In case you haven’t heard, Malta has a really, really, good chance of winning Eurovision this year, and not in the way we always think we have a chance.

Destiny has been top of the Eurovision odds since her song Je Me Casse was released, and if you listen to the other contenders, it’s clear to see why.

More importantly, there’s never been a better time for Malta to win Eurovision. If we do, we’ll get to host the 2022 show, which should coincide with the global post-Covid tourism recovery.

And that’s the perfect time to have our island showcased to a live audience of around 200 million viewers. That’s the kind of promotion money can’t buy, particularly for a small country like ours whose GDP can be significantly impacted by a relatively small spike in tourists.

It must be underlined that Eurovision odds are often spot-on and Malta’s chances have never been this good. But that’s not the only reason to be optimistic.

There’s also the performance. Destiny rarely disappoints on stage. She already won the Junior Eurovision contest and she knocked Simon Cowell’s socks off when she performed at Britain’s Got Talent. Just check out her stripped-down performance of Je Me Casse with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Her live performance is likely to increase her chances of winning.

Sceptics would say that Malta can never win Eurovision because we don’t have neighbours.

The truth is that we came very close on a number of occasions, without neighbours, when we had a good combination of song, singer and stage performance: which are all extremely promising in Destiny’s case.

But there’s more. Destiny also got lucky in terms of the competition this year. Last year’s edition was postponed due to Covid and the rules stipulated that while the 2020 performers could participate this year, they had to enter with a new song.

This was great news for Destiny who was not faring as well against last year’s contestants, many of whom had very strong entries, including some that had already gone viral on TikTok, such as Iceland’s Think About Things.

Destiny was ranked 8th last year, after Bulgaria, Lithuania, Switzerland, Iceland, Russia, Italy and Romania.

Thankfully for Destiny, many acts returned with worse songs and some great acts were replaced altogether.

Malta seems to have been one of the few countries to return with a decidedly better song – and this emerges through the rankings.

Obviously, Eurovision can be an unpredictable show and everything can change in the last minute, depending on the performances on the night.

But from a Maltese perspective, we really should be taking this year’s entry seriously.

No expense should be spared to making sure we get the trophy home once and for all, in time for a great boost to our tourism when we need it most.

And if you want to set yourself a reminder: Destiny’s first performance will close the first semi-final on 18th May and if she gets through, the final will be held on May 22nd.

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