The show is tight. Hair extensions are in place. The moves have been rehearsed ad nauseam and tonight all eyes will be on Olivia Lewis hoping she qualifies for Saturday's final of the Eurovision Song Contest, in Helsinki.
Olivia Lewis had the last chance to perfect her notes of Vertigo during a dress rehearsal this morning, and after another two dress rehearsals yesterday, the team looks set to go, confident they have done their utmost, now come what may.
The dress rehearsals, attended by numerous fans, kicked off with a snow storm and creatures clamouring through a fantasy world of white, rounding off with a colourful, summery tango.
During tonight's show at the Hartwell Arena, which is being presented by Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi, Olivia Lewis will be singing in 20th place out of 28 participating countries.
The singer was in a fine mood yesterday, cheerily greeting everybody over breakfast before being whisked back to her room to start the arduous procedure of hair and make up by Shasha. The Toni & Guy team has opted to attach hair extensions to her fine mane, to give it more body and add to the effect when the wind machines kick in.
Olivia Lewis's nicely manicured false nails stop her from indulging in her habit to bite them to the skin when tense. The fact that one of the acrylic nails has come off is not worrying her that much.
Shasha spent over an hour applying gold paint on the torso and face of Joseph Schembri and Jes Sciberras, adding Swarovski crystals around their eyes and on the cheeks to add to the glamour and drama on stage.
At the press centre an ad hoc poll, with over 600 votes cast, saw Olivia Lewis resurface in eighth position after a week of fluctuating in and out of the desired list of the top 10 countries that will make it to Saturday's final. William Hill is predicting that Olivia Lewis will place eighth, offering punters odds of 16:1.
However, not everything is rosy. There were some harsh comments from bloggers on the escnation.com website. One said he was "very disappointed" with Malta's entry, another described it as "hilarious and outrageous", and yet another said the dress rehearsal was a "shaky and off-key performance".
Another website, oikotimes.com, delivered a kinder verdict saying: "Olivia Lewis for Malta performs in the face of a force nine gale but delivers Vertigo confidently".
An Irish website described Malta's entry as "one of the best visual presentations of the semi and a great performance with a really good crowd reaction".
The general comment in Helsinki is that this is the first time in years that Malta is presenting a good choreographed show for the Eurovision, even though comments from fans still abound that the whole performance looks crowded.
However, Vertigo, the work of the winning duo composer Philip Vella and author Gerard James Borg, is a dramatic song, so the choreography has been created to suit the mood, with golden fans fluttering like butterfly wings, and cream scarves whipping the air.
Toni Sant, who has earned himself a reputation after last year's spot-on prediction that Lordi will win, believes there is no clear winner this year (he is mentioning Ukraine as a potential favourite), even though he feels Malta has "a good a chance as any of winning the contest".
Dr Sant, a lecturer in performance and creative technologies at the University of Hull's Scarborough Campus, in the UK, has placed Malta among his list of top 10 songs that will make it through tonight's semi-final.
Meanwhile, at a European Broadcasting Union meeting for heads of delegation yesterday morning, it was decided to postpone the proposed changes for two semi-finals to 2009, Maltasong chairman Robert Abela told The Times.
In March, the EBU had floated the idea of changing the present format completely so that only the Big Four Group - Germany, the UK, Spain and France - and the winner of this year's contest will be guaranteed a place in the 2008 final.
This meant that everyone else, no matter whether they placed among the top 10 countries or not, would have had to first compete in a semi-final. The idea was to have two semi-finals - on a Tuesday and a Thursday - where a number of songs will be chosen from each contest to compete in a Saturday final.
The EBU confirmed later that it plans to stick to the present format for next year, adding that it is considering expanding the competition in the future, possibly as early as 2009.
It also announced the tentative dates for next year's contest - the semi-final is set for May 22 with the final following on May 24.
This means that if Olivia Lewis makes it through tonight's semi-final and places among the top 10 on Saturday's final, Malta's place in next year's final will be guaranteed.
Whatever the outcome, Olivia Lewis has done her utmost to enjoy the moment. On Tuesday night, she was invited to sing on the stage of the EuroClub, accompanied by Philip Vella on guitar during a party organised by the Big Four - her unplugged performance went down well with the crowd.
PBS and One TV are airing live links every day from Helsinki at 7.50 p.m. and 8.05 p.m. respectively. PBS will be airing tonight's semi-final live at 9 p.m.
Hamilton Travel made this coverage possible.