Malta's Eurovision veteran Chiara will read out the results of the Maltese televoting on the Eurovision final night.

Chiara represented Malta three times, first placing third in 1998, second in 2005, and a disappointing 22nd last year after qualifying for the final.

Head of delegation Joe Dimech said Chiara had expressed interest in being the one to read out the votes since this was the only thing she had not yet experienced from Eurovision.

Chiara came within a whisker of winning in 1998 but the last country to vote did not give her a single vote, pushing her down to third place and leading commentators to say that she was "robbed" of her title.

Pauline Agius read the points awarded by Malta last year.

THEA RELAXES

Meanwhile, this year's Maltese Eurovision starlet, Thea, has a bit of a relaxing weekend ahead of her after a busy week's schedule of rehearsals, press conferences and interviews.

Tonight Thea, who loves musical theatre and dreams of performing on the West End, will sing songs from Phantom of the Opera during the Polish Eurovision party together with Poland's representative Marcin Mrozinski. She had been spending the day resting, but will also find time to rehearse before the party.

Members of Malta's delegation said Thea was getting on very well with most of the participants and journalists.
But competition is tough and her chances of qualifying to the final on Tuesday are still in the balance, with most betting firms predicting that she will place between 10th and 13th place. She needs to be part of the top 10 out of 17 countries to qualify.

The Google Eurovision predictor which only recently claimed that Thea was the third singer to be generating most online interest, has now placed her eighth, with Germany, Georgia and Sweden in first, second and third place respectively.

Things are literally heating up in Oslo, which has become a hub of Eurovision activities, with temperatures rising to 23 degrees and flamboyant fans from all over Europe filling up hotels as they gather for their favourite annual event.

Thea's next rehearsals at the Telenor Arena are on Monday, the night before her semi-final.

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