Rule change makes it tougher to reach finals

Malta will have to place among the top six countries in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest to secure a place in the finals of the 2007 edition.

According to new regulations issued by the European Broadcasting Union only the top six and "big four group" - Germany, the UK, Spain and France - are guaranteed participation. The rest will have to make it through the semi-finals. Last year a country had to place among the top 10.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela told The Times this move meant Malta had to work doubly hard to fight off stiff competition to secure a place in next year's Eurovision.

Mr Abela, who returns from Greece today after attending a heads of delegation meeting, said that essentially the Eurovision was a television show and the interest was focused on adding suspense to make it more spectacular.

"The reasoning behind EBU's decision was to make the show more dramatic and make the competition fairer for everyone," he said.

The running orders for both the semi-final on May 18 and the final on May 20 were also drawn during yesterday's ceremony held by the Greek Eurovision host broadcaster, ERT in Athens.

Fabrizio Faniello will be singing his song I Do in seventh place. This year 24 countries will be battling to win the coveted titled.

"We are putting a heavy accent on ensuring that Fabrizio's show also has a strong visual impact. The change in regulations means we are going to have to work harder," he said.

Mr Abela added that there was another draw to determine the running order of the way points were read out by the 37 countries (which includes those that took part in the semi-finals) during the final's live broadcast.

For the first time in the contest's history, the presentation of the points from the televoting during the final will be split. Points from one to seven will be automatically shown on the live TV scoreboard while the more determining points eight, 10 and 12 will be announced by the representative of each country and added to the scoreboard.

This year, television presenter Moira Delia has been chosen to read out the points Malta will be dishing out. Malta will be voting in the 15th position.

Just to add a touch of suspense to the whole affair the EBU decided that the last three countries - Turkey, FYR Macedonia and Bulgaria - will stick to the "old" way of presenting the points: All points from one to 12 will be read aloud by the representative.