Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia flew to Copenhagen yesterday on the eve of the Eurovision Song Contest final.

The ministry’s spokeswoman said Dr Mallia – whose portfolio includes Public Broadcasting Services – was there to meet officials from the European Broadcasting Union about the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Malta for the first time later this year.

Dr Mallia was accompanied by his wife and his head of communications, who funded their own trips.

Last year, Dr Mallia also flew to Malmö, Sweden, the day before the Eurovision final. That had fuelled controversy as no minister had ever accompanied the official Maltese delegation.

At the time the ministry said Dr Mallia was meeting the director-general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Ingrid Deltenre. He also watched the Maltese entry in the Malmö arena.

Meanwhile, to the delight of countless Maltese, the song Coming Home did not come to fruition too early as folk-pop sextet Firelight took Malta into the finals.

The band, led by Richard Edward Micallef, delivered a polished performance during Thursday’s semi-final.

The finalists, chosen by national juries and televoting, were announced in random order as follows: Switzerland, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, Norway, Greece, Malta, Belarus, Finland and Austria.

The countries that qualified in the first semi-final on Tuesday were Montenegro, Hungary, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, San Marino, Ukraine, Sweden, the Netherlands and Iceland. They will be joined by the Big Five – Britain, Spain, Germany, France, Italy – and last year’s winner Denmark tonight.

Malta will be performing in 22nd place. Bookmakers have put Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands in the top three spots, with Malta hovering between 14th and 20th.

The island’s darling and Junior Eurovision winner Gaia Cauchi will also sing during tonight’s show.