MALTA

The Maltese Final was held on January 23rd at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, hosted by Ben Camille. Before the final, there was a semi-final where the long list of 20 was reduced to 14. The winner, chosen by televoting (1/6) and an "expert" jury (5/6), was past participant Ira Losco singing Chameleon (Invincible)

The song is a fairly typical dance number and has a very Swedish feel to the production. It starts off very mysterious but quick enough the beat kicks in and the song continues on in that fashion until the end. I keep waiting for it to go up another gear but never does. It starts to feel flat and plodding very quickly. The most interesting part is the 7/8 instrument half way through which is ruined by Ira singing over it, There is not much to speak of in terms of performance or visual production as most of the camera work seemed to be concentrated on Ira wafting around the stage in front of the ever changing backdrop. She is not dressed in a flattering way at all. I feel that the look she’s trying to go for the angelic/floaty look but end up looking more like a used plastic back being tossed by the wind. She sings the song quite well although at times it’s hard to work out what she’s saying or feels a little bit strained vocally.

Ira Losco was runner up in Eurovision 2002 which kicked off her career in Malta. This fact alone as already made the Maltese participation an early fan favourite. After a 5 year hiatus, she came back to the music scene in 2013 with a new album and featured as a guest during the interval in the Maltese Eurovision selection process. Although not a stranger to ESC, the contest has changed a lot since then and one would hope that somebody of her experience would not be too fazed however the performances in the semi final and final were not the best.

I was not a fan at all of her 2002 entry and at least this is better, but that's not hard in my opinion. If this, as is, turned up in Stockholm this would be a total fail. But I suspect one of two things will happen between now and then.
The whole thing will undergo a total transformation in terms of audio production and make a better conceived stage show, OR (as the Maltese Eurovision rules allow) Ira will ditch the song completely and change it to something different. If the latter happens I obviously cannot predict the result but if the former happens she will do better but possibly not by much. This will be loved by the majority of fans but may well be forgotten by the voting public on the night.

ARTIST – Ira Losco
SONG – Chameleon (Invincible)
MUSIC - Ira Losco, Talkback
LYRICS - Ira Losco, Talkback