Eurovision 2021: Destiny to compete in first semi-final tonight

Destiny will be the last singer to get on stage tonight when the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest begins in the Netherlands.

Malta’s representative will be competing with 15 other singers in the first semi-final from which only 10 will make it through to Saturday’s grand finale. She sings Je Me Casse and voting will be a combination of jury and televoting.

The contest is being held at Rotterdam’s Ahoy arena and the show starts at 9pm.

The second semi-final will be held on Thursday when another 10 singers will be making it to the final. The Big-Five countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK – and the host country will compete directly in the final.

Betting companies are predicting Destiny has a 13% chance of finishing third in the final with Italy and France occupying the top two spots with 23% and 20% chance respectively.

Destiny slipped to third place over the past week after dominating the top spot in the run-up to the contest.

The jury semi-final, during which members of the jury cast their vote, was held yesterday and Destiny performed in a silver dress with new silver boots.

On Sunday, the Maltese singer missed the official opening of the festival after members of the Icelandic delegation residing in the same hotel tested positive for COVID-19.

The Maltese delegation was given the all-clear yesterday to participate in Monday’s dress rehearsal and jury semi-final after testing negative.

This year’s Eurovision was postponed from last year when the festival was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rotterdam Ahoy’s maximum capacity has been reduced to 3,500 people in the audience due to COVID-19 restrictions. All spectators will be seated.