The Maltese Final (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022) was held on February 19th at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Stephanie Spiteri, Quinton Scerri, Ron Briffa, Josmar and Ryan Borg. The winner was chosen by jury (6/7) and SMS voting (1/7). On the night, the winner was Emma Muscat singing "Out of Sight" however on March 14th the delegation unveiled Emma's new entry. She will now be singing the song "I am what I am"
Music was a huge part of Emma's life from an early age. She enrolled at the University of Performing Arts; honing her skills in singing, dancing, and playing the piano. In 2016 she started uploading her songs and videos onto youtube. In 2018 she took part in the Maltese talent show "Amici di Maria De Filippi" finishing with fourth place in the singing category and winning a contract with Warner Music Italy. Since then she has released more singles and albums including duets with rappers Shade and Astol and featuring on songs by Biondo and Junior Cally.
After a brief piano intro Emma sings verse one quite low in her register and quite softly. Once into the chorus she sings much more fully with lots of runs and trills through the scale. The first part of the chorus has less going on in the backing but plenty of lyrics while the second part has a fuller backing track but with a more anthemic tune. This is then repeated for the second verse and chorus. This takes us to the 2 minute mark where there is a brief lull before a final chorus that takes us to the end.
This is a very radio-friendly piano-led song in the oeuvre of songs like "The way it is" and " A thousand miles". The video is very friendly and inclusive and definitely made to drill in the meaning of the song. Maybe we will be getting people's faces on the backdrop or something similar to try and mirror this on stage. I am sure Emma will find this no problem to sing and I am also intrigued to see if she stays behind her piano like in the video. Co-incidentally, after this song was released, it was revealed that "I am what I am" had been submitted for Melodifestivalen this year - and rejected - and boy doesn't sound like it. It feels very clean and very Swedish and very safe and very predictable. These aspects don't necessarily make it a bad Eurovision song but it gets tired very quickly. To the casuals at home this is the kind of thing that on first listen they will engage with immediately, but for those of us listening intently between now and the contest they may find it getting skipped. This is no better or worse than their original entry and I think those involved in the original national final should be very miffed at the situation.
ARTIST - Emma Musicat
SONG - I am what I am
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Julie Aagaard, Stine Kinck, Dino Medanhodzic, Emma Muscat
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