Malta’s Destiny Chukunyere will be able to sing at the Eurovision Semi-Final on Tuesday evening after testing negative for COVID-19, a spokesperson for the song contest said.

Destiny and the Maltese delegation were waiting the results of PCR tests after testing negative in a rapid test administered on Sunday. The tests were taken as a precaution after a member of the Icelandic delegation, staying at the same hotel as the Malta team, tested positive to the virus. 

Malta had to miss Sunday’s Turquoise Carpet Event – the official opening to the Eurovision song contest in Rotterdam, which was cancelled in 2020 and scaled-down this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In light of this it was not clear whether Destiny would be able to attend the semi-final on Tuesday - the performance that will determine if she will make it to Saturday's final.

The delegations from Malta and Romania have not tested positive for COVID-19 and are not quarantining.

A Eurovision spokesperson said: “The delegations from Malta and Romania [also staying in the same hotel] have not tested positive for COVID-19 and are not quarantining but, due to the fact they are staying in the same hotel as Poland [one delegation member tested positive on Saturday] and Iceland, did not take part in the Turquoise Carpet event and were also PCR tested as a safety precaution.  Both these delegations will be welcomed to the arena today for rehearsals following negative results from the routine test this morning, as is normal procedure.”

All accredited individuals, including artists, have to test negative for COVID-19 before they can re-join the production. Throughout the whole process, all decisions taken by the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest are based on the expert medical advice of the event’s medical team and the Erasmus Medical Centre, the spokesperson said.

This means that today, between 3 and 5.30pm, Destiny will be able to take part in a dress rehearsal. The 18-year-old has already taken part in two dress rehearsals. In the first, her neon pink outfit caused a stir on social media. Her second outfit was more warmly accepted.

Later on Monday at 9pm she will be taking part in the first show during which judges will vote for songs. Their vote will carry 50 per cent of the weight in determining who makes it to Saturday's finals.

The other 50 per cent will be judged on her performance in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

Destiny is now third favourite to win the contest according to betting sites.

Had Destiny tested positive for the virus she would have had to miss Tuesday’s event and, instead, a live-on-tape would have been played instead of her live performance.

As part of the pandemic measures aimed at securing everyone’s safety without canceling the show, the organisers this year asked every country to submit a live-on-tape recording of their performance in case of travel restrictions related to the COVID 19 pandemic or quarantine on site.

Live-on-tape means recording a song performed live on stage in real time without making any edits to the vocals or any part of the performance itself after the recording.

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