MALTA 2023

The Maltese final "Malta Eurovision Song Contest" was held on February 11th at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by former Maltese Eurovision competitors Amber and Glen Vella. At the start of the competition there were 40 competing songs. After a series of quarter finals and semi finals, there was a final of 16 songs. The winner was chosen by a mixture of jury and sms voting. The winning act was The Busker with "Dance (our own party)"

The Busker was founded in 2012. It started as the duo of Dario Genovese and Jean Paul Borg but was increased to four with the addition of David Grech and Sean Meachen in 2014. In 2016 they opened for Neville Staple from The Specials and Maltese band Tribali at local festivals. "Telegram" was their debut album - which won best album in the MMI Awards - with their follow-up "Ladies and Gentlemen" coming out in 2018. Genovese left the group in 2021 making the band a trio. Their music is inspired by classic bands and songwriters such as The Beatles, Beach Boys and Bob Dylan but they have a distinctive indie-pop feel.

This song is one of the few that has utilised the on screen graphics and interwoven it into an integral part of the show. On stage the three members of the band and their equipment are joined on stage by a park bench, a sofa and cardboard cut-outs of former Maltese Eurovision representatives Destiny, Ira Losco and Joe Grech. The background is full of 80's inspired geometric shapes and colours and even has some 8-bit inspired computer imagery. The song starts with an earwormy sax solo which is repeated throughout the song. The two part verse is almost of spoken and flow nicely into the pre-chorus, which actually is more memorable and catchy than the actual chorus that succeeds it. There is a vague dance routine although this not clear in the rather random camera shots. This procedure is repeated again before a longer instrumental and a final pre-chorus and chorus. There is even a costume change half way through but is again not 100% clear.

I am not saying this song has been written to "a type" but this slots into the index of previous entries from Czechia and to a point Moldova. This is a catchy, modern pop song with saxophone earworms and a well directed & choreographed stage routine. The different parts of the songs are distinct and interesting but also flow together well as a cohesive song. The on-screen graphics give the show a retro MTV video feel but not to the point it is either clinical or disguising the live show - there are plenty of shots of the audience and the band acknowledges the crowd.

I would say that the stage ideas are really interesting but the camerawork and stage direction needs to be much tighter. The section where they are pretending to be in a car needs to be a top half shot and all the dancing during the chorus needs to be shot from static cameras - maybe even a three way split screen - so you can actually see what they are doing. The long instrumental section lacks direction and is the only part of this song that feels empty or under-rehearsed. Maybe some audio revamping here could help fill the time a little better? Basically, the production people need to tell the story of the song better! This song is cool and feels relevant and they sell the song in an honest way. This is also a style of Eurovision song that has done well in the recent past. This should qualify with ease and may even give Malta an excellent result.

ARTIST - The Busker

SONG - Dance (our own party)

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Jean Paul Borg, Matthew James Borg & Michael Joe Cini, Sean Meachen, Dav Jr