Without diving headlong into the merits of whether or not Malta should take party in the Eurovision Song Contest for now, we must say that Thea Garrett deserves a pat on the back.

Miss Garrett, who has only just turned 18, tried her best to secure a place in the Eurovision Finals, but missed out as her song ‘My Dream’ was overlooked by the judges and the televoters.

Thea gave a very good performance with very good stage presence, of what has to be termed a mediocre and out-of-fashion ballad. However, it must also be said that the competing songs were mostly rubbish. So where does that leave us?

Let us start by analysing the competition somewhat. Over the past 10 years or so, we have seen the ‘in thing’ change from ballad to rock, to spoof, to folk, to sexy women and pop. Each time we misread the signs.

We have submitted ballad after ballad and we have not had much success since the giddy heights of second place overall which were registered some years back by Chiara and Ira Losco.

It begs the question. Is the selection board completely out of tune with musical trends? While the issue of song selection is one which needs rethinking, we must also point out that the televoting in this contest is a joke. It is barely concealed when presenters read out the results of their nation’s televote and say: “And 12 points to our lovely neighbours ...” It’s an absolute farce and it makes a mockery of artists, such as Thea, who have put their heart and soul into giving a good performance and going on to bigger and better things.

Of course, one of the arguments put forward on a local level is that the Eurovision can serve as a spring board for artists who have yet to make their name. We disagree. The three people who registered very good results in Malta’s name during the Eurovision are Chiara, Ira and, if we go back a bit further, Mary Spiteri. They were already household names before they took part and while they may have gained a little international recognition – it did not do that much for their careers, save the experience of performing in such an arena.

There are many Maltese people who vocally express their disdain at the amount of money which is spent on gearing up for the contest, and this year, there is already a Facebook group which claims that E400,000 spent on the Eurovision was wasted taxpayers’ money.

In a sense, all arguments are correct. Artists need a platform to perform on. Taxpayers, on the other hand, believe that it is money which could be better spent elsewhere. So it brings us back to the earlier question. Where does this leave us? This publishing house is of the belief that yes, Malta should continue taking part in the Eurovision. But we should stop taking it so seriously and there should be more transparent (and frugal) expenditure on the whole thing. Malta should also ensure that the songs which are submitted and eventually selected are more up to date and in keeping with current trends.

But we really do have to stop this “oh poor us” mentality. We need to shake ourselves up and accept that this competition is a farce. It is pure ‘cheap’ entertainment, where people are more interested in people’s looks (or lack thereof) than the rubbish songs, the blunders made by presenters and those who read out the wotes (sic), and the sheer banality of it all. The minute we accept the Eurovision for what it is, we might actually start to enjoy it again. Who on earth can forget the Finnish group Lordi – they won the contest on sheer outlandishness alone! But once again, unlucky, Thea. You performed well and you looked grand on stage – the future is ahead.