Malta’s entry successfully placed among the top ten after having faced tough competition from 21 other countries in yesterday night’s semi-final.

These ten songs will on Saturday lock horns with another 14, which had already secured their place in the final night.

Malta ended up having to face this extra test as a result of the island’s poor showing last year, when its song was voted last but one.

Julie and Ludwig gave an impeccable performance on stage and their song went very well with the live audience.

“It’s unbelievable! It’s such a beautiful feeling! Malta is back in the Eurovision Song Contest final,” Julie and Ludwig told The Malta Independent soon after they left the stage to address a press conference.

They were as happy as can be.

Commenting a few minutes after the results were out, a jubilant and moved Maltasong chairman, Grace Borg, expressed her joy at Malta’s qualification for the ESC final night.

She congratulated the Maltese duo as well as the whole team behind the Maltese song.

The other nine countries that made it to the finals are Serbia and Montenegro, The Netherlands, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Greece and Cyprus.

The results obtained by each individual country were not divulged.

Instead, hosts Korhan Abay and Meltem Cumbul had ten envelopes in their hands which they opened one by one to announce the entries that had qualified for the finals.

Sources in the Maltese delegation at the ESC told The Malta Independent that not even representatives of the official delegations from the competing countries were allowed to see the results.

It is understood that representatives of some of the delegations, including the Maltese one, have complained with the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the ESC, about the matter.

Yesterday’s show was broadcast live in the 36 participating countries and was expected to be watched by 100 million TV viewers from all over the world.