The fact that the jury no longer votes in the semi-finals has a negative effect on the smaller countries, which struggle with reaching the finals, as well as with getting votes from the audience. One of those countries is definitely Malta, which this year is represented by The Busker with the song Dance (Our Own Party).
In previous years, Malta made it to the final thanks to the jury. Even when they had a really good song, there were still too few votes coming from the audience. This fact is actually very devastating because in this way quality songs can be deprived of a good placement.
However, I don’t think Malta will be harmed this year if they don’t make it to the final because the song is boring and bad for the Eurovision competition. Generic text, without any significant moment in the song, without dynamics.
If someone asked me to illustrate a song, I would draw a straight line. Malta is also in the semi-finals with all the main favorites of the competition. There is no doubt and no hope that Malta can reach the final this year.
For me, the choice of this song is very devastating because if we remember some songs, like Walk on Water from 2016, which should have been in the top 5, this year’s song is a complete failure. My rating for the song Dance (Our Own Party) is 3/10.