The bookmakers and fans got it right - Norway's wonder kid Alexander Rybak, 23, walked off with the Eurovision title.
Fairytale had all the winning Eurovision ingredients - ethnic sounds and dancing, a cute singer, pretty girls and a catchy tune. Iceland's entry Is It True? placed second, while Azerbaijan's Always came in third.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Chiara who came to Moscow to win. After coming so close twice in 1998 and 2005, she garnered just 31 points to place close to the bottom from 25 competing countries.
Malta's ballad queen has long established herself, so why did she keep competing in the Eurovision?
"I don't do it to prove myself. I want to win the contest for myself and I'll keep on trying," a determined Chiara told The Sunday Times.
Maltese had hinged their hopes of winning on Chiara and somehow many felt that having placed third and second, the next placing would be first. Were people expecting too much from the 32-year-old?
"I didn't want to raise people's expectations, but I felt eight good songs were in with a chance to win and Malta was among them," she said. Chiara and France's Patricia Kaas were the only two contestants to appear on stage solo without any backing vocals or dancers. Malta's singer gave it her best shot and never faltered.
Before she went on stage she prayed to the Lord to give her voice strength and to help her put on a good show - He must have heard her prayers because her performance was the finest to date.
The competition has been the stiffest in a while and after years of bashing the Eurovision, most countries sent their best.
Chiara acknowledged that this year's competition had been one of the toughest challenges she has had to face. If she were to place second, who was she willing to concede the title to?
"They're all competitors; I object placing second to anyone," she said in a before leaving for her performance last night.
Chiara's performance was never in doubt and the reviews were consistently good throughout the week, peaking last night with reviewers describing it as "magical", "fabulous".
Forty-two countries got to vote for the winner, while national juries had a 50-per-cent stake.
Malta got the highest points - seven - from Serbia, six from the UK, and five from Ireland, among others, which helped lift Chiara from the bottom of the pile. Malta gave 12 points to Iceland, 10 to the UK, eight to Norway, seven to Greece, six to Denmark, five to Turkey, four to Sweden, three to Finland
The Russians were keen to put up a good show and they were not going to let anything disrupt their plans, not even a gay pride parade organised to coincide with the Eurovision to highlight discrimination against sexual minorities.
Inside the Olympyski Arena, Russia put on a lavish offering, opening with the Canadian Cirque Du Soleil acrobatic team, and a performance by last year's winner Dima Bilan. In the intermission Fuerza Bruta hit the stage featuring a stunning non-stop collision of dynamic music, and jaw-dropping acrobatics.
Chiara and the delegation return to Malta tonight arriving at 9.45 p.m. on the Air Malta flight from Frankfurt.