 10 after the singer had won the national competition with a different song.

But with X-Factor replacing the previous competition this year as a means of choosing the singer, the process for selecting the song remains up in the air.

That has not stopped the public from putting forward its suggestions, with more than 2,500 people signing a petition yesterday calling for second-placed Owen Leuellen to join Ms Pace at the Eurovision after the rapper cut very good impressions on the final night with a memorable duet alongside his mentor, Ms Losco.

18-year-old Gozitan Michela Pace beats tough competition

It was, however, 18-year-old Gozitan Ms Pace who emerged triumphant on Saturday, beating tough competition in the final round to secure a Sony record deal along with her Eurovision spot.

She took top spot ahead of fellow finalists Mr Leuellen, Nicole Frendo and Petra, singing a duet with renowned tenor Joseph Calleja and Lady Gaga’s Shallow, as well as paying homage to her Gozitan homeland with The Tramps’ classic Inti Djamant (you are a diamond) in the second round.

Ms Pace received a hero’s welcome as she returned to Gozo yesterday, after a call from the Gozo Ministry for the public to make their way to Victoria to cheer her on her arrival.

Politicians of all hues congratulated Ms Pace for her victory yesterday, with the Labour and Nationalist parties both issuing statements to that effect, along with President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Her victory capped the maiden season of the internationally-syndicated show, which took the United Kingdom by storm when it first aired in 2004.

Its debut in Malta proved an immediate success, with Broadcasting Authority figures released late in 2018 showing it had wrestled TVM top dog status from Friday night staple Xarabank.

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