Despite two humiliating defeats in a row – last year when Fabrizio Faniello came last and this year when Olivia Lewis did not qualify for the Eurovision final – Minister Francis Zammit Dimech opted to keep not just the head but also all seven members on the MaltaSong for Europe board.

Undeterred, Robert Abela told The Circle that if he is asked to remain as Head of Delegation he is prepared to do what needs to be done to ensure a good result for Malta. Mr Abela promised a “small revolution” by giving emphasis to the song and not the singer.

Speculation was that what Mr Abela had in mind is this: possibly an expert jury will judge the songs submitted and choose the ones to go to the final. The jury will retain the right to change the singer of the song.

But at a meeting held last week, Mr Abela resisted all suggestions to change the televoting system with something else.

However, he accepted a suggestion that all points obtained by a song in the first and second phases, the semi-finals and the final be added up together, should be explored further.

Mr Abela also told The Circle that he was very unhappy with this year’s budget cuts. The usual sum of Lm60.000 (about EUR140.000) was reportedly cut down to one-sixth, with the rest being covered by sponsorships, televoting income and ticket sales.