Ira Losco was let down by the public vote in Sunday night's Eurovision song contest, slipping from fourth place by the national juries to 12th when the popular vote came in.
As usual, much of the voting was based on neighbourliness, but Ira, baby-bump and all, did herself and Malta proud. She looked absolutely stunning and her performance was impeccable as was her amazing voice.
She is due back in Malta this evening on a 5pm flight, where no doubt, she will be greeted by hundreds - if not thousands - of fans at the Malta International Airport.
While Ms Losco did not seem to appeal to tele-voters, as was the case with the semi-final, she was a big success with the jury. With regard to the semi-final, the jury awarded her 155 points, and an additional 54 came from tele-voters, meaning that Ms Losco came third overall in the first-leg of the competition.
Bookmakers had consistently ranked Malta seventh place in the run up to the competition, however the closer to the event Ms Losco’s odds for victory were ranked less and less likely.
Her manager Howard Keith Debono took to Facebook to say that Ira did well with the national juries, placing fourth overall. He said that for such a tiny island, Malta should be proud.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also tweeted about the Eurovision and said that Ira should be very proud of her performance.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil also tweeted a message.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici also gave the singer plaudits.
The Labour Party's media wing chairman Jason Micallef, who is also chairman of the V18 project had words of criticism for PBS, and in particular head Anton Attard saying that the song which was chosen by the general public was ditched for a song that came in 12th place. He wrote on Facebook that it is unacceptable to go and blow an unlimited budget on Eurovision and not bring home the goods. He said that PBS has failed year after year and called for resignations.
