Malta’s placing among the top ten was, fortunately, unaffected by this adjustment. A press release issued by the EBU explained that a brief report submitted by its televoting partner, Digame, an affiliate of Deutsche Telekom, revealed that there was a problem with the calculation software during the processing of the results from Monaco and another problem with the SMS voting in Croatia. Fortunately, these technical errors did not affect the countries that had been announced to have placed among the top ten, including Malta, and that have now qualified to participate in the final. The EBU has ordered Digame/ Deutsce Telekom to guarantee that they will solve the current problems with their software before the final.
Meanwhile, several irked heads of delegations from countries taking part in the ESC semi-final have lodged their protest with the EBU for not allowing anyone, not even representatives from the delegations themselves, to see the votes obtained by the ten countries that have made it to the final. These results are expected to be made public at the end of tomorrow’s show. Maltasong chairman Grace Borg, who is also head of the Maltese delegation at the ESC, said that although she has no reason to doubt there was any foul play on Wednesday, the Maltese delegation was very worried before the countries that had qualified for the final were announced as it had been left in the dark as regards the votes Malta had garnered. Instead, hosts Korhan Abay and Meltem Cumbul appeared on stage holding ten envelopes and started opening them one by one to read out the names of the ten countries that had qualified.
“Several other heads of delegation including myself have, since March, been protesting with the EBU about this way of doing things. Nobody can blame us if we feel concerned when the system used lacks transparency,” Grace Borg said. “The EBU’s aim was to ensure that these ten countries would not be given an unfair edge on the 14 other countries that had their place in the final secured from the very start. At least, we were convinced that we had a good song and were certain that it deserved to place among the top ten.”
“We came to Istanbul to win,” Ms Borg said, the same words being echoed by Julie and Ludwig themselves. “We will give it our best shot, and then sit back and hope to get a positive result,” they told The Malta Independent yesterday. “We have a good song and we have been working as a team since February in order to achieve Wednesday’s victory. There is no reason we should fail to obtain the result of this hard work.”
Yesterday was a relatively calm day for the Maltese duo, allowing them time to relax after a series of hectic days of rehearsals and other events they had to attend. It was not a totally work-free day, however, as they had an interview with BBC. Furthermore, messages of congratulations from well-wishers kept pouring in all day. Julie and Ludwig wholeheartedly thanked all the team behind them, without the backing of which they believe they would not have succeeded. They also had a word of appreciation for the Maltese who came up to Istanbul to support them as well as for the rest of the Maltese public.
“When we came out on stage and heard the Maltese supporters shouting ‘Malta! Malta!’ It sent shivers down our spines,” Julie and Ludwig recounted. “A big thanks to the Maltese public for believing in us and for giving us this support.”
This afternoon and late evening, Julie and Ludwig will take part in two dress rehearsals. The last dress rehearsal will be held tomorrow afternoon. The final will be broadcast live from the Abdi Ipekci arena to all 36 participating countries. The broadcast begins at 9pm Malta time and is expected to end at midnight. Maltese viewers can watch the spectacle on TVM, with a live commentary by Eileen Montesin.
Malta will be the sixth country out of 24 to sing in the final. It will be preceded by Spain, Austria, Norway, France, and Serbia and Montenegro, in that order. The countries following Malta are the Netherlands, Germany, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belgium, Russia, FYR Macedonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, the UK, Cyprus, Turkey, Romania and Sweden. All 36 participating countries, including those who failed pass the semi-final stage, will participate in the voting. Beginning this year, all countries will revert to a 100 per cent televoting system to vote. No country can vote for its own entry.
Julie and Ludwig will tomorrow appear with the same clothes they wore on Wednesday. They believe they have brought them luck. Julie will don the summery pink dress designed by Jesmond Sammut while Ludwig will be wearing a Versace white shirt and black trousers provided by Ascot House.
Meanwhile, British bookmakers William Hill are now placing the Maltese song at the seventh place, with odds at 14/1. Before the semi-final, they were placing Malta twelfth. The countries that are more favoured to win according to William Hill’s list are Greece (9/4), Ukraine (3/1), Sweden and Cyprus (8/1), Belgium (10/1) and Serbia and Montenegro (11/1). On the other hand, British bookmakers Bet356 have relegated Malta to the 11th position, with odds at 18/1, as opposed to the seventh place before the semi-finals. The countries that are preceding Malta in the Bet356 list are Ukraine and Greece (3/1), Cyprus and Sweden (8/1), Belgium (9/1), Serbia and Montenegro and Germany (10/1), Ireland (14/1), and Bosnia Herzegovina and Russia (16/1).
The big poll published on the ESC’s official website, http://www. wsctoday.com, had prior to the semi-finals forecasted that Malta would end up in the sixth position in the finals. However, it has now pushed On Again, Off Again down to the eighth position.
ESC 2004 semi-final results
11. Israel 57
12. Estonia 57
13. Denmark 56
14. Finland 51
15. Portugal 38
16. Lithuania 26
17. Latvia 23
18. Andorra 12
19. Belarus 10
20. Monaco 10
21. Slovenia 5
22. Switzerland 0