The one that they love

Third time Eurosong winner Chiara yesterday confessed that, this time, she feels an element of responsibility not to let down the thousands who believe in her.

"This time I feel more of a responsibility but I'm very, very happy and honoured that the Maltese people trusted me with something that is so important to them," she said.

On Saturday night the 33-year-old ballad queen emerged as the winner of the Malta Eurosong Festival after a jury shortlisted her from among 20 entries to the top three super finalists together with Q with the song Before You Walk Away, and Eleonor with Some Day. The public then elected her to first place with 12,249 votes.

She will now be representing Malta in May's Eurovision Song Contest, in Moscow, with her song What if We composed by Marc Paelinck with lyrics by Gregory Bilsen.

"I would be lying if I didn't say that I knew I had a good chance of winning on Saturday... It was the jury that worried me the most as I know that the Maltese people love me," she said.

Chiara had already won the local festival twice before, with The One That I Love in 1998 and Angel in 2005 with which she placed third and second (the closest Malta ever came to claiming the elusive title) respectively, in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Clearly, she now knows the drill.

From her past experience she knows full well that, in the next few months, her song will be fine-tuned and the music video shot in preparation for her promotional tour.

"My past experience will be an advantage to me as I know what to expect and I know people like Eurovision fans and journalists," she said oozing confidence.

"I feel like I've been breaking barriers as, when I started singing, you would have never thought that someone could go to the Eurovision three times."

This new-found confidence is also reflected in her song, What if We, which is about life.

"I have matured a lot in the past two years and I now feel confident enough to sing a song that is about life and not love," she said adding that becoming a mother, to her 15-month-old daughter Ebony, had changed her life.

Chiara will have another hurdle to surmount when she competes in the first Eurovision semi-final on May 12, before reaching the final.

The European Broadcasting Union is seeking to abolish the current system of 100 per cent televoting for the final night on May 16.

In all probability, during the heads of delegation meeting in March, the EBU will choose to have a system where on the final night the winning Eurovision song will be chosen through 50 per cent televoting and 50 per cent jury. Full televoting will be retained for the two semi-finals.

This is intended to minimise the element of neighbourly bloc voting, which has become a bone of contention in recent years and has split the festival into East and West.