The victor in the 2012 Malta Eurovision Song contest, Kurt Calleja, who won over the audience and the jury with his aptly entitled This Is The Night, did not sleep a wink on Saturday night.
“I didn’t sleep at all, I stayed up reading text messages from friends and people who were kind enough to send in their warm wishes.
“By the time I read them all, the repeat of the show had started on TVM and I watched it all over again, just to convince myself that it really happened,” he told The Times.
He spent the day yesterday being whisked from one television programme to the other, with a multitude of meetings slotted in between, but he said he was “feeling great”.
Had the news that he’d be flying the flag at the Eurovision in Azerbaijan next May now finally sunk in? He hesitated before replying: “Well, yes, I think.”
Taking things step-by-step, he was looking forward “to whatever is coming our way”. Plans for the next few days include a much needed rest and meetings with the Public Broadcasting Services team to plan the strategy for promoting the song in preparation for the Baku competition.
Kurt, 22, has two siblings, one of whom, Kevin, is in the band. His whole family were over the moon and his mother, who couldn’t hold back her emotions on Saturday night, “is still on cloud nine – she’s landing gradually”, Kurt said.
He works for a sales company promoting alternative energy and joked that he is single: “Who knows, maybe this will work in my favour?”
This was the third time he has taken part in the contest and was confirmed winner after going head-to-head with Claudia Faniello and Amber throughout the voting. However, it was immediately evident – from the energetic vibe at the MFCC arena the minute he stepped out on stage – that he was the audience’s favourite.
He went from being a Eurovision fan to a Eurovision winner. While he had “aspired” and worked hard, together with his band, for this achievement, he had not been expecting it.
During an interview with timesofmalta.com just before the start of the concert on Saturday, Kurt was taken aback when he was told he was being touted as one of the favourites: “Don’t say that, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
For him, it was “a gamble”. He was honoured that the Maltese population had entrusted him with this “responsibility” and added he would not take it lightly.
The festival, which is produced by PBS, was visually and technically impressive, although the usual Eurovision kitsch of hair-nests, big-tent dresses and mindless banter were not missing.
With reference to the usual speculation as to how much this show costs the taxpayer, PBS CEO Anton Attard said the Malta Eurovision Song contest was run on purely commercial lines and there was no direct subsidy from the government. “At the end of the day, this is a commercially viable programme,” he said.
In total, about 17,000 votes came in over two days via televoting and this year only one call per phone number was allowed. A quarter of a million viewers are estimated to have watched the programme on Saturday, making the Malta Eurovision the show which garners the highest annual record audience for TVM.