Increased televoting weighting in Song for Europe Festival

The big day is finally here for the 16 finalists vying to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The winner of the Song for Europe Festival, being held under a large marquee at Ta' Qali, is expected to be announced at midnight.

For the first time, Maltasong introduced an eliminatory phase to add an element of competition on the first night and tonight's 16 finalists were yesterday shortlisted from 24 entrants.

Tonight's winner will go on to represent Malta in the Eurovision contest, being held in Riga, Latvia, on May 24.

Maltasong chairman Charlò Bonnici said the eliminatory process had added a good dose of excitement among the contestants.

"The morale of the contestants has been high throughout the week. Obviously, nerves were also the order of the day since the venue is a whole new experience for the singers," he said.

After years of being held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta the festival has been shifted to a bigger venue and Sign-It Limited was awarded the contract to set up a marquee taking 4,000 people.

"We have been very unfortunate with the weather in the past few days, but I guess the hail, high winds and rain have shown that the marquee can withstand the elements," he said.

Mr Bonnici insisted that shifting from the MCC was an experiment and a risk that had to be taken due to the growing demand for tickets.

"Once the festival is over, we have to analyse the situation. We are not committing ourselves to holding next year's festival at the same venue," he said.

Mr Bonnici said tickets for last night had sold quite well, while tonight's show was sold out.

Another first this year is an increased weighting for televoting during the festival, which will mean that the public will have 50 per cent of the overall vote. Five international judges will have the remaining 50 per cent.

"This decision was taken in the light of the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest uses a 100 per cent televoting system," Mr Bonnici said.

Mr Bonnici yesterday called on the public to vote for the best song tonight and choose the contestant who would do Malta proud at Eurovision.

Tonight's show, being presented by Mireille Bonello and Gianni Zammit, is being broadcast live on TVM from 8.30 p.m. and also streamed live on www.di-ve.com.