Malta is
only just coming to terms with Thursday’s result obtained in the Eurovision
Song Contest semifinal, where Olivia Lewis failed to qualify for the final
round on Saturday night.
Olivia spent the morning relaxing in her
hotel room at the Sokos Hotel in downtown Helsinki.
Now that she's free on Saturday she plans to take a day trip to Tallin in Estonia with her family, who came from Malta
to see her perform at the Eurovision. Her first public appearance after the
Eurovision semifinal will be on Friday evening during the popular television
programme Xarabank, which will feature a live satellite link-up from Helsinki.
Soon after the ten finalists were announced
Olivia Lewis, speechless, retired to her hotel room. None of the Maltese press
representatives in Helsinki managed to get a reaction from MaltaSong Chairman
Robert Abela, who appeared dumbstruck after Belarus,
FYR Macedonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Georgia, Latvia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and
Moldova were announced as the final ten participants to battle it out in
Saturday’s round.
As the semifinal
drew to a close, Toni Sant, MaltaMedia founder and creative director said he
felt rather helpless. “Can you imagine how Olivia Lewis
feels right now?” he asked rhetorically.
Some are blaming the outcome of the result on the voting system,
accusing countries of voting for their neighbouring nations. Others
believe that Thursday's result was nothing more than an unlucky gamble.
Controversy about the selection of the ten finalists is rife
in Greece.
After hostile reactions from various Athens
parties where people gathered to watch the contest live, a total of eight
morning television shows in the peninsula were in total vow against the choices
made by the European viewers. According to Oikotimes.com the Greek media condemned
the fact that Cyprus failed to proceed to the final and alleged that the
blocking of Eastern Europe worked perfectly once again. Televiewers speaking
live during the shows also complained that the televoting service didn't work.
Some extreme opinions have even called Greece to withdraw from
participating in the Eurovision next year.
See also:
First thoughts after Malta fails to qualify for
Eurovision 2007 final
from Toni Sant's Blog - 11 May 2007
