Malta’s Eurovision hopefuls will be seeking to overcome the odds on Thursday evening, taking to the stage for the semi-final in Lisbon as outsiders for a spot in Saturday’s Grand Final.
Christabelle, who will represent Malta with her song Taboo after winning the Malta Song for Europe last February, is ranked 13th across 15 major betting companies, outside the top-10 finish needed to qualify.
Fellow Maltese singer Jessika will appear for San Marino but faces an even steeper uphill battle, with bookmakers considering Who We Are – which beat 250 entries from 60 countries in the national selection – least likely of all 18 songs to make it to the final.
Barring a surprise result, the odds suggest a continuation of Malta’s poor Eurovision fortunes of recent years: Ira Losco, who represented the country in Stockholm in 2016, could only manage 12th overall despite high expectations, while Claudia Faniello failed even to make it to the final last year in Kiev.
The best Eurovision finish since Chiara’s second place in 2005 came from Gianluca Bezzina – eighth overall in 2013.
Some hope for the two Maltese singers comes from the fact that the bookies’ predictions have so far this year been slightly off the mark, with only seven of the 10 favourites to qualify from the first semi-final on Tuesday actually making it through.
Albania, Finland and Ireland booked their places in the Grand Final despite unfavourable odds, taking spots that had been predicted to go to Greece, Armenia and Belgium, who all missed out.
Despite the odds, Christabelle attracted positive comments from critics when she had her final rehearsal on the Eurovision stage on Wednesday, with praise for her passionate performance and bold visuals, featuring a single dancer and LED panels showing black and red imagery.
The singer has focused much of her public appearances on Taboo’s mental health awareness theme and her new role as a mental health ambassador for the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.
“I want to turn something negative into a positive thing,” she told a press conference in Lisbon.
“It is a message of hope.”
Ahead of Thursday's semi-final, Norway’s Rybak, who won the 2009 Eurovision, is the favourite.
Cyprus, represented by Eleni Foureira, and Israel’s Netta Barzilai are the favourites to win the competition outright, both having sealed qualification in Tuesday’s first semi-final.
The qualifying acts will be chosen by a 50/50 voting system by an expert jury and televoting.
The jury cast their votes during a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, while the European public will get to have its say tonight.