Music
Low expectations for Malta at Eurovision semifinal
By Toni Sant in Belgrade
May 22, 2008 - 3:39:46 PM

All is set for Thursday evening's 2008 Eurovision Song Contest semifinal in Belgrade, Serbia. By the final dress rehearsal, which started at about 1400 CEST, the Maltese team seemed surrendered to the fact that Malta's fate at the contest now rests with the Eurovision voting public.

Speaking to the media before the rehearsal, Malta's former Eurovision contestant  Mike Spiteri, who is currently a member of the Maltasong board, expressed his personal concern about the tough competition that the Maltese song is facing this year. This comes as no surpise in relation to strong entries from Sweden and Ukraine, which appeal to the same type of votes the 2008 Maltese entry could attract.

On Thursday morning, online betting site bet365.com gave Malta no chance of making it to the final. Odds for Sweden and the Ukraine making it to the final from the same betting website stood at 1/80 for Ukraine and 1/14 for Sweden just before Thursday's dress rehearsal started.  The songs from Cyprus, Czech Republic and Lithuania have the longest odds of all.

Residents of each participating country will have 15 minutes to vote by telephone and SMS for any country except their own, or rather the one from which their call originates. Serbia, France and the United Kingdom will also vote in this semifinal. The local televoting numbers will be displayed on screen during the show.

Each country's 10 favourites are awarded 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points based on the number of votes. The top-9 of the televoting qualifies for the final. The highest ranked entry of the back-up jury that does not qualify in the semifinal televoting also qualifies for the Saturday's final.

The 10 qualified countries will be presented in randomly drawn order at the end of the show. The complete results of the televoting will not be announced until after the Saturday's final.

The second 2008 Eurovision Song Contest semifinal starts at 2100 CEST. Malta's song is expected on stage sometime around 2200 CEST. The ten countries qualifying to Saturday's final will be announced from 2300 CEST.  The show is expected to end by 2315 CEST.

For more detailed information about Malta's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest see EurovisionMalta.com.


See also:
Eurovision 2008 odds against Malta worse ever
May 19, 2008 - 7:39:10 PM

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