Maltasong Contest, Part Deux.

Here I am again for the second part of my analysis of the entries of the Maltasong contest. Three songs remain for me to assess and less than 30 hours remain before the semifinal.

First off today : Olivia Lewis, Vertigo - A Vella/Borg song...another disappointment on their part. Horrible music and generally bad lyrics. The singer herself is quite bad - not reaching the majority of the notes. I honestly don't know what people see in this broad - nothing special. BUT, because for some reason the Maltese people insist on blindly voting for her I suppose she'll come somewhere between 3-6th place.

Next up : Julia Grima, Ice Queen - The tune to this one, while rather good seems very similar to many of the songs we hear on MTV giving it that unoriginal theme to it. The lyrics, though nursery rhyme-like aren't unbearable. The vocalist interprets the song well but I question her ability to broaden her talent. But it could just be the song making her seem worse than she is. I predict a middle four placing.

Finally : Mauro Kitcher, Unite - It's got a Middle Earth/Renaissance/Lion King music to it. The music is interesting in the beginning, gets boring half way through but then becomes fun to listen to once again. The lyrics aren't strong enough to break through the music and the vocalist, either voluntarily or by nature, has a diction problem which when combined ruin the chances of this songs victory. 10-12th place would be my guess.

16 songs. 6 qualifiers. 1 winner. By early Sunday morning we shall know who will be representing Malta in Finland. I shall return to post on Friday, once I know the results of the semifinals at which point I shall bless you all with my re-analysis. Until then, the songs I see potentially qualifying for the final are (in order of appearance) :

1) Tarcisio Barbara/Tarcisio Barbara/Vince Zammit - Places To Go.
4) Kevin Borg/Jason Paul Cassar/Sunny Aquilina - Whenever.
7) Julie Pomorsky/Philip Vella/Philip Vella - Look at Me.
9) Daniela Delicata/Daniela Delicata/Daniela Delicata - Little Islands in your Heart.
10) Klinsmann Coleiro/Mark Spiteri Lucas/Rita Pace - She Gives Me Wings.
13) SCAR/Konrar Pule/Konrad Pule - As Long As You Know.
14) Olivia Lewis/Philip Vella/Gerard James Borg - Vertigo.

As you can see, that's a total of 7 songs when only 6 can qualify. Personally, I hope Vertigo is the one I'm wrong about.

Until Friday, this is Darryl, from Malta - online.

Maltasong Contest

Well, well, well...it's been nearly 5 months since my last post. With the Maltasong back, I finally found something to talk about, it's not a rant but it's an analysis of the 16 songs which will take place in the Semi-final.

I love the Maltasong contest - I'll start with this. And the Eurovision equally as much. I've been watching since 1998 (the year Chiara went up for the first time with 'The Once That I Love' - didn't really like...). Since then I've become what one can call a Maltasong expert and a Eurovision afficionado. Little history lesson : 1999 (Times 3), 2000 (Claudette Pace), 2001 (Fabrizio Fanniello - now that was a song I liked), 2002 (Ira Losco), 2003 (Lynn Chircop), 2004 (Julie and Ludwig - had to go through Eurovision semifinals. This was one of those good songs), 2005 (Chiara - again...definitely should have sent J. Anvil...) and 2006 - Fabrizio again. A catchy song which I liked but placed last in the Eurovision - his performance on the day was horrible. Well, not his alone - the performance in general. Which means this year - we must go through the semi finals once again.

But that's in May or so...today I shall take an in-depth look at the first 13 songs and tomorrow do the final three. I'm funny that way. I'll give you a minute to laugh.

First up : Tarcisio Barbara, Places to Go - It's got a rock style to it. Definately influenced by Lordi's win last year. But this also has an element of standard pop. Lyrics seem rather plain - but he gives life to them when he sings. Something about his somewhat raspy voice. Do I think it will win? No, but it should do quite well...top 8 I'd say.

Next : Annabelle Debono, Nightwish - Semi-ballad. Not all that great. The music had the potential to be good...but a wrong instrumental set up messed it up. The lyrics are disappointing. The singer...she usually isn't this disappointing... Overall I generally expected better from the famous Philip Vella/Gerard James Borg duo. No potential to win in my opinion, probably place in the bottom 8.

3rd : Isabelle, My Love - Another Vella/James Borg song. Another disappointment on their part. The music is repetitive and boring, same with the lyrics. The singer isn't all that bad. But she can, and has, done better. Unfortunately I think she was limited in terms of what the song offered her. I place it somewhere in the middle four.

4th : Kevin Borg, Whenever - Firstly, it's good to see an equal balance of 9 male singers and 9 female singers this year. The song is a ballad. Fantastic music. Fantastic lyrics. Fantastic interpretation on the singers part. Question is - will the rest of the Maltese population relate to it? Nonetheless - I place it within the top eight.

5th : Claudia Faniello, L-Imhabba Ghamja - Maltese title, English lyrics authored and sung by Fabrizio's sister. This seemed to be an experiment on her part...but which failed in my opinion. It's somewhat...plain and dull. Especially when compared to the previous song. It's not the worst of the lot though. Towards the end of the clip I feel as if she's going to go into UK's 'Touch my Fire' from a few years back. Overall, bottom eight.

6th : Pamela Bezzina, All About Life - Typical Pamela song. Very similar to recent years. While it's not particularily bad - it's not all that striking either. I don't see it as a winner, not by a few places. Although I do think it will recieve a middle four placing.

7th : Julie Pomorsky, Look at me - Half way through uploading the songs escmalta must have decided to change the way the songs are downloaded...basically making it take longer. Why? Now, for the song : Sweet. Almost disney-like in melody, lyrics and voice. Generally very sweet ballad-ish song. Written and composed by Philip Vella without counter-part Gerard James Borg. Now THIS is a Vella song. Now, will it steal the hearts of the Maltese people? I can't tell...therefore I place it somewhere between 6-8th place.

8th : William Mangion, Forever Mine - Escmalta returned the downloading method to it's orignal form - Yay!. Song : A rock ballad. Something you should know is that in 1993, Mangion was the winner of the Maltasong with softish rock number 'This Time' coming in 8th place at the Eurovision. This is a fair song. Not at either extreme. Though I suspect it may spark interest among the Maltese because of his performance in 1993. Having said this, I give it a middle four place. ((Just so you know, middle four means 7 - 10, all the middle four places have been taken but I will continue to use the expression as it's likely that the Maltese will have a different opinion of a song then I do)).

9th : Daniela Delicata, Little Islands in you Heart - Everything done by 16 year old Delicata. A country pop song in the words of the singer herself. A very catchy and sweet song which personally I can't help but sway to. Every now and then I get a feeling of a Hawaiian influence in parts of the tune which boosts the general melody. The lyrics are well played out and the singer bends the notes in a very unique manner. Will Malta sway to this song as I have? Hard to tell until the performance. I place this one somewhere between 4 - 8th place.

10th : Klinsmann, She Gives me Wings - I get a pop rock feel. And in the words of lyricist Rita Pace - McFly style, and it's true. Now generally it's not that bad. Personally, I don't see it as a winner but as much as I hate to admit it, it's rather good. The music is good, the lyrics are good and the singer... well, he fits the song - I can't deny that. Top 8 - as much as it kills me to say so. Possibly qualify to the final with the top 6.

11th : Rosman Pace, Roller Coaster Rise - Everything done by Pace. Erm... The tune is horrible-ish. Not completely horrible, just a spoonfull of it. It's a rap/dance/hip hop/pop mix. Basically he experimented and tried to create his own style - which isn't a bad idea. But this particular style is horrible (ish). The lyrics are unnoticeable to say the least. The singer, however, is quite enjoyable. I don't think the Maltese will catch on to this basically dropping it to the bottom eight.

12th : Trilogy, Starlight - A trio of two males and one female singer. Took part last year with a different male vocalist. The style is classical much like last years entry. Unlike last years entry this is rubbish. Not rubbish-ish, rubbish. It becomes opera on several occasion, the tune - while not all the bad is messy. The lyrics while not all that messy, are bad. The vocalists are neither bad nor messy...just forced. The feeling is missing and the Maltese will notice this. I give it a placing between 8-12th place.

13th : SCAR, As Long as you Know - Everything, including vocals done by Konrad Pule. Another McFly style influence. Good tune overall, almost makes you forget to listen to the lyrics which aren't very understandable anyway. The singer - who makes them such, seems to make up for his own mistake through the charisma which just bursts through the song. The vocals, together with the music fill in where the lyrics leave out thus leading me to believe that it will obtain a top eight position.

That's the first 13 for you guys. Tomorrow I'll sit down again and do the last three. Thursday is the semi-final, and just for the record here's who (so far) I'm predicting have a chance of making it into the top 6 (in order of appearance) : Tarcisio Barbara, Kevin Borg, Julie Pomorsky, Daniela Delicata, Klinsmann (Coleiro) and SCAR.

Until tomorrow, this is Darryl, from Malta. Online.