Finnish rock giants Lordi carried away this year’s Eurovision song contest with their song Hard Rock Hallelujah, totalling an impressive 292 points. They were followed by Russia with Dima Bilan’s Never Let You Go and Bosnia Herzegovina’s Zeljko Joksimovic’s with his song Hari, Mata Hari.
Malta managed to gain just one point from Albania and placed rock bottom out of 24 countries in a night that spelled disaster for the local contingent and which was also our worst ever performance in 19 participations spanning from the early 1970s.
It had appeared clear from the beginning that Fabrizio Faniello’s entry I Do was not going to fare well, as it was not placed among the favourites.
But few would have expected that the song would have finished last, with only one point.
This result now means that Malta will have to contest the semi-finals again next year as had happened with Julie and Ludwig’s On Again, Off Again, following Lynn Chircop’s participation in 2003, when only four points were obtained and Malta finished in 23rd place.
Popular TV presenter Moira Delia looked quite tense as she announced Malta’s points with the 12-point maximum going, very predictably, to Switzerland. Maltese singer Keith Camilleri formed part of the Swiss group, which finished 17th with 30 points with their song If we all give a little. The Swiss, however, did not reciprocate.
Fabrizio Faniello performed creditably although his display was adequate rather than brilliant. The dancers and choreography were pretty much in step but compared with Malta’s most successful performances, the number I Do was really rather bland.
The majority of the songs on offer were nothing much to write home about either. Britain’s entry sung by Daz Sampson was perhaps the catchiest tune, reminiscent of legendary rapper Eminem’s Like Toy Soldiers, but other countries disappointed. Germany chose to be represented by a Country and Western song while the Finnish band Lordi was stronger on style rather than musical content. They were, on the whole, original and this is what probably gave them the trophy.
Many beautiful women singers dominated the stage, with Denmark, Greece, Ukraine, Macedonia and Moldova topping the list. Ukraine’s Tina Karol sang Show Me Your Love with great fervor, and Sweden’s Carola sang Invincible with remarkable energy matched her action and intensity.
Latvia and Lithuania chose six-man groups, with the latter presenting a rather cheeky song called We won the Eurovision, which finished a creditable sixth. The Romanian entry chose to sing in English and Italian while the entry from Bosnia Herzegovina was one of the few songs to be sung in the original language apart from those of Armenia, Croatia, Spain, Turkey and France.
Cross-voting was once again a trademark when the voting started, as neighbouring countries pushed each other up the table. Alas, Malta occupied the bottom rung from beginning to end.
There was a time when Israel and France kept Malta company on zero points, but then even they got some.
It was only late in the day that Albania finally gave Fabrizio that single point, to the ironic cheers of the many Maltese who gathered in squares, bars and restaurants to follow the event.