Fabrizzio Faniello is getting a second chance to try and bring the Eurovision Song Contest to Malta, after winning last night's Song for Europe Festival.
The charming Fabrizio, who has always had a place in the hearts of the Maltese, is back in the limelight with his pop dance song I Do.
Five years after placing an unexpected ninth in Copenhagen at the age of 19 with Another Summer Night, Fabrizio has come a long way and matured into a seasoned singer with a growing international fan base.
In October he was also given the honour of representing Malta at the commemorative event marking the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark.
Asked if he thinks he has a winning song, a visibly excited Fabrizio told the press that he had believed in the song right from the start.
"We went for a commercial and up-tempo tune, a style I believe is quite popular. I had faith in this song and this year wasn't easy considering there were so many different musical styles," he enthused.
Fabrizio secured first place with 7,729 votes for I Do, a song he partly composed and wrote with Aldo Spiteri.
Olivia Lewis had to settle for second place for the third time running. Once again she came in extremely close with 7,623 points for her interpretation of Spare A Moment, composed by Ray Agius and penned by Godwin Sant.
Trilogy, a group of three young people who wooed the public with their rendition of This Heart of Mine, composed by Paul Abela and written by Joe Julian Farrugia, placed third with 4,954 points.
But the spotlight was on Fabrizio who, accompanied by four dancers, stirred the audience with his rhythmic song, and a show that involved bursting out of paper screens, a gimmick that was slightly overused at this year's festival.
Maltasong chairman Robert Abela told the press last night that Fabrizio's first promotional tour will be to Cyprus on February 22.
Mr Abela said the plan was to tour as many countries as possible to promote Malta and Fabrizio prior to the Eurovision in Athens in May.
"We plan to focus especially on touring Eastern countries, seeing that Fabrizio is already so popular in Nordic countries," he said.
It is likely that Fabrizio, who has been contracted with the German record company Cap Sounds since 2001, will get a promotional video for his song.
Yesterday's show, compèred by Eileen Montesin, Josef Bonello and Lou Bondì, went ahead with some slight technical hitches and two songs - Only Till The Morning, sung by Ali & Lis, and I Do, Fabrizio's winning song - had to be performed twice.
Apart from this everything ran smoothly, with ample entertainment provided by the Paul Abela Band and the winner of Slovenia's contest, Anzej Dezan.
Past festival winners - Claudette Pace, William Mangion, Georgina and Mike Spiteri - got the crowd going with songs from the Beatles and John Lennon.
Last year's winner, Chiara, received a rapturous welcome when she took to the stage to sing her winning song, Angel. Looking slimmer, Chaira thanked all those who were motivating her to lose weight.
Popular television presenter Ray Calleja, who is known for his wit, provided some comic relief while people anxiously waited to learn the result.