MALTA

The Maltese Final was held on February 18th at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Daniel Azzopardi & Charlene Mercieca. In a change from recent years, there was no semi final and there was no jury - the winner was chosen just by televoting. Going to Kyiv is Claudia Faniello and the title of her song is "Breathlessly"

Claudia is alone on stage wearing a long white evening gown. She starts at the back of the stage and during the first instrumental moves forward to the front of the stage. Behind her is a very non-descript backdrop of white/black/blue lights which strobe ever so slightly throughout the song. Eventually this turns into bare trees and snowy scenes which doesn’t fit with the song at all. This mellow exterior allows the focus to be wholly on Claudia but also makes it look a bit lifeless and slightly generic.

The song starts off with a piano intro and stays this way until the chorus when the gentle percussion and guitars come in. The verses contain very few lyrics and one might lose interest very quickly with all the stopping and starting, Before the second verse they introduce a more distinct drum beat which turns the song from a piano based ballad into a soft rock/country number. The chorus has a slightly off kilter time signature with some lines being longer than others. The ending is also odd. Claudia finishes off the last note but the backing carried on for almost 5 seconds afterwards. On the positive side you could barely notice because the crowd was cheering so hard for her. The tune of the song sound very familar, however I am yet to put my finger on what exactly it reminds me of.

Claudia has been trying to represent Malta at Eurovision for so long, it’s just nice for her to finally get that chance – also her brother represented Malta twice (‘01 and ’06) She is a very good singer and has very good stage and camera presence -you can tell she is experienced at this type of singing contest. Although her dress is very pretty and classy, her styling make her look more 38 than her actual 28 years of age. The fact of the matter is that Claudia needs to keep doing what she is doing - the camera angles, backdrop and styling need all the focus and direction.

As far as the song goes, it starts off well but as soon as the drum kicks in it loses focus and loses its intimacy. In addition, because it is such a slow song there is little repetition – you don’t even finish the first verse by the time you have clocked up a minute. If Eurovision songs could be 4 mins long, this might have enough time to wind up properly and be a real belter - but it isn't. It starts off well but ends up being a whimper rather than a bark and is a non-qualifier to the finals as it is.

ARTIST - Claudia Faniello

SONG - Breathlessly

MUSIC - Philip Vella, Sean Vella, Gerard James Borg

LYRICS - Philip Vella, Sean Vella, Gerard James Borg

                                                                           The song starts around the 0:40 mark