Bookmaker predicts fifth placing for Chiara

International bookmaker bet365 is predicting that Malta will place fifth on the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Ukraine on May 21.

Punters are being offered odds of 10:1 for Chiara's song Angel while the favourite is Norway's entry, Wig Wam's song In My Dream, with odds of 5:1.

However, Norway would have to first make it through the semi-finals in Kiev on May 19 before it even stands a chance of winning the festival.

Though there is still over a month to go before the final contest, Chiara is avidly following the predictions, though with a pinch of salt.

"The people who bet are usually the ones who are well versed in the subject and keen followers of the Eurovision, so I do follow what they have to say," Chiara said when contacted.

"While being among the top five is good news, I would honestly love to break my record. Of course, it's not in our hands at the end of the day," she added.

In 1998 Chiara had placed third with the song The One That I Love and her personal goal is to do better.

In the meantime, she is on a mission to woo competing countries with her angelic voice and she has spent the past weeks jetting from one country to the next, lobbying for support.

She has already travelled to four countries and on Thursday she will be flying to Romania and Hungary where she has a series of radio interviews and television appearances lined up.

Having just returned from Belarus and Lithuania on Sunday, Chiara said that so far her song has been very well received.

"In Lithuania I had to perform at a nightclub and I was not expecting much because the disco music had to be interrupted to make way for my ballad - I was actually surprised because it went down well," she said.

At the moment Chiara is living out of a suitcase, using Malta just as a pit-stop in her promotional tour. But she is very excited at the way things are working out.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine the interest in the 50th edition of the Eurovision has been extremely high and the number of ticket applications for the final night is more than five times higher than the number of available seats in the Sports Palace, where the contest is to be held.

The organisers are hoping that the live broadcast of the final in Kiev's Independence Square will partly solve the problem.

Maltese wishing to visit Ukraine and support Chiara at the same time can still lay their hands on tickets for the final night because a number have been secured by local tour operators.