It is a real pity that Olivia Lewis’ song did not make it to the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest. I think her song was much better than those of at least five of the countries that qualified from the semi-final.

But this is not the point I would like to make. What I would like to say is that it will become harder and harder for Malta to qualify for the final. As more and more countries participate, Malta’s isolation as a country with no physical neighbours becomes more evident.

We cannot rely on thousands of Maltese migrants living in Europe. Many Maltese today live in European countries, but their number is not high enough to influence the overall result.

And therefore our situation becomes more difficult from now on. Even if we have the best song, it is going to become difficult for us to make it through. Together with Malta, other countries like The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland deserved to qualify for the final. They did not, even though they are bigger countries.

I think that from now on, Malta must change its course and aspirations – we should just go there for the semi-finals, knowing that it will take a miracle for us to make it to the last 24.

Sandra Farrugia

Mosta