Shortage of funds clips Thea's wings

Malta's Eurovision ambassador Thea Garrett, who turned 18 today, has declared herself satisfied with tweaks to her song My Dream, made during eight hours of studio work in a Frankfurt studio last week.

The singer this afternoon attended a ceremony during which prize money was presented to the songwriters who placed in the first three positions in the Song for Europe contest.

Speaking to timesofmalta.com, the head of the Maltese delegation, Joe Dimech, said this year there would be no specially-recorded promotional video because it was not cost effective. The promo video would be Thea’s performance at the concert in Malta, enhanced with animations depicting a flying seagull flying, aping the bird which was on stage with Thea on the night.

This video will feature on Youtube and on official websites. The European Broadcasting Union is collecting the final versions of the videos for distribution among broadcasters across Europe.

Mr Dimech said Malta’s promotion would be focused on the internet. So far, there are no plans for Thea to appear in shows abroad, due to financial restrictions both in Malta and the host broadcasters themselves