400 heading for Eurovision

Over 400 Maltese people will be invading Greece over the coming days to cheer on Fabrizio Faniello during next Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest in Athens.

Fabrizio is already in Greece taking time to relax prior to his first rehearsal on stage at the Olympic Sports Complex on Monday. Before he left, the traditional farewell party was held at Bay Street, in St George's Bay and hundreds of fans choked the complex.

The event also served to raise money for the British charity the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and support its research for a cure to this life-threatening disease.

The fund-raising campaign is spearheaded by Josette and David Falzon, whose five-year-old daughter Francesca was born with this genetic condition.

Bay Street Complex had pledged its total support to the fund and it has remained true to its word.

The crowd's enthusiasm reached its peak with the arrival of Fabrizio, who made a grand red-carpet entrance to Bay Street's Rotunda where his fans inundated him with requests for his autograph. Fabrizio thanked the crowd for their warmth and for attending his farewell party, before going on to sing I Do, the song he will be singing in Athens.

Following his performance Fabrizio left his handprint, along with that of other VIPs, in the floor of the Bay Street Complex's Celebrity Street.