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Friday, February 18, 2005

Singing this song

My earlier concerns about the Malta Song for Europe blew over this morning after MaltaMedia acquired a CD with all 22 songs taking part in tonight's Song for Europe contest. We even received a verbal apology (of sorts) for the delay.

The songs are now available for on-demand web streaming via EurovisionMalta.com.

The televoting process for the winner makes predicting who could win a veritable gamble. There are too many variables that could work against a worthy song or in favour of a less deserving song.

Here's my pick for top 10:
(in order of appearance during the final night)

  • Love is the Reason - Charlene & Natasha
  • He - Eleanor Cassar
  • Don't Tell It - Fabrizio Faniello
  • Addio Ciao - Aldo Busuttil
  • Déjà vu - Olivia Lewis
  • The Sky is the Limit - Rosman Pace
  • Words Of Love - Nadine & Fiona
  • Holding Me Down - Karen Polidano
  • There For You - Leontine & Roger
  • Angel - Chiara

    The best 5 songs according to Toni Sant:
    (i.e. songs I would vote for, in order of preference)

    1. Déjà vu - Olivia Lewis
    2. Words Of Love - Nadine & Fiona
    3. Angel - Chiara
    4. Don't Tell It - Fabrizio Faniello
    5. There For You - Leontine & Roger

    Don't hold your breath! I doubt that either one of these five songs will actually be the winner, but I'm certain that one of them will be the runner-up.

    Words of Love from Paul Giordimaina and Fleur Balzan is a fine rock ballad. Nadine & Fiona deliver it well. Chiara remains one of the best pop singers to ever grace the Maltese music scene. Fabrizio Faniello sings a beautifully crafted song from Georgina and Paul Abela to perfection, as do Leontine & Roger; Don't Tell It and There for You show that the Abelas still know how to write a decent love song.

    My personal favourite remains Olivia Lewis. If she doesn't win this year I truly believe that she should give up on the Eurovision Song Contest. I'm still raving about her song from 2003, Starting Over. What a great song! I can't believe that song lost to let To Dream Again sung by Lynn Chircop acquire the lowest number of points for Malta at any edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. This year Olivia is singing a song by the Vella/Borg winning duo. The song has a very magical moment when the chorus sings in Maltese while she goes on in English. Vella/Borg used phrases in Maltese for Desire which took my good buddy Claudette Pace to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000.

    The troublemaker in me prays for one of the songs written by non-Maltese composers/authors to win. Yet it would be a sweet victory indeed if one of my top 5 made it to Kiev this spring.

    Listen to the songs on EurovisionMalta.com and feel free to let me know if you dis/agree with me.


    Personal notes for my friends...

    for Paul Giordimaina: Play On is up their with all those Maltese songs you know I love so much. Why waste it on the Eurovision contest? This is a classic case of pearls for swines! And by the way, where did you find that Pamela? She's sounds heavenly.

    for Augusto Cardinali: You're one of the most innovative pop composers to ever walk the streets of Malta. This year's Song for Europe is brightened beyond belief by your cute tune...and the arrangement is divine! Your song didn't make either of my two lists for the simple reason that it really is in a class of its own.


  • Blogger Pierre J. Mejlak said...

    Good evening Scarborough. Brussels calling! I want to congratulate you for a wonderful show. I am so sorry it is almost over.

    Yes - I can give you our votes. So, here they are. This is the result of the jury.


    01: Déjà vu (O Lewis)
    Fascinating

    02: Angel (Chiara)
    Archangelic

    03: Don't Tell It (F Faniello)
    Wonderful

    04: You (J Anvil)
    Groovy

    05: Addio Ciao (A Busuttil)
    Uh la la! 

    11:32 PM, February 18, 2005
    Blogger Caska said...

    Olivia's song "Deja Vu" captured me totally with that touch of Maltese language fused with English, a French expression as a title and a wonderful voice! Chiara's "Angel" is also dazzling ...

    (Couldn't help noticing Eleanor Cassar's "He" ... so soppy but yet so nice :-) Thanks for the effort of making the songs available for listening on the website! )

    What I can add is that programmes which help you "meet" those performing the songs and getting to know them better as persons are great but yet obviously influence a bit the people's judgment and some people might tend to vote for the person not for the best song. If that would be my case, Aldo's "Addio Ciao" would be representing Malta for Eurovision Song Contest 2005 ;-)

    To pierre j. mejlak: Malta calling! adorable format of your comment! ;-)hehe 

    7:49 AM, February 19, 2005
    Blogger Rosanne said...

    Hello Toni !

    Excellent songs this year. I really enjoyed listening to all of them.

    However these are my favourite three:

    1.Chiara- Angel
    2.Olivia Lewis-Deja Vu
    3.Fabrizio Faniello-Don't Tell it.

    I would like one of these songs to represent Malta in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

    Good luck to the winning song...!!

    cheers,

    Rosanne
    Malta 

    1:43 PM, February 19, 2005
    Blogger karfusa said...

    ok so der wer a few things dat surprised me about d contest. no1 i didnt really like olivia's song, though i usually like her songs.no2 i really liked fabrizio's song when i dont usually like his type of music. anyway, there was a number of good songs. this is the order i think should win. its not exactly my taste, its more wot i think would attract attention of foreign audiences:
    1. you - j.anvil
    2. angel - chiara
    3. addio ciao - aldo
    4. he - eleonor
    5. dont tell it - fabrizio faniello

    btw. corkskrew rock!!! 

    11:21 PM, February 19, 2005
    Blogger Johanna said...

    Hi Toni,

    Wow it was my very first time I heard all the competing songs..Trust me the very first time I heard Chiara's song it truly stole my heart.....I strongly feel we will reach the peak this time round..Welllll done Chiara and well done still to all the other participants.
    P.S. My second best song was the one sung by Keith who sang in the 6th Place Cheers xxx 

    8:58 AM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger annie said...

    Hi,
    I think that Olivia's song should have won because it has that air of success. But the extreme choreography and huge dress put off a lot of Maltese people. I think that the Maltese voted with sympathy when voting for Chiara. I'm not saying that it was a bad song, far from it - it is beautiful. But it is very predictable whereas there were other songs like J. Anvil's that would have wowed foreign audiences. I also think that The Mics' song was very alive and Glenn Vella's song was sung with power. You could tell he was giving it all he had.
    These are my top 5:
    1. Deja Vu - Olivia Lewis
    2. You - J. Anvil
    3. Angel - Chiara
    4. It's up to you - The Mics
    5. Appreciate - Glenn Vella
    Anyways I think that Malta has a very good chance this year with a very powerful song. GO MALTA!! 

    12:49 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger ROB said...

    ITHINK THE SONG THAT REALLY SHOULD HAVE WON IS YOU OF J. ANVIL. IT IS THE TYPE OF SONG THAT FOREIGN AUDIENCES WOULD HAVE LIKED.
    I DIDN'T LIKE OLIVIAS SONG AT ALL AND THE ONE OF GLENN - BUT THEY OBTAINED VOTES FROM LABOUR FANATICS - BLA MOHH.
    I LIKED CHIARAS SONG TOO AND WISH HER GOOD LUCK. HOPE SHE WILL MAKE IT THIS TIME. 

    2:07 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger Zilli said...

    Both Chiara's and Olivia's songs are unique. It was difficult to vote for either of them. Different catagories with a class of their own. Chiar's brings out your (inner you); whilst Olivia's gives a pleasurable three minute listening (love the maltese combination).

    Zilli 

    2:31 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger oddles said...

    Prosit Chiara, you've done it again!
    Good luck!

    Olivia's song was good but the bombastic stage performance put most ppl off!

    Other songs weren't so bad but i expect better quality from Maltese!!

    Come on ppl, we can do much better! 

    3:39 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger Toni Sant said...

    WOW! I say wow not about the song contest but about the number of comments this posting has received so far.

    Just in case you arrived on this page directly, I suggest you also see my blog entry on the day after Chiara won the 2005 Song for Europe. 

    3:47 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger eurofan said...

    .glenn and olivia kienu tassew tajbin.haqqhom il-post li gabu. anzi, haqqhom post ahjar.lil ali&lis kont intihom l-ewwel post fil-eurovision tat-tfal.lil fiona u nadine kont intihom l-ewwel kieku hadu f`sehem f`xi kompetizjoni al l-ilbies.aldo`s song was nice and he should nhave got the second or third place.j.anvil`s song was unique and so he deserved a good placing. fabrizio had a nice song and he should have done better than he did last year. rachel, neville & romina really can do better;)gunther did a good job writting his song togrther with glen. eleonor's he was really a very good song but i think she exagerated a little with her dress. that should be said for olivia too definetly.through justine`s eyes showed her effort of participating in the eurovision for the first time.it was up to the people not to vote for the mics.the angel`s were tired listening to ugly song`s as manuel said.i LIKED his song though and his dancers made a great performance.thanks and well done to all of you 

    5:10 PM, February 20, 2005
    Blogger Anthony Borda said...

    Jien nixtieq nghid prosett lil kull kantant/kantanta u kantanti kolla, li hadu sehem fil-Eurovision, ghax la waslu sehem, veru haqqhom proset. Nixtieq nghid proset ukoll lil l-organizzaturi ghax hadmu bis-shih ghal dan l-avveniment.
    Kif jghid proverbju malti: mitt bniedem, mitt fehma. Kien hemm hafna affarijiet tajbin u hafna x'tikkritika wkoll, specjalment fuq l-ilbies li rajna.
    Jien l-izjed tlett songs li ghogbuni kienu dawn: 1 Addio Ciaw 2 Angel 3 deja vou 4 You 5 He. Dawn kienu il-favoriti tieghi, imma inhossni iddiskustat bil-kumment li ghamel ROB, li qed idahhal il-Politika fil-qasam tal-kant ukoll. Iftah Mohhok Rob ghax it-tajjeb ma tistax tghidlu hazin u turiex x'inti.
    Nerga nghid proset lil kullhadd u keep it up. 

    6:43 AM, February 21, 2005
    Blogger Steph said...

    When reading these comments I convince myself even more that televoting is no way of voting for the maltese song to represent Malta at Eurovison. Where are the comments about what is musically up to standard and what is just computerised noise? This time we are lucky that at least Chiara is loved by all and the televoting gave us a very good song for Malta, but how often will this be the case. 75% Expert Jury and 25% public vote is what the Maltasong people should consider and please, please, let us not judge the singer and the show but the song!!
    Good luck Chiara and let us hear more of these tunes written by you. 

    12:02 PM, February 21, 2005
    Blogger Grandsite said...

    I cannot understand why ROB had to mention poitics in this matter. I voted for Deja Vu and I am a floating voter but it seems that there was some orchestration of manouver from somewhere why this song was not voted number one.
    ROB showed us a way it seems 

    2:11 PM, February 21, 2005
    Blogger itsok! said...

    I WOULD LIKE TO CONGRADGLATE CIARA!!SHE DID IT AGAIN!PROSIT.

    IT WAS J.ANVILS FIRST TIME IN THE EUROVISION ND I THINK HE WENT VERY GOOD .IT WAS A SORT OF SHOW THAT WOULD ATTRACT EVERYONE


    OLIVIAS SONG WAS NICE BUT I AGREE WITH SOME OTHERS THAT HER DRESS PUT PEOPLE DOWN.ANOTHER DRAWBACK WAS THAT THE BEAT AND THE SONG RESEMBLES THE SONG THAT WON LAST YEAR (UKRAIN)

    PROSIT TO EVERYONE.I LIKED ANDREANA AND CHRISTIANS SONG TOO....RACHEL ROMINA AND NEVELL CAME LAST AND I WOULD LIKE TO TELL THEM TO TRY AGAIN ..IT WASNT BAD EH.... THIS YEAR WAS THE BEST
    ALL SONGS WER GR8!!CIAO 

    4:33 PM, February 21, 2005
    Blogger wocheeba said...

    I agreed with most of those who put their comments for me the idea of 100% televoting wasn't a good one because we all know how most of the Maltese people judge songs and singers. For me Olivia’s song was too bombastic and her dress was even more, chiara did her best and it was really good, and I liked a lot Justine's performance and her song was fabulous, glen was good as well and gunther was amazing, he did a lovely performance and his song was really catchy, aldo's voice is strong but I think that his type of song doesn't do well in the Eurovision contest. For the Eurovision we have to choose a type of song that involves the audience, when they hear it the first time they keep on singing it. We have to remember that we are doing that for our audience to judge. We have to be original and unique in what we do. Our country is so small but our artistic talent is great so we cannot stick to one genre or imitate other countries. We all can do better good luck to chiara. 

    10:22 PM, February 23, 2005
    Blogger dejavu said...

    ghalija id-diska li kellha tirbah hi Deja Vu min Olivia Lewis u ghal min forsi ma jifhims fl-ilbies u fit-tisfir tal-kliem, id-diska tfisser holma li saret realta ghalhekk olivia riedet tilbes xi haga li turi dan b'mod car. ma naqbilx ma rob ghax nahseb hu bla mohh. id-diska ta chiara sabiha wkoll imma nahseb ahna il-maltin ma tantx nitghallmu malajr li il-eurovision issa sar spettaklu u nahseb l-unika diska li kellha spettaklu u pakket tajjeb kienet dik ta Olivia lewis. prosit olivia u t-team 

    7:34 PM, February 24, 2005
    Blogger Michelle said...

    Chiara,
    I just listened to your song YOU GOT IT I wish you all the best All THE WAY FROM NEW YORK CITY !!! GO AND BRING THIS ONE HOME !!!

    What a Beautiful song !!!

    Michelle 

    5:25 AM, February 25, 2005
    Blogger jessica said...

    I liked Manuel's song very much,because the words he sang are true and he has a very good voice.Chiara's song was very nice too so good luck and I hope you win. 

    7:23 PM, February 28, 2005
    Blogger Melania said...

    Proset Chiara kellek diska vera bomba u jekk tidhol fid diska b'dak il-lehen fantastiku tqabisli d dmuh u ma nahsibx li lili biss...PROSET and GOOD LUCK nispera li tamel success bhal ma dejjem ghamilt!!!!! Proset Olivia ukoll ghax kellek diska sabiha ukoll... 

    9:51 PM, March 01, 2005
    Blogger 509dbest said...

    Hi .... proset lil kulhadd ghax kullhadd wera effort kbir. Prosit l-aktar li tmur imma ghal Chaira ghax ghat-2 darba rebhet hi. Good luck :D. Jiena naqbel li jkun hemm 100% televoting mil-pubbliku. dan minnhabba li jekk din ser tirraprezenta lill-poplu Malti , ghandhom ikunu il -Maltin stess li jiddeciedu. Fil-Fehema tieghi il- Poplu jaf x'inhu jaghmel u fil fehma tieghi ghazel wahda mil-isbah diski. Angel! 

    3:57 PM, March 06, 2005
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    HI FOLKS,
    JUST LISTENED TO ALL THE SONGS, WHICH FOR ME THEY WERE QUITE GOOD BUT THE ONE I LIKE BEST IS YOU BY J.ANVIL,REASON IS THE SONG ITSELF IS VERY LIVELY WHICH MAKES PEOPLE GO ALONG WITH. AT THE END OF THE DAY IT DOES'NT MATTER WHAT SONG IS THE BEST AS LONG MALTA WINS THEM ALL. GOOD LUCK. ALL THE WAY FROM ENGLAND. 

    3:17 PM, April 11, 2005
    Anonymous K BEE said...

    Nixtieq nejd prosit lil kantanti kollha. Nahseb li lMaltin kienu onesti fil-voti tag]hom g]alkemm ma naqbilx li jsir 100% televoting. Kollha kellhom xi haga unika pero jien kont naghti lewwel post lil J. Anvil. J'alla Maltin ohra johorgu biideat godda bhalma hareg awgusto cardinali biddiska YOU kantata minn J. Avil. Nispera li issa Chiara tmur tajjeb pero jien andi fiducja. Il-video trid mitt elf professur biex jispjegahullek ghax ma fimtx xejn. Bla Sens 

    7:03 PM, April 13, 2005
    Anonymous angele said...

    hi chiara,
    kif smajt id diiska tieghek lewwel darba millewel hassejt li se tmur tajjeb!nawguralek min qalbi ghax amilt il malta tassew kburija bil vuci angelika tieghek u wara kollox tajt risposta kbira il dawk li m`emmnux fik.kemm jien kif ukoll il familja tieghi konna tassew ecitati kif smajnik tkanta ghax is song veru hrigta min qalbek!!!ibqa sejra hekk u tinsiex u`r the best from all the rest!!!love you!XXXXXXX 

    7:52 PM, May 22, 2005
    Anonymous Lu said...

    Hallo, I´m Lu from Germany. At first I must say my english is very bad :-)
    But I like the maltese songs very much. My favorits ever are:

    Claudette Pace - Desire
    Chiara - Angel
    Ira Losco - 7th wonder
    Ira Losco - Thalinix
    Julie & Ludwig - On again ... off again
    and Debbie Scerri - Fly

    In this year, in you pre-selection my favorits was:

    Eleonor Cassar - he (Hallo to Ralph Siegel :-)
    Chiara - Angel
    and Olivia Lewis - Deja vu

    Its a big shame, that we cán´t buy so much CDs from Malta, only the Single CDs. But we have good conection to Malta and sometimes one of us fly to Malta and buy some CDs.

    At last a have a plea to you. Have one of you the lyrics to Ira Losco´s song Thallinix?

    Than a good time an a good ESC song for 2006, and a ESC 2007 in Valetta :-) 

    10:02 PM, June 04, 2005

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