Everyone talks about the culture of non-resignations that exists only in Malta. Everyone was disappointed and dejected by Malta’s pathetic result in the Eurovision Song Contest with just a solitary point given by Albania, which some described as a gesture of thanks for our adoption of Albanian babies.

However, attending the press conference chaired by Maltasong Board chairman Robert Abela with singer Fabrizio Faniello (who didn’t look too chuffed) was an experience that seemed slightly surreal. I made it a point to be there as early as possible but trust my luck, the conference started half an hour late. It was edifying to observe the staff at the Ministry for Tourism and Culture rush around the boardroom table making sure there was enough blotting paper for all board members.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela arrived and apologised for “Fab’s” lateness as the singer had had other commitments that morning and was still tired after his arrival at 4am the previous night from Athens. The press conference was supposed to start at 3pm by the way.

Finally, the singer walked in and the board attempted to relieve the gloomy atmosphere with a half hearted and ridiculous applause – a contrived show of solidarity if there ever was one. And then the charade began.

Mr Abela said that although there was a feeling of disappointment, the board was happy with Fab’s performance (doesn’t that sound incredible?). After some backslapping, Mr Abela went as far as to say that some media had misinterpreted what he said about him choosing a different song – this did not mean that he did not have confidence in Fabrizio, far from it.

He then proceeded to say that Greece had fared badly (strange, as Anna Vissi garnered almost 100 points) with Ireland also doing poorly (they placed 10th), although admittedly he had a point about Belgium who didn’t make it in the semi final. The song had the strongest promotional tour ever according to Mr Abela but nobody could say what went wrong.

When pushed by journalists, Fabrizio did admit that his performance had a couple of patchy moments. “Why not?” he said and my mind went flashing back to the title of Lawrence Gray’s song some years back. Another excuse for the flat performance was apparently a buzzing earpiece in the backing vocals’ equipment. Wonders never cease.

The surreal atmosphere persisted when the details about the singer’s costume were revealed. Incredibly, the designer engaged by the board had produced nothing up to the Sunday before the performance and was duly fired. It took until Thursday to have a proper costume as, according to Fabrizio, the jeans chosen did not come across well on TV.

Nothing can change the fact that this board seemed to be completely unprepared for this year’s Eurovision. Robert Abela said that he abandoned his business for three months and the other members had also worked tirelessly. Apparently, they didn’t leave their hotel and had to pay their own mobile phone bills. By the way, this was the first time that all eight board members attended the Eurovision. If half the delegation had gone then perhaps we could have garnered only half a point.

When asked if they intended to resign, Mr Abela was almost taken aback at such a ridiculous suggestion. “Resign, why should I resign when we all worked so hard?” But then, who ever resigns in this country after a cock-up.

Perhaps we do make too much fuss of the Eurovision Song Contest. We can comment all we want and hold never ending post mortems but nothing will change. Nobody is accountable and none will ever be.