The competition consisted of a final held on 3 February 2018, where "Taboo" performed by Christabelle eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a five-member jury and a public televote.

Performing during the show in position 12, "Taboo" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final on 12 May.

Among the selected competing artists was former Maltese Eurovision entrant Richard Micallef who represented Malta in the 2014 contest as member of the group Firelight.

Sixteen entries competed and the 50/50 combination of votes of a five-member jury panel and the results of public televoting determined the winner.

[12][13] Christabelle was joined by four off-stage backing vocalists: Anna Azzopardi, Josef Tabone, Pamela Bezzina and Petra Zammit.

[14][15] At the end of the show, Malta was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.

Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.

In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.