The early elimination of Amber may have reduced local interest in the Eurovision Song Contest but the number of Maltese who cast their votes on Saturday was still higher than last year, when Malta was present on the final night.

This was also despite a Facebook page, which garnered more than 4,000 likes, essentially calling for a boycott of the final.

The precise number of Maltese voters could not be divulged, since the data is the property of the European Broadcasting Union, the CEO of Public Broadcasting Services, Anton Attard, said.

But it was “marginally higher” this year than last.

In Thursday’s semi-final, Amber failed to qualify with her song Warrior. Her disqualification prompted the setting up of a Facebook page entitled ‘No Malta – No vote’.

“Malta was not chosen with the 10 finalists but we believe that we should have passed. We all know that neighbours are ruining this concert so no vote tomorrow,” the page said.

Interestingly, however, the Maltese gave the highest number of votes – 12 – to our neighbour Italy, which took part with the song Grande Amore performed by the trio Il Volo. It placed third.

To be fair, the second highest number of votes, 10, went to Swedish singer Mans Zelmerlow, who won the contest with his upbeat pop track Heroes, accompanied by innovative animated visuals. Russia placed second with Polina Gagarina’s song A Million Voices.

This was the first time in four years that Malta has not made it to the finals. Last year, Coming Home, sung by pop band Firelight, placed 23rd on the final night. In 2013 Gianluca Bezzina’s Tomorrow came in at eighth and, in 2012, Kurt Calleja placed 21st with his song This is the Night.

When it was announced that Amber had failed at the semi-final hurdle, V18 chief Jason Micallef called for Mr Attard to shoulder responsibility. Mr Attard preferred not to comment.