Following a last place for Malta's Fabrizio and a poor showing for Switzerland's one-sixth Maltese Six4One, opposing camps have clashed in Valetta following the singers' return.
At a press conference on Monday, Six4One's Maltese representative Keith Camilleri, spoke of his allegiance to both Switzerland and Malta in his participation with the group. However, former MaltaSong chairperson Grace Borg, who has been supporting Keith, was critical of the Maltese delegation and in particular the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Francis Zammit Dimrech, for a negative attitude towards them in Athens and at home.
Airport clash
The problems escalated to an alleged pinnacle on arrival in Valetta, with the minister apparently ignoring Keith and Grace as they left the plane, only to go over to the pair later on, when press were present, to publicly congratulate them. At that point, Ms Borg is reported to have pulled back Keith and asked to be left alone.
In a separate statement, the minister himself said that he had gone to greet Fabrizio at the airport, as with every Maltese participant, and took the opportunity to congratulate Keith at the same time. After receiving a rebuttal, the statement continues that he went about the rest of his business calmly. In conclusion, it is the minister who expects an apology rather than vice-versa.
Support for both camps
Grace wanted to make it clear at the press conference that she had never tried to work against the Maltese delegation in Athens, and claimed to be one of the few who was still waving a Maltese flag in the press room long after it became apparent that Fabrizio had lost miserably.
Happy with Fabrizio, disappointed with result
At a separate press conference, MaltaSong chairman Robert Abela was adamant that the delegation are "happy with Fabrizio" despite being "disappointed with the result". Amongst other things he blamed a sudden shift in the contest, which left the delegation unprepared and saw a heavy rock song winning. A soul-searching Fabrizio admitted that he felt a couple of his notes were out of tune, but was still at a loss to explain the last placing. He confessed that this episode has been the most difficult of his entire career.
Despite the problems, Maltese people seemed unperturbed by Keith's representation for Switzerland, and in fact rewarded him with the douze points on Saturday night. The clashes are otherwise a sad end to a sadder tale for Malta, which achieved its worst ever Eurovision Song Contest result in Athens.
