MALTA

The Maltese Final was held on February 3rd at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Colin Fitz. The winner was chosen by a 50/50 televoting and jury vote. The winning act was Christabelle and she will be singing the song “Taboo”.

The colour palate of this song is very dark: full of shadows, silhouettes and flashing lights. There is no ‘backdrop’ apart from swirling colours and blackouts but there is extensive use of a screen/box which has images projected onto is as well as trapping the dancers inside! Christabelle is wearing a dark top with a short black skirt. It looks ok but I think the skirt should be a longer, less dishevelled and waftier – the use of a wind machine for the end might create more movement and peril to match the emotion of the song at the end. During parts of the song words flash up on the backdrop which is making a statement of kinds but also feels slightly disconnected to the words coming out of Christabelle’s mouth. During the final parts of the song there is a short firework show which also feels disingenuous to the song's message.

The song and performance is quite reminiscent of Loreen’s “Euphoria” but this should come to no surprise when you see who it is co-written by. To a non-Eurovision ear it has tones of “Green Light” by Lorde and the tune of “Remedy” by Little Boots. Christabelle’s voice really suits the tone and pitch of the song, at no point did I feel like she wouldn’t be able to hit any of the notes and her diction is very clear. She connects well with the camera although this is blighted by the fact she moves around the stage a lot. I think she could do even better by moving around less and letting the camera do more of the action. With better camera angles and better production values, this could improve greatly.

Although I didn’t watch the whole show, I did watch the recap clips several times at the end of the NF and this seemed to be the most cohesive and well rounded production of the night. The overall concept is very good and memorable. I also like the fact it is not too backdrop-heavy (as we know there will little if not no led screens in Lisbon) I hope they keep the whole box concept alive as I think it is very eye catching but tweaks will need to be made. One issue that will need addressing is the balance of dancers/backing singers. If singers are required will having less dancers affect the story? Can they find people who can do both? On first listen it didn’t really stand out but after a couple of watches and listens it really grows on you. This is the type of song that might scrape into the semis then suddenly grow and do better in the final. Of course there are several songs left to pick and if anybody else has a similar concept the power of this song could be easily lost.

ARTIST – Christabelle

SONG – Taboo

MUSIC - Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg, Muxu

LYRICS - Johnny Sanchez, Thomas G:son, Christabelle Borg, Muxu