The Abdi Ipecki Hall, in Istanbul will be a hive of activity this morning as the contestants of the 24 countries taking part in the 49th Eurovision Song Contest put their vocal chords to the final test before this evening's much anticipated final. Tension is rife, but if yesterday's two dress rehearsals are anything to go by Maltese representatives, Julie and Ludwig have nothing to worry about because their three-minute performance was impeccable and was greeted with loud applause.
The only glitch was a slight technical sound problem in the first rehearsal when Julie's voice remained unheard after the Austrian singer, who had preceded her, dropped his microphone.
The European Broadcasting Union said they have identified a problem with the sound during the semi-final, have alerted the television station TRT, and are doing their best to sort the sound problems out by tonight to ensure the highest sound quality possible.
Tonight's show is expected to be watched by over 100 million viewers, including thousands of Maltese. TVM will transmit the show live at 9 p.m. with a commentary by Eileen Montesin.
Julie and Ludwig had just one comment to make to the Maltese public: "Keep us in your prayers. We will do our very best".
The duo have already overcome the first hurdle, on Wednesday's semi-finals, but tonight they face tough competition, especially from Ukraine and Greece, which seem to be this year's favourites.
The predictions of bookmakers varied slightly yesterday with William Hill offering odds of 20:1 which saw Malta slipping to 10th position, in a joint tie with Turkey and Russia.
Malta's position also went down to 10th position on the Big Poll, which is carried out among fans on the official Eurovision website.
The betting agency Bet365 was offering odds of 18:1 which saw Malta's On Again... Off Again in 11th position.
Many delegations here believe Malta will place among the top 10.
If Malta does not place among the top 10, next year's contestant would once again have to face the ordeal of first competing in a qualifying round and attaining a good ranking, before competing in the final.
Tonight's contest, hosted by Korhan Abay and Meltem Cumbul, is expected to last three hours. After all the contestants have performed there will be a short break where citizens from the 36 countries, who took part in the semi-finals and the final, can vote for their favourite song through televoting.
The 24 countries taking part tonight, in the order they will perform are: Spain, Austria, Norway, France, Serbia and Montenegro, Malta, The Netherlands, Germany, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Russia, FYR Macedonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, the UK, Cyprus, Turkey, Romania and Sweden.