Olivia Lewis’ pet cocker spaniel, Milly, was among the first to welcome her at the arrivals lounge at Malta International Airport yesterday, as her Eurovision adventure – during which Malta placed fourth from last at the semi-final – drew to an end.

Vertigo, the song which Olivia performed during Thursday’s semi-final, only received 15 points from three countries – six points from Albania, seven from Turkey and two from the UK.

However, it was evident that despite the unfortunate result, many Maltese were still happy with Olivia’s performance.

Relatives, friends and fans awaited her arrival, hoping to get a glimpse of her and congratulate her for the performance she gave at the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki on Thursday night.

As she arrived on a flight from Frankfurt with the rest of the Maltese delegation at around 12.50pm and emerged at the top of the stairs leading down to the arrivals lounge, people burst into applause and chanted “Olivia, Olivia”.

Many were disappointed that they hardly even managed to get a glimpse of the singer, as cameras surrounded her and police led her out of the arrivals lounge before she entered a car and was driven away from the crowds.

The results of the semi-final were issued after Saturday’s final, during which the Serb entrants emerged as the winners with the song Molitva.

With 28 countries fighting for a place in the final on Thursday and eastern Europeans voting mostly for each other’s entries, Malta placed fourth from last. Serbia’s winning song, performed by Marija Serifovic, also placed first at the semi-final, with a total of 298 points.

Gaining 268 points during the final, Serbia was followed by Ukraine, which was represented by Verka Serduchka with the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai. Russia placed third with the song Song #1, performed by Serebro.

Giving his comments to journalists outside the airport yesterday afternoon, Maltasong chairman Robert Abela said everyone was shocked that the Maltese song did not place among the top 10 on Thursday.

He said that there were other countries that expected a better result, particularly Switzerland, which many had singled out as the likely winner.

While he said it was still too early for the Maltasong board to decide what changes would need to be carried out for Malta to make it to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest next year – Malta will have to, once again, start from the semi-final stage – he said it was important for all those involved in the organisation of the Malta Song for Europe Festival, to get together to discuss ways of increasing Malta’s chances of success during future contests.