Only that way can Malta qualify for Saturday’s final night. Malta’s representatives at the 49th session of the world’s most renowned and longest running song festival are confident that they will make it.
British bookmakers William Hill have placed the Maltese song On Again Off Again 12th, together with Spain, with odds at 20/1. The two Mediterranean countries are preceded by Greece, Ukraine, Sweden, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Serbia and Montenegro, Russia, Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Denmark. Other sources have given the island more encouraging forecasts. For instance, British bookmakers Bet356, put Malta in seventh position, behind Ukraine, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, Finland, Cyprus and Denmark. Furthermore, the Big poll featured on the ESC’s official website, www.esctoday.com, has placed Malta sixth.
“I don’t want to raise the Maltese public’s expectations,” Maltasong chairman Grace Borg told The Malta Independent, “but the feeling here in Istanbul is very positive. In their rehearsals in the past days, Julie and Ludwig have shown a great stage presence. They are all for it and I am sure that they will not let us down.”
Ms Borg added that, as a result of its originality, Malta’s entry, written by Gerard James Borg and composed by Philip Vella, has made people talk about it.
Preparations for tomorrow’s semi-final night are well under way. Only 10 of the 22 songs that will be performed will compete with the other 14 that already have their place secured in Saturday’s finals. The 22 countries to take the stage tomorrow, in order of appearance, are Finland, Belarus, Switzerland, Latvia, Israel, Andorra, Portugal, Malta, Monaco, Greece, Ukraine, Lithuania, Albania, Cyprus, FYR Macedonia, Slovenia, Estonia, Croatia, Denmark, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina and the Netherlands. The 14 countries that are already in the finals are Spain, Germany, the UK and France, referred to as the “big four” because they are the charter members of the European Broadcasting Union that organises the prestigious festival, as well as last year’s highest ranking countries. These are Austria, Norway, Belgium, Russia, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Turkey, Romania and Sweden. This is the first time that the festival will be held in two phases. Malta ended up having to go through the semi-finals test after last year’s disappointing result, when it was voted in the penultimate position.
The two festival nights will be held at the Abdi Ipeaki arena, which is a covered sports centre with a seating capacity of 10,550.
Support for Julie and Ludwig tomorrow and, hopefully, on Saturday, is not expected to be lacking as a group of around 110 Maltese supporters arrived in Istanbul yesterday. The contingent includes friends and relatives of the two young singers.
Among those present in Istanbul is the vice chairman of the International Federation of Festival Organisers (FIDOF) Norman Hamilton, who is also working on the production of a special edition of Bla Agenda that will be aired on Super One TV on 22 May. Mr Hamilton, a former chairman of the Malta Song Festivals Committee, commented that it would not be right, at this stage, to speculate on how Malta could perform in the final night. Voicing his optimism that Malta will manage to place among the top 10 tomorrow, he pointed out that there are several other good songs that are expected to offer Malta tough competition.
For the first time this year, voting in all participating countries will be carried out using only the televoting system, which has been used arbitrarily since 1997.
Meanwhile, two TV crews are working hard at the Abdi Ipekai press centre to keep the Maltese public updated on a daily basis.
Eileen Montesin is sending dispatches that are being shown on TVM at 7.45pm while Popcorn Media’s Pablo Micallef and Mark Vassallo are keeping Super One TV viewers updated at 8.45pm.