Next year we should pick six elderly men, give them a fishing rod and send them to the Eurovision Song Contest.

We do not mean to be disrespectful to our elderly citizens. We are just saying so because we should start taking this competition with a pinch of salt, and not spend thousands of euros on the local festival to declare the winning song, promote it and send a large delegation to the country hosting the finals. This newspaper has said this over and over again, but it seems that our pleas continue to fall on deaf ears.

We should take the cue from what the Russians did. OK, they did not win the contest, but those six grandmothers made the headlines perhaps more than the Swedish winner Loreen. People talked about the Russian entry more than they did about the rest put together. And, after all, we’re just looking for publicity aren’t we? Or is there someone around who seriously believes that one day we could win?

We should stop making so much fuss about the contest. Until last Thursday, the day of the semi-final, the talk of the town was that Kurt Calleja might not make it, and many were already disappointed and sad, trying to find every plausible excuse. But when the Maltese flag came up on the screen to let Europe know that Malta had made it to the finals, then suddenly Kurt’s song became the best, and there was even talk of winning.

But we were brought back down to earth very quickly on Saturday when it was realised that votes were not coming our way. Kurt Calleja was the 21st to sing, and he ended up in 21st place. It was suggested that singing in the 21st position would be an advantage as voters would remember the song more. This is how naïve some people are – on Thursday, he was the fourth to sing out of 18, and he qualified. How can these people explain that?

It is a real pity that so much money is spent on this sole competition when a sizeable chunk of it could go towards sustaining local talent – and we do not only mean music. Unfortunately, sections of the media continue to add value to the Eurovision Song Contest, and give it more importance than it certainly deserves. What is even more unfortunate is that the authorities who should know better have been dragged into this myth, and it is not easy to withdraw.

The happiest man on Saturday was definitely Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, who slept in the knowledge that he had no Eurovision to organise and finance.